By Josh Stowers
Today marked the beginning of the second week of Marshall’s spring session of practices and Coach Doc Holliday seemed reasonably happy with what he’s witnessed through the first four practices. “It’s early. It’s our fourth practice, but we’re where we need to be. We’re getting a lot of work in and letting our younger kids play,” Holliday said. The Thundering Herd left the comforts of the Chris Cline Athletic Complex and went back outside for practice today. “It’s cold, but it was pretty nice I thought. They (the players) don’t’ care, they just come and play. They are good kids that come to work. I wanted to get outside to work on our special teams. We can’t punt live indoors so it’s I wanted to get that done,” Holliday said.
MIA
The missing in action list doubled today in size. After the first day of pads on Saturday, running back Keion Davis and tight end Kaleb Harris joined running back Tony Pittman, safety Tiquan Lang, and corner backs Antavis Rowe and Chris Williams-Hall on the lighter duty side of things. Davis was fully dressed and took part in position drills, but sat out all the team sessions. Harris was fully dressed, and only worked out on the sidelines with Pittman and Rowe. Lang sported a red (no contact) jersey and took part in all drills. Williams-Hall was in street clothes and monitored practice from the sidelines.
“Herd” Drill
Today was the second day of full pads and the players took full advantage of it playing extremely physical through this drill. Red-shirt sophomore Frankie Hernandez was on the unfortunate receiving end of tight ends Ryan Yurachek and Emanuel Byrd's frustrations. Both tight ends “bull dogged” Hernandez out of the five-yard box. Justin Hunt, uncharacteristically pancaked Rodney Allen to the turf. The offense had their success, but the defensive trio of Doyle Grimes, Nyquan Harris, and Chase Hancock delivered the biggest plays during the drill. Grimes manhandled Yurachek, Harris absolutely ate Levi Brown alive, and Hancock beat Byrd before punishing the ball carrier. For the second practice in a row, Grimes has surprised and impressed me with how physical he’s playing. Oh, and we had our first fight of the spring season. Reserve defensive lineman Aaron Dopson straight up owned reserve offensive lineman Will Mendoza with what looked like a MMA-style hip toss/ground and pound. “A fight? That sure didn’t look like any fight to me,” was one observation made at field level.
Offense
For the fourth practice in a row, the offense turned in multiple big plays. Sophomore sensation Chase Litton and red-shirt senior Michael Birdsong both hit receivers with big plays against the first and second-team defenses, but it wasn’t just the passing game that made noise today. Junior running back Hyleck Foster and red-shirt freshman Delvin Weems took advantage of Pittman and Davis’ absences.
Foster really seems to be asserting himself, running with a confidence I didn’t see out of him last season. Weems is just a wrecking ball. You absolutely have to wrap him up otherwise his low center-of-gravity will just allow him to bounce off and keep running. Foster had a very nice sequence during 11-on-11’s with three consecutive runs of 20 yards, 8 yards, and 7 yards. Weems broke loose on the two biggest runs of the day when he bounced one outside and juked Corey Neely with what have been a 60-yard touchdown, but they whistled him down after a 40-yard gain. He later found a seam in the middle for a 25-yard gain against the second-team defense.
Back to Litton and Birdsong, like I said they both had their moments. Litton really had it going with Hunt today. They hooked up for gains of 20 yards, 30 yards, 15 yards, and another 15-yarder. Last spring it was Birdsong showing chemistry with his receivers, this spring it is Litton. One year seems to have done wonders for him. Speaking of Birdsong, he didn’t get cheated today finding, guess who, Michael Clark for a gain of 30 yards. Clark smoked Michael Johnson off the line of scrimmage and used his size and speed to separate from Johnson. Birdsong later hit Hunt for a gain of 30 yards on what would’ve been a 50-yard touchdown had it not been slightly underthrown. Birdsong’s best play of the day was a 40-yard toss to Raylen Elzy, who beat Rodney Allen. Birdsong laid the ball in perfectly over Elzy’s outside shoulder. Allen had good coverage, but the pass was just perfect.
The play of the day went to red-shirt junior Deon-Tay McManus though. Litton through a jump ball up for McManus and he made what can only be described as a “Odell Beckam-like” grab. It was simply insane.
Defense
I know it sounds like the defense had another rough day, but I saw some growth on that side of the ball. Although the young defensive backs had their forgettable moments, you can see things starting to click a little faster for them.
Safety CJ Reavis, corner back Chris Jackson, and defensive end Ty Tyler all made eye-opening plays today. Reavis undercut a Clark route and intercepted a Birdsong pass. Reavis would’ve easily had a “pick six”, but the play was whistled dead. I think I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. Jackson is a freshman Daryl Roberts all over again. He has great athleticism and his length will be something for opposing quarterbacks to deal with for the next four years. He made two nice break-ups during the team portions of practice. Tyler really stood out to me just because I didn’t realize how big he was until I stood next to him. In pads, he’s as tall as Coach Sean Cronin and reasonably thick (in a good way). Tyler “sacked” Coy Pettit during the team portion by blowing by AJ Addison. Beyond those three, you could see the defense starting to gel a little bit.
Coach Chuck Heater is trying some new things this spring due to shortage of numbers in the secondary, which I’m sure is contributing to the success of the passing game. Long term, I like what he’s doing in trying to get the best eleven players on the field.
Special Teams
Like Doc mentioned above, the best way to judge what you have on special teams is to get out in the elements. Juniors Nick Smith and Amoreto Curraj continued their battle in the kicking game. Curraj actually one-upped Smith today going perfect on the day. Smith’s only miss was a 38-yard attempt from the center of the field. The most important part of the kicking battle may not lie in their hands though. Coach Todd Goebbel is trying to replace a long snapper and holder this season as well. Zach Wood and Eli Gates are battling for the snapping job while Kaare Vedvik and Nick Matthews are working as the holders. Wood and Vedvik seem to have the edge in the battles though. Speaking of Vedvik, it seems as if he’ll be our punter when the Herd takes the field for game one of the 2016 season, but Smith may have something to say about it. It’ll be interesting to see how it plays out.
Musical Chairs
I mentioned Saturday that Donquell “Gator” Green was working with the outside receivers. Today was no different and he actually made some noise out there. Green made a couple of nice plays on the edge, but his highlight was a jump ball between him and Jackson that Green wrestled away as the two came down to the turf. It was impressive. “Gator Green, he needs a big spring. With Reaves being gone we have to find a way to replace that production in the return game. He sat out a year ago and became more mature. He just needs to become more consistent,” Holliday said of Green’s recent play.
The wide receiver unit gained another member today as red-shirt senior Cody Carter flipped from defensive back to receiver this afternoon. “Number one, he’s our best special teams’ player. He’s been a guy that’s been beat down a little bit by practice. If he can compete somewhere else besides special teams, then it’s going to be a bonus for us. He’ll definitely be on all four special teams’ units though,” Holliday said of Carter.
Special Guest
Former linebacker Dwayne “DJ” Hunter joined us in the press box (to avoid the cold) to watch practice today. I asked Hunter who he thought would have breakout seasons on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball for Marshall and his answers weren’t too shocking.
“On offense, it’s Big Mike (Clark).” I can see him going for 1,000 yards next year. Nobody can check him.”
“On defense, it’s (CJ) Reavis. That boy is going to be something special for us.”
Notes
Marshall will return to the field on Thursday at 3:00pm for the fifth practice of the spring. Holliday said he hopes to get back outside again to continue working on special teams. Also, Class of 2016 and future walk-on Brennon Tibbs visited practice today. Sources indicated that Marshall is excited about what Tibbs may bring to the table in the future as a walk-on. They seem to think they got a steal in Tibbs.
Today marked the beginning of the second week of Marshall’s spring session of practices and Coach Doc Holliday seemed reasonably happy with what he’s witnessed through the first four practices. “It’s early. It’s our fourth practice, but we’re where we need to be. We’re getting a lot of work in and letting our younger kids play,” Holliday said. The Thundering Herd left the comforts of the Chris Cline Athletic Complex and went back outside for practice today. “It’s cold, but it was pretty nice I thought. They (the players) don’t’ care, they just come and play. They are good kids that come to work. I wanted to get outside to work on our special teams. We can’t punt live indoors so it’s I wanted to get that done,” Holliday said.
MIA
The missing in action list doubled today in size. After the first day of pads on Saturday, running back Keion Davis and tight end Kaleb Harris joined running back Tony Pittman, safety Tiquan Lang, and corner backs Antavis Rowe and Chris Williams-Hall on the lighter duty side of things. Davis was fully dressed and took part in position drills, but sat out all the team sessions. Harris was fully dressed, and only worked out on the sidelines with Pittman and Rowe. Lang sported a red (no contact) jersey and took part in all drills. Williams-Hall was in street clothes and monitored practice from the sidelines.
“Herd” Drill
Today was the second day of full pads and the players took full advantage of it playing extremely physical through this drill. Red-shirt sophomore Frankie Hernandez was on the unfortunate receiving end of tight ends Ryan Yurachek and Emanuel Byrd's frustrations. Both tight ends “bull dogged” Hernandez out of the five-yard box. Justin Hunt, uncharacteristically pancaked Rodney Allen to the turf. The offense had their success, but the defensive trio of Doyle Grimes, Nyquan Harris, and Chase Hancock delivered the biggest plays during the drill. Grimes manhandled Yurachek, Harris absolutely ate Levi Brown alive, and Hancock beat Byrd before punishing the ball carrier. For the second practice in a row, Grimes has surprised and impressed me with how physical he’s playing. Oh, and we had our first fight of the spring season. Reserve defensive lineman Aaron Dopson straight up owned reserve offensive lineman Will Mendoza with what looked like a MMA-style hip toss/ground and pound. “A fight? That sure didn’t look like any fight to me,” was one observation made at field level.
Offense
For the fourth practice in a row, the offense turned in multiple big plays. Sophomore sensation Chase Litton and red-shirt senior Michael Birdsong both hit receivers with big plays against the first and second-team defenses, but it wasn’t just the passing game that made noise today. Junior running back Hyleck Foster and red-shirt freshman Delvin Weems took advantage of Pittman and Davis’ absences.
Foster really seems to be asserting himself, running with a confidence I didn’t see out of him last season. Weems is just a wrecking ball. You absolutely have to wrap him up otherwise his low center-of-gravity will just allow him to bounce off and keep running. Foster had a very nice sequence during 11-on-11’s with three consecutive runs of 20 yards, 8 yards, and 7 yards. Weems broke loose on the two biggest runs of the day when he bounced one outside and juked Corey Neely with what have been a 60-yard touchdown, but they whistled him down after a 40-yard gain. He later found a seam in the middle for a 25-yard gain against the second-team defense.
Back to Litton and Birdsong, like I said they both had their moments. Litton really had it going with Hunt today. They hooked up for gains of 20 yards, 30 yards, 15 yards, and another 15-yarder. Last spring it was Birdsong showing chemistry with his receivers, this spring it is Litton. One year seems to have done wonders for him. Speaking of Birdsong, he didn’t get cheated today finding, guess who, Michael Clark for a gain of 30 yards. Clark smoked Michael Johnson off the line of scrimmage and used his size and speed to separate from Johnson. Birdsong later hit Hunt for a gain of 30 yards on what would’ve been a 50-yard touchdown had it not been slightly underthrown. Birdsong’s best play of the day was a 40-yard toss to Raylen Elzy, who beat Rodney Allen. Birdsong laid the ball in perfectly over Elzy’s outside shoulder. Allen had good coverage, but the pass was just perfect.
The play of the day went to red-shirt junior Deon-Tay McManus though. Litton through a jump ball up for McManus and he made what can only be described as a “Odell Beckam-like” grab. It was simply insane.
Defense
I know it sounds like the defense had another rough day, but I saw some growth on that side of the ball. Although the young defensive backs had their forgettable moments, you can see things starting to click a little faster for them.
Safety CJ Reavis, corner back Chris Jackson, and defensive end Ty Tyler all made eye-opening plays today. Reavis undercut a Clark route and intercepted a Birdsong pass. Reavis would’ve easily had a “pick six”, but the play was whistled dead. I think I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. Jackson is a freshman Daryl Roberts all over again. He has great athleticism and his length will be something for opposing quarterbacks to deal with for the next four years. He made two nice break-ups during the team portions of practice. Tyler really stood out to me just because I didn’t realize how big he was until I stood next to him. In pads, he’s as tall as Coach Sean Cronin and reasonably thick (in a good way). Tyler “sacked” Coy Pettit during the team portion by blowing by AJ Addison. Beyond those three, you could see the defense starting to gel a little bit.
Coach Chuck Heater is trying some new things this spring due to shortage of numbers in the secondary, which I’m sure is contributing to the success of the passing game. Long term, I like what he’s doing in trying to get the best eleven players on the field.
Special Teams
Like Doc mentioned above, the best way to judge what you have on special teams is to get out in the elements. Juniors Nick Smith and Amoreto Curraj continued their battle in the kicking game. Curraj actually one-upped Smith today going perfect on the day. Smith’s only miss was a 38-yard attempt from the center of the field. The most important part of the kicking battle may not lie in their hands though. Coach Todd Goebbel is trying to replace a long snapper and holder this season as well. Zach Wood and Eli Gates are battling for the snapping job while Kaare Vedvik and Nick Matthews are working as the holders. Wood and Vedvik seem to have the edge in the battles though. Speaking of Vedvik, it seems as if he’ll be our punter when the Herd takes the field for game one of the 2016 season, but Smith may have something to say about it. It’ll be interesting to see how it plays out.
Musical Chairs
I mentioned Saturday that Donquell “Gator” Green was working with the outside receivers. Today was no different and he actually made some noise out there. Green made a couple of nice plays on the edge, but his highlight was a jump ball between him and Jackson that Green wrestled away as the two came down to the turf. It was impressive. “Gator Green, he needs a big spring. With Reaves being gone we have to find a way to replace that production in the return game. He sat out a year ago and became more mature. He just needs to become more consistent,” Holliday said of Green’s recent play.
The wide receiver unit gained another member today as red-shirt senior Cody Carter flipped from defensive back to receiver this afternoon. “Number one, he’s our best special teams’ player. He’s been a guy that’s been beat down a little bit by practice. If he can compete somewhere else besides special teams, then it’s going to be a bonus for us. He’ll definitely be on all four special teams’ units though,” Holliday said of Carter.
Special Guest
Former linebacker Dwayne “DJ” Hunter joined us in the press box (to avoid the cold) to watch practice today. I asked Hunter who he thought would have breakout seasons on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball for Marshall and his answers weren’t too shocking.
“On offense, it’s Big Mike (Clark).” I can see him going for 1,000 yards next year. Nobody can check him.”
“On defense, it’s (CJ) Reavis. That boy is going to be something special for us.”
Notes
Marshall will return to the field on Thursday at 3:00pm for the fifth practice of the spring. Holliday said he hopes to get back outside again to continue working on special teams. Also, Class of 2016 and future walk-on Brennon Tibbs visited practice today. Sources indicated that Marshall is excited about what Tibbs may bring to the table in the future as a walk-on. They seem to think they got a steal in Tibbs.
