By Josh Stowers
Tuesday marked Marshall's tenth practice of the spring and for the seventh time out of their first ten practices, Coach Doc Holliday and company had to move practice inside of the Chris Cline Athletic Complex due to inclement weather.
With over half of their 15 planned practices and first official scrimmage of the spring in the books, the depth chart is starting to take shape at certain positions.
After a very spirited and intense scrimmage on Saturday at The Greenbrier, I was sort of expecting a letdown today.
Coach Scott Sinclair made sure that didn't happen by setting the tone early on during warm-ups encouraging the players to "love the process" in a very "Coach Sinclair" type way.
After warm-ups, the skill players and quarterbacks went into "skeleton" passing drills, the defensive backs and linebackers worked on technique, and the offensive and defensive lines along with the tight ends went into the "Herd" drill.
One player stands above everyone else in this drill as well as most of the time.
Sandley Jean-Felix is an absolute monster and when he locks in against a defender its game over. Jean-Felix destroyed Armonze Daniel and Joe Massaquoi during the drill.
Other players who stood out during this portion of practice were Jarquez Samuel and Blake Keller. Samuel handled Sebastian Johansson on back-to-back occasions and Keller beat Ryan Yurachek twice on his way to the ball carrier.
As I stated above, the depth chart is starting to take shape and it all starts up front with the lines. The first-team offensive line today (from left to right) was Jean-Felix, Johansson, Michael Selby, Nate Devers, and Tom Collins. Collins is playing in place of Clint Van Horn who is resting this spring at the coach's discretion.
The second-team offensive line was Eric Ansley, Fred Binot, Cody Collins, Jordan Dowrey, and Tyler Combs. I'd say the battle between Devers, Dowrey, and possibly Cody Collins will go into the fall, but the rest of the offensive line is locked up.
The defensive line rotation isn't quite as settled with Gary Thompson recovering from off-season surgery, but seems to be taking shape. Daniel, Steve Dillon, Samuel and Keller made up the first-team with Damien Dozier, Tomell One, Ricardo Williams, and Ryan Bee taking the majority of the second-team reps.
During the first portion of "team" drills, the quarterbacks and receivers went against defensive backs in one-on-one drills while the offensive line and running backs took on the front-seven of the defense.
The offense and defense both had highlights during this session.
Deon-Tay McManus made an incredible one-handed back shoulder catch with a defender draped all over him. Josh Knight went over top of Chris Williams-Hall to snag a Gunnar Holcombe pass out of the air. Speaking of Knight, he had his best practice of the spring catching all but one pass thrown his way.
The defense made plays too, intercepting Holcombe twice. Antavis Rowe beat the receiver on a deep throw to intercept the ball and Williams-Hall undercut a slot route to pick off the pass.
In the "run game" drill, the offensive line was very effective creating holes for the running-backs.
One battle that continues to be won is the place kicker job. Nick Smith had another strong showing going five for seven on the day. He pulled one kick left and had another blocked off the edge by Rowe.
Amoreto Curraj had his best kicking performance of the spring on Tuesday. The red-shirt sophomore hit all four of his kicks from beyond 40 yards. One kick specifically from 42 yards would've been good from an estimated 65 yards and that may be a little short. "He's been a little more consistent than I even thought he would be to this point," Holliday said of Curraj.
Regardless of Curraj's solid day, Smith still holds a sizable advantage here.
The battle that's been most interesting to the Herd faithful all spring is the competition to replace Rakeem Cato.
Well, if today was any indication of how things are going on that front then the wait for a starter to be named could be coming to an end. Michael Birdsong only took reps with the first-team while Holcombe and Chase Litton split snaps with the second-team.
Birdsong finished 11/19 for 212 yards and three touchdowns during the team scrimmage portion of practice. On his third snap, Birdsong found Davonte Allen streaking across the middle of the field on a post route for a 70 yard touchdown. He later found McManus and Hyleck Foster on 15 yard touchdowns during red-zone play.
Holcombe completed 13 of 21 passes on the day for 77 yards and one touchdown. Holcombe also scored on a 15 yard quarterback keeper when he fooled the entire defense by pulling the ball from the ball carrier. Holcombe's touchdown pass went to Emanuel Byrd in the back corner of the end-zone from 15 yards out.
For the first time this spring, Litton looked like a true freshman out there. Struggling all day long, Litton only managed to complete 8 of 17 passes for 57 yards and no touchdowns while throwing two interceptions.
The interceptions came at the hands of Shawn Petty and Rowe. Petty stepped in front of the receiver and returned it 25 yards for the "pick six." "I've been telling him (Litton) all spring long we were going to link up (laughing)," Petty said.
Rowe's interception came in the red-zone at the goal line when he undercut the receiver at the last second.
For the second practice in a row, Tony Pittman looked like a man on a mission out there. "He's finally starting to play physical and that's his game. I saw that on Saturday at the Greenbrier and again today. He's a big, strong, physical guy and when he plays like that he's a good football player," Holliday said of his sophomore running-back.
One player that paid the price of Pittman's physical style was Stefan Houston. On a two yard run up the middle Pittman met Houston in the hole and absolutely "chilled" him knocking Houston's helmet flying into the air and leaving him lay on the ground. Houston would need help to the sidelines and did not return to practice after the hit. Pittman also "trucked" Taj Letman on another run en route to the secondary.
Coach Holliday did comment on the status of defensive line Coach JC Price.
"He's tough, but he has to be smart. He has to do what the doctors tell him to do and he'll be down for a few days."
Marshall will return to the practice field Thursday at 3:30pm and then hold their Big Green/Season Ticket Holders/Students Scrimmage Saturday morning at 9:45am.
Tuesday marked Marshall's tenth practice of the spring and for the seventh time out of their first ten practices, Coach Doc Holliday and company had to move practice inside of the Chris Cline Athletic Complex due to inclement weather.
With over half of their 15 planned practices and first official scrimmage of the spring in the books, the depth chart is starting to take shape at certain positions.
After a very spirited and intense scrimmage on Saturday at The Greenbrier, I was sort of expecting a letdown today.
Coach Scott Sinclair made sure that didn't happen by setting the tone early on during warm-ups encouraging the players to "love the process" in a very "Coach Sinclair" type way.
After warm-ups, the skill players and quarterbacks went into "skeleton" passing drills, the defensive backs and linebackers worked on technique, and the offensive and defensive lines along with the tight ends went into the "Herd" drill.
One player stands above everyone else in this drill as well as most of the time.
Sandley Jean-Felix is an absolute monster and when he locks in against a defender its game over. Jean-Felix destroyed Armonze Daniel and Joe Massaquoi during the drill.
Other players who stood out during this portion of practice were Jarquez Samuel and Blake Keller. Samuel handled Sebastian Johansson on back-to-back occasions and Keller beat Ryan Yurachek twice on his way to the ball carrier.
As I stated above, the depth chart is starting to take shape and it all starts up front with the lines. The first-team offensive line today (from left to right) was Jean-Felix, Johansson, Michael Selby, Nate Devers, and Tom Collins. Collins is playing in place of Clint Van Horn who is resting this spring at the coach's discretion.
The second-team offensive line was Eric Ansley, Fred Binot, Cody Collins, Jordan Dowrey, and Tyler Combs. I'd say the battle between Devers, Dowrey, and possibly Cody Collins will go into the fall, but the rest of the offensive line is locked up.
The defensive line rotation isn't quite as settled with Gary Thompson recovering from off-season surgery, but seems to be taking shape. Daniel, Steve Dillon, Samuel and Keller made up the first-team with Damien Dozier, Tomell One, Ricardo Williams, and Ryan Bee taking the majority of the second-team reps.
During the first portion of "team" drills, the quarterbacks and receivers went against defensive backs in one-on-one drills while the offensive line and running backs took on the front-seven of the defense.
The offense and defense both had highlights during this session.
Deon-Tay McManus made an incredible one-handed back shoulder catch with a defender draped all over him. Josh Knight went over top of Chris Williams-Hall to snag a Gunnar Holcombe pass out of the air. Speaking of Knight, he had his best practice of the spring catching all but one pass thrown his way.
The defense made plays too, intercepting Holcombe twice. Antavis Rowe beat the receiver on a deep throw to intercept the ball and Williams-Hall undercut a slot route to pick off the pass.
In the "run game" drill, the offensive line was very effective creating holes for the running-backs.
One battle that continues to be won is the place kicker job. Nick Smith had another strong showing going five for seven on the day. He pulled one kick left and had another blocked off the edge by Rowe.
Amoreto Curraj had his best kicking performance of the spring on Tuesday. The red-shirt sophomore hit all four of his kicks from beyond 40 yards. One kick specifically from 42 yards would've been good from an estimated 65 yards and that may be a little short. "He's been a little more consistent than I even thought he would be to this point," Holliday said of Curraj.
Regardless of Curraj's solid day, Smith still holds a sizable advantage here.
The battle that's been most interesting to the Herd faithful all spring is the competition to replace Rakeem Cato.
Well, if today was any indication of how things are going on that front then the wait for a starter to be named could be coming to an end. Michael Birdsong only took reps with the first-team while Holcombe and Chase Litton split snaps with the second-team.
Birdsong finished 11/19 for 212 yards and three touchdowns during the team scrimmage portion of practice. On his third snap, Birdsong found Davonte Allen streaking across the middle of the field on a post route for a 70 yard touchdown. He later found McManus and Hyleck Foster on 15 yard touchdowns during red-zone play.
Holcombe completed 13 of 21 passes on the day for 77 yards and one touchdown. Holcombe also scored on a 15 yard quarterback keeper when he fooled the entire defense by pulling the ball from the ball carrier. Holcombe's touchdown pass went to Emanuel Byrd in the back corner of the end-zone from 15 yards out.
For the first time this spring, Litton looked like a true freshman out there. Struggling all day long, Litton only managed to complete 8 of 17 passes for 57 yards and no touchdowns while throwing two interceptions.
The interceptions came at the hands of Shawn Petty and Rowe. Petty stepped in front of the receiver and returned it 25 yards for the "pick six." "I've been telling him (Litton) all spring long we were going to link up (laughing)," Petty said.
Rowe's interception came in the red-zone at the goal line when he undercut the receiver at the last second.
For the second practice in a row, Tony Pittman looked like a man on a mission out there. "He's finally starting to play physical and that's his game. I saw that on Saturday at the Greenbrier and again today. He's a big, strong, physical guy and when he plays like that he's a good football player," Holliday said of his sophomore running-back.
One player that paid the price of Pittman's physical style was Stefan Houston. On a two yard run up the middle Pittman met Houston in the hole and absolutely "chilled" him knocking Houston's helmet flying into the air and leaving him lay on the ground. Houston would need help to the sidelines and did not return to practice after the hit. Pittman also "trucked" Taj Letman on another run en route to the secondary.
Coach Holliday did comment on the status of defensive line Coach JC Price.
"He's tough, but he has to be smart. He has to do what the doctors tell him to do and he'll be down for a few days."
Marshall will return to the practice field Thursday at 3:30pm and then hold their Big Green/Season Ticket Holders/Students Scrimmage Saturday morning at 9:45am.
