Posting from my laptop in Knoxville - went to the scrimmage

[IndianVol]

and yes, it was open. I watched pretty intently, and I'll post my thoughts:

The good:

- The OL looked good at run blocking. Much better than I saw them in a practice last year at about the same time. I thought Pope looked comfortable at tackle (I think he was the guy with the long hair). Douglas is very tall and lean, he did not look like an OL out there, but he was effective at run blocking

- DE's. Chris Walker did indeed look "unblockable" like Kiffin has been saying. He isn't very big, but man he has a great first step, and they were having trouble all day with him. He was just flat causing havoc. Martin also looked good. Walker also tipped a pass I think

- DTs. Montori Hughes was dominant. This kid is a freshman? He looked about 6'7, 320 lbs to me. He was blowing everything up, and I think had 3 TFLs, a sack, and PBU. This kid has got to start. I am not sure how much Dan Williams played, I did not see him out there that much. Wes Brown played some and went off with an injury. He did not impress me. I don't know how they can keep Hughes off the field. He's a freaking Giant.

- Overall this defense will be very good, They fly to the ball. Even the linebackers looked good to me, although none stood out.I did like the quickness of Herman Lathers.

- BJ Coleman - I know I am on record as saying he is better than JC, but he did look a lot better to me than JC did. Granted he did not throw a lot of passes downfield, but he played under control and did not make mistakes. He also drove the team for 4 of their 5 scores. I think this is key - the guy finished drives with scores.

- Out of the receivers, I thought Moore, Maples, Jones, and Hancock looked the best. No one really wowed me, but then it looked like they were working on screens, and short passes - because they did not attempt much downfield. The TEs were ok - one of them made a spectacular catch, but I could not tell who it was.

- Toney Williams. This kid is for real, and quite honestly, looked like the best of the 3 backs to me today. He has good speed, hits the hole hard, and does not fumble.

- Secondary looked good, but I am not sure we saw the real secondary out there, as Berry did not play. One kid named Furlow made some plays.


The bad:

- Turnovers. The offense turned it over I think.... 5 times. 3 were fumbles, two were interceptions. JC threw a horrible int, absolutely horrible. Poole looked good running, but had two fumbles, one of them was just silly - carrying it wrong. Hardesty did not seem to do much.

- Crompton. He looked just like he did last year. When the pressure was on he panicked and threw poorly. He was innacurate (I think he completed about half the passes, and most of them were short passes). The int he threw was nowhere near his receiver. I could go on and on, but I really don't see how Kiffin can keep JC as our starter based on what we saw out of him in live action today. He looked pathetic. We will not win with him at QB. BJ can at least manage the game. Nick did not play.

- Kicking game did not look particularly good to me. I think this will improve.

- Pass blocking, and blocking on screens were not good. I am not sure if it was due to the Defense being good or the OL being not up to speed.

[ONUV]

chris donald?

[volchef]

Thank you for the information IV! Any information on why Berry did not play? I'd read the turnover statistics from the offense earlier and am quite dismayed at the hole Foolmore and Company left us in, but I think we all knew this. We've got to find a guy who can simply hand the ball off cleanly and pray that BB does not fumble.

OL is a huge weakness and possibly the most distressing thing about the former regime's years here. How could a man who played OL for UT leave us in such horrible shambles at that position? A good OL could make even JC servicable to some extent. Phil gave us the biggest big orange screw job in history and more and more I think Lane is going to discover it. I hope, for his own sake, he can salvage something.....or that NS or BJC can manage the game to an extent where we aren't embarassed. I'm concerned. I know we will be better this year.....but you've confirmed my worst fears that Phil left us in a terrible, terrible hole.

[wagee12]

Have already heard an almost identical summation from my media source in Knoxville. Crompton looked like, well Crompton.
Berry is rehabbing from minor shoulder surgery and is not participating in any contact work this spring.
Coaches Chaney and Kiffin have already been quoted as saying that they intended to work on the short passing game only today. The tight end who IV say make the great catch is a walkon from David Lipscomb.
Starting left guard Vlad Richard was also held out today because of a slight concussion after he was kicked in the head on Tuesday. I would like to see him go one on one with Montori Hughes.

Indian, did Crompton help to cause one fumble with a shoddy handoff. Also, did you see Crompton fumble once himself.
Stephens was held out today. I believe this is a precaution on the part of the staff because they know that Stephens must compete for the starting job and they didn't want to risk another set back with his wrist.

[GhenghisVol]

Thanks Indy, great report!

Not surprised about Toney Williams, the film I saw on the kid was amazing.

Also not surprised about Crompton (see my post below) I do get that Kiffin is trying to instill some confidence in the guy, but gheez, at some point you just have to call a spade a spade. He's a 5th year senior, and still sucks? Maybe the high praise for JC will push BJ and Stephens even harder. It would be nice to see these guys throwing downfield OCCASIONALLY to see what we're capable of.

I dont get the outstanding reports we've had on the OL, and it looked like Hardesty had a bad day 10/29 or something like that. Makes you wonder what these reporters are seeing, or maybe they're all just drinking the Koolaid?

[sprty3]

Quite a Comparison: Former UT defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth, who recently signed a $100 million contract with the Washington Redskins after seven seasons with the Tennessee Titans, watched the scrimmage.

Kiffin said seeing Haynesworth alongside freshman defensive tackle Montori Hughes caught his eye.

"I saw those two guys around each other," Kiffin said. "They're built about the same. It was pretty cool, I thought, to see him (Hughes) dominant like that and see the best in the world 10 yards away watching him."

Damn if Hughes is anywhere near the player that Big Albert is, we will all be pleasantly surprised..

Hardesty only saw minimal playing time cuz Chaney says he has already showed what he is about in the 1st 8 practices..They wanted to see how the younger guys handled things..

Said Poole really ran well but he better learn to hold onto the ball or he is gonna hate him..lol. Bet he gets it real soon by the sound of that..

[wagee12]

Hardesty was limited today, I think CLK noted that they have a good handle on what the senior can do and they just wanted to see Poole and Williams handle most of the carries today.
One more bad scrimmage for Ruff Tuff ought to do the trick. I think he's teetering on the edge right now. Randy Moore says that Coleman was super sharp with his throws today.

[IndianVol]

Thanks Indy, great report!

Not surprised about Toney Williams, the film I saw on the kid was amazing.

Also not surprised about Crompton (see my post below) I do get that Kiffin is trying to instill some confidence in the guy, but gheez, at some point you just have to call a spade a spade. He's a 5th year senior, and still sucks? Maybe the high praise for JC will push BJ and Stephens even harder. It would be nice to see these guys throwing downfield OCCASIONALLY to see what we're capable of.

I dont get the outstanding reports we've had on the OL, and it looked like Hardesty had a bad day 10/29 or something like that. Makes you wonder what these reporters are seeing, or maybe they're all just drinking the Koolaid?


On the OL, Gengy, I actually left with some optimism. The run blocking was good, and they finished blocks, I was watching this very intently. On the pass blocking, either we have some beasts on the DL, or we really need to shore that up.

[IndianVol]

Have already heard an almost identical summation from my media source in Knoxville. Crompton looked like, well Crompton.
Berry is rehabbing from minor shoulder surgery and is not participating in any contact work this spring.
Coaches Chaney and Kiffin have already been quoted as saying that they intended to work on the short passing game only today. The tight end who IV say make the great catch is a walkon from David Lipscomb.
Starting left guard Vlad Richard was also held out today because of a slight concussion after he was kicked in the head on Tuesday. I would like to see him go one on one with Montori Hughes.

Indian, did Crompton help to cause one fumble with a shoddy handoff. Also, did you see Crompton fumble once himself.
Stephens was held out today. I believe this is a precaution on the part of the staff because they know that Stephens must compete for the starting job and they didn't want to risk another set back with his wrist.


yes I forgot to mention Crompton did seem to botch a handoff which led to a fumble, but I think he recovered it himself. I don't remember Crompton fumble one himself, but he did get two batted away - one by Walker and one by Hughes.

[sprty3]

My guess is they are trying to keep Crompton the front runner for the sake of recruiting. A guy is more than likely to sign if he is coming into a program with a senior QB. I don't really think Crompton will be behind center once somebody commits and starts recruiting for us..

[IndianVol]

Thank you for the information IV! Any information on why Berry did not play? I'd read the turnover statistics from the offense earlier and am quite dismayed at the hole Foolmore and Company left us in, but I think we all knew this. We've got to find a guy who can simply hand the ball off cleanly and pray that BB does not fumble.

OL is a huge weakness and possibly the most distressing thing about the former regime's years here. How could a man who played OL for UT leave us in such horrible shambles at that position? A good OL could make even JC servicable to some extent. Phil gave us the biggest big orange screw job in history and more and more I think Lane is going to discover it. I hope, for his own sake, he can salvage something.....or that NS or BJC can manage the game to an extent where we aren't embarassed. I'm concerned. I know we will be better this year.....but you've confirmed my worst fears that Phil left us in a terrible, terrible hole.

I am sure Berry is being held out due to the surgery he had. I am not worried about Berry, he is one guy who does not need the reps.

[Tornado89]

Indian thanks good report..........what's up with Brandon Warren. Is he even in the mix?

[wkuvol]

I bet that JC is the leader through the summer at which time we will hopefully have the commit of our choice of re QB's. They will quickly demote JC when 2-a-days start. I would bet it would be easier to explain the change to a prep QB that has committed than one who hasn't.

[Niblick]

- Crompton. He looked just like he did last year. When the pressure was on he panicked and threw poorly. He was innacurate (I think he completed about half the passes, and most of them were short passes). The int he threw was nowhere near his receiver. I could go on and on, but I really don't see how Kiffin can keep JC as our starter based on what we saw out of him in live action today. He looked pathetic. We will not win with him at QB. BJ can at least manage the game. Nick did not play.


that, to me is actually the best news I could hear. I've been hoping he doesnt come in this year in the spring and do just enough for LK to throw him back in there. This is music to my ears cuz i never wanna see him take another snap in Orange.

[GhenghisVol]

Please ID that link Niblick.

[Sun Tzu Vol]

Thanks Indy, great report!

[Chatta Vol]

You da man IV!

I appreciate the effort. Nice report.

[IndianVol]

- Crompton. He looked just like he did last year. When the pressure was on he panicked and threw poorly. He was innacurate (I think he completed about half the passes, and most of them were short passes). The int he threw was nowhere near his receiver. I could go on and on, but I really don't see how Kiffin can keep JC as our starter based on what we saw out of him in live action today. He looked pathetic. We will not win with him at QB. BJ can at least manage the game. Nick did not play.


that, to me is actually the best news I could hear. I've been hoping he doesnt come in this year in the spring and do just enough for LK to throw him back in there. This is music to my ears cuz i never wanna see him take another snap in Orange.


To me our QB does not have to be a playmaker, just be efficient and limit mistakes. JC isn't the guy who can do that, he gets rattled and is innacurate. If it's not BJ, let's see what Nick can do.

[Niblick]

Please ID that link Niblick.

i dont know what ya mean, but if you tell me what youre talkin about ill do it

[GhenghisVol]

Identify the link.

If its a link to OSU football then please say so, and you will waste fewer people's time.
Thanks.

[johnnylongball]

Thanks very much for the eyewitness report. Very informative.

[IndianVol]

Indian thanks good report..........what's up with Brandon Warren. Is he even in the mix?

He played, I think he had a couple of catches. Nothing exceptional.

[LWSVOL]

and yes, it was open. I watched pretty intently, and I'll post my thoughts:

The good:

- The OL looked good at run blocking. Much better than I saw them in a practice last year at about the same time. I thought Pope looked comfortable at tackle (I think he was the guy with the long hair). Douglas is very tall and lean, he did not look like an OL out there, but he was effective at run blocking

- DE's. Chris Walker did indeed look "unblockable" like Kiffin has been saying. He isn't very big, but man he has a great first step, and they were having trouble all day with him. He was just flat causing havoc. Martin also looked good. Walker also tipped a pass I think

- DTs. Montori Hughes was dominant. This kid is a freshman? He looked about 6'7, 320 lbs to me. He was blowing everything up, and I think had 3 TFLs, a sack, and PBU. This kid has got to start. I am not sure how much Dan Williams played, I did not see him out there that much. Wes Brown played some and went off with an injury. He did not impress me. I don't know how they can keep Hughes off the field. He's a freaking Giant.

- Overall this defense will be very good, They fly to the ball. Even the linebackers looked good to me, although none stood out.I did like the quickness of Herman Lathers.

- BJ Coleman - I know I am on record as saying he is better than JC, but he did look a lot better to me than JC did. Granted he did not throw a lot of passes downfield, but he played under control and did not make mistakes. He also drove the team for 4 of their 5 scores. I think this is key - the guy finished drives with scores.

- Out of the receivers, I thought Moore, Maples, Jones, and Hancock looked the best. No one really wowed me, but then it looked like they were working on screens, and short passes - because they did not attempt much downfield. The TEs were ok - one of them made a spectacular catch, but I could not tell who it was.

- Toney Williams. This kid is for real, and quite honestly, looked like the best of the 3 backs to me today. He has good speed, hits the hole hard, and does not fumble.

- Secondary looked good, but I am not sure we saw the real secondary out there, as Berry did not play. One kid named Furlow made some plays.


The bad:

- Turnovers. The offense turned it over I think.... 5 times. 3 were fumbles, two were interceptions. JC threw a horrible int, absolutely horrible. Poole looked good running, but had two fumbles, one of them was just silly - carrying it wrong. Hardesty did not seem to do much.

- Crompton. He looked just like he did last year. When the pressure was on he panicked and threw poorly. He was innacurate (I think he completed about half the passes, and most of them were short passes). The int he threw was nowhere near his receiver. I could go on and on, but I really don't see how Kiffin can keep JC as our starter based on what we saw out of him in live action today. He looked pathetic. We will not win with him at QB. BJ can at least manage the game. Nick did not play.

- Kicking game did not look particularly good to me. I think this will improve.

- Pass blocking, and blocking on screens were not good. I am not sure if it was due to the Defense being good or the OL being not up to speed.


Nice observations, good report and consistent with others..

TE was a walk-on that made that catch..

Chaney did say they were focusing on short passing game today. that was the script for this scrimmage

[VolFrannie]

and it looked like Hardesty had a bad day 10/29 or something like that.

Hardesty was held back according to CLK because they know how good he's doing and they wanted to see more from the other guys.

Thanks for the first hand info, Indian.

[SoftballVol]

One more bad scrimmage for Ruff Tuff ought to do the trick. I think he's teetering on the edge right now.
If so that begs the question as to what the Little League parents will do if JC teeters off the edge and back onto the bench. We're talking about a pair of parents whose history is rich with Bad Parent Syndrome actions. No reason to believe that they will for once in their lives shut the heck up this time around. Who will they blame this time? CLK? All he's done is give their son every opportunity to win the job. Nick Stephens? All he did was get himself injured the day before spring practice in order to ensure that JC got even more reps. Dave Clawson? He's not around. Same for Dave Cutcliffe. If they want to blame someone I'd start with the Swami. He's the idiot who in the face of all the evidence kept telling them that JC was the best QB on the team.

[SoftballVol]

Identify the link.

If its a link to OSU football then please say so, and you will waste fewer people's time.
Thanks.
G - he was quoting Indian above. First post in this thread.

[dd4vols]

TRUE GRIT....a man with a broken hip....still on OM! you da man LWS!!!

[Little Dipper]

Douglas is very tall and lean, he did not look like an OL out there, but he was effective at run blocking.



I think the era of the "Michelin Man" lineman is over at UT. If you look at the USC OL, most of the guys are tall, rangy, and some even look thin. We'll probably have some of the MM types until Kiffin gets all of his recruits in.