Or at least high in the stands out of the sun, as Tyrone Willingham allowed the media to view practice on Saturday for the first time since the first practice of the season. How did it go? Well, as one other writer commented, “Maybe we can ask Tyrone not to open practice anymore.”
It was pretty ugly, at least if you’re looking for improvement from the offense. The good news is, Willingham said this was not typical to how practices have been going. The bad news is, it sure looked typical to how games went last season. He felt like the offense struggled getting used to the new rules concerning getting the ball in play after a dead ball, and also was hurt by a depth problem at receiver (Marcel Reece was out with an infected blister and Cody Ellis was out with a slightly fractured clavicle).
None of the quarterbacks looked good, and left little to get very excited about. Jake Locker had the most exciting play, a 71-yard touchdown pass to Marlon Wood that went 50 yards in the air, and Isaiah Stanback also led a scoring drive. But mostly, it was a defensive day. The running game was mostly non-existent, though Louis Rankin had a nice touchdown off a screen pass. The defensive line seemed to mostly have its way with the offensive line, though Willingham said he was pleased with how the line protected on blitz drills. Passes by all four quarterbacks were not sharp at all. Johnny DuRocher still looked woefully slow to release the ball and very inaccurate, and Stanback, Locker and Carl Bonnell weren’t much better.
On the other hand, if you love defensive football, it was an encouraging day, except for the fact that Greyson Gunheim suffered a knee injury during a special teams drill. The seriousness of it wasn’t known but Gunheim looked pretty slow moving around after it and even if it’s a sprain, that could mean he could miss several weeks, which would be bad news considering he’s one of the better defenders on the team.
But the defensive line was solid, getting after the quarterback several times (Caesar Rayford made a couple of nice plays) and the secondary – even without Dashon Goldson, who was held out – was solid. Roy Lewis made an outstanding play on a pass and Scott White had a good practice, breaking up two passes and interception a Bonnell pass.
There were several big hits, including one by Linus Chou on a coverage play in which he ran right over Luke Kravitz, and another when Jason Wells leveled Corey Williams who had jumped high for a Stanback pass.
Sean Douglas looked great punting the ball and Michael Braunstein actually looked pretty good on kickoffs.
Overall, it was a discouraging day because every day, the media hears how well the team is doing and how much progress is made, but unfortunately the one time we got to see them, it looked very much like the team we saw last year. It could be, as Willingham said, just a sloppy day in what has otherwise been a good camp, but with the history of the program, it’s hard to buy into that too much.
In terms of the depth chart, there were a couple of surprises. The biggest may have been Chris Hemphill being on the first team at safety rather than Jason Wells. We’d been told this week that Wells was practicing with the first team. Freshman Cameron Elisara was on the second team defensive line, but that has more to do with injuries at that position. Overall, this is how things seemed to be set:
First team offense: Isaiah Stanback (QB), Louis Rankin (RB), Sonny Shackelford (WR), Anthony Russo (WR) and Corey Williams (WR), Michael Gottlieb (TE), Chad Macklin and Ben Ossai (OT), Stanley Daniels and Clay Walker (OG) and Juan Garcia (C).
First-team defense: Greyson Gunheim and Daniel Te’o-Nesheim (DE), Donny Mateaki and Wilson Afoa (DT), Chris Stevens, Tahj Bomar and Dan Howell (LB), Roy Lewis and Matt Foutaine (CB) and C.J. Wallace and Chris Hemphill (S).
Second-team offense: Carl Bonnell (QB), Kenny James (RB), Luke Kravitz (FB), Alex Mercier and Marlon Wood (WR), Johnie Kirton (TE), Morgan Rosborough and Erik Berglund (OT), William Kava and Casey Bulyca (OG) and Ryan Bush (C).
Second-team defense: Caesar Rayford and Walt Winter (DE), Jordan Reffett and Cameron Elisara (DT), E.J. Savannah, Scott White and Trenton Tuiasosopo (LB), Durell Moss and Jordan Murchison (CB) and Jason Wells and Mesphin Forrester (S).
The offense did try Johnie Kirton out of the backfield on one short-yardage situation, but the former Jackson High star failed to get two yards and the first down.
Marlon Wood, Sonny Shackelford and D’Andre Goodwin were the primary punt returners and Wood, Matt Fountaine and Roy Lewis were in on kick returns.
Ashlee Palmer and Anthony Atkins were on the sideline and it’s likely that they will be with the team by Monday or Tuesday. Of course, they would still have to go through the 5-day acclimation period, and it would be a surprise if they were ready to go by the season-opener.
Former coach Jim Lambright also attended the practice, as did injured cornerback Josh Okoebor.
Wilson Afoa and Sean Douglas wore gold jerseys during the practice.
Incidentally, for you Husky basketball fans, when we were on our way to the media work room in Hec Ed after the post-practice meeting with Willingham, Joe Wolfinger was on the court by himself working on his game. This was a bit after 6 p.m. and he was there until about 7.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
