NOTE: We were asked by ASU to not report on the two-deep observed in practice due to various injuries. Please don’t ask any questions on this topic since we cannot answer them. Please don’t speculate on the message board about any players that may or may not be available. Thank you for your understanding.
Caleb with the session’s report:
Today's practice has the players in helmets, shoulder pads, and shorts as the team got to work on a breezy morning. After the stretch lines, the usual special teams period ensued, with the field split up as it is most Wednesdays. Assistant coach Charlie Ragle was working with Dee Ford and Jordan Clark, especially on punt blocking. This is something we’ve seen in practice, but aggressiveness is what was wanted during the rushing drill.
As the special teams went about their way, the offensive line group looked a lot more focused this morning. As one of the more vocal coaches, Saga Tuitele was almost constantly reminding the guys, "Snapping our hips!”. With a lot of rotation on the line, today, in particular, saw Aaron Frost get a lot of coaching attention as the Nevada transfer might find himself getting some snaps Saturday as solidifications are still not entirely in place.
While the special teams period was going on, the defensive line was getting their day started on the other field. The defensive line under Vince Amey’s direction was going over a lot of their movement for this week's contest. The interesting thing here was Anthonie Cooper was back in full participation as he has been out of practice in recent weeks. This addition adds some depth if he is listed to play on Saturday.
Ball security preceded the tempo period, where the defense was the main point of focus for the coaching staff. The usual open field tackling drills were in place, with some fumble recovery added in for the defense. Amey repeated, “Scoop and score!”. Kenny Dillingham also got involved in the loud encouragement, adding for the defense to set the tone as they have most practices and especially in games seen last week against Oklahoma State.
The tempo period followed ball security, where Dillingham set up the offense very situational as a two-minute drill was in place. Dillingham continuously reminded his players to recognize the situation. The offense was able to move the ball, even converting on a fourth down. Here, linebacker James Djonkam had a tipped ball. Will Shaffer got involved with a near pick in the end zone. The offense did eventually score though, with a roll out back endzone throw complete to Xavier Guillory.
After the shorter than usual tempo portion, there was an inside run period. The beginning of the period looks good for the offense as there were some good holes for the combination of running backs to run in. Today saw a lot more of George Hart III getting carries. The latter half of the period saw a little more jumbling, if you will, up front, though don't know if by design, but that's how it ended before some balls were thrown.
The team on both sides got into individual drills. Starting with the defense line, the line was working against double teams from some scout team O-line. After that, it practiced shedding blocks and moving forward. Defensive ends during this time were going through the run game coverage and screen coverage.
Safeties were going through a lot of zone coverages with defensive coordinator Brian Ward. Here there was a lot of communication as there were a lot of handoffs in a zone perspective. Ward moving around himself, giving the players a visual. Linebackers also worked on coverages partnering some blitz looks.
On the offensive side, wide receivers were busy with the usual footwork as Ra’Shaad Samples was vocal all day. “Stay under control,” and “Change of speed, change of speed.” Receiver Shawn Charles also got some attention as he was instructed to stay vertical. As mentioned yesterday, Charles has been moving up the depth chart.
As receivers moved with the quarterbacks, balls looked a lot better today as there were very few incompletions and no issue with underthrown balls like yesterday. Things moved very efficiently as receivers also looked very in sync. Jordyn Tyson, who is working back from an ACL injury suffered last November, continues to get more involved in drills every week.
Jason Mohns was working with the tight ends as Ryan Morgan has really stepped up this week in his overall play adding to the already somewhat deep tight end group. Mohns repeated, “Snap your eyes back,” on a lot of the movements and routes they were running.
Lastly with the offense. Before team segments ran the course of the rest of the practice, the offensive line, led by Tuitele, passed off blocks on their drill. Graduate assistant Steve Miller had an encouraging message for the lineman, saying, “The hard way, the hard way! The easy way isn’t going to get you s**t”.
A team segment eventually followed with the offense looking in command with not as many miscues. Gio Sanders, Andre Johnson, and Morgan were all getting involved today as it seems the depth at a lot of the offensive skilled positions are starting to, in some senses, get deeper. During these periods, there was some scout team work before some plays were run on air to establish rhythm like yesterday.
Looking at a two-receiver on two defensive back competition style segments, the offense was on point, having four straight completions in a red zone situation. The defense caught up a bit with Keith Abney II having a near pick and fellow freshman Keontez Bradley playing very physical. The offense won the period, but some might blame it on some defensive backs wearing what looked like snow mitts to eliminate holding penalties tendencies.
After some seven-on-seven from outside the red zone, some red zone seven-on-seven had some great plays to highlight on the defensive side. Ro Torrence and Will Shaffer both had nice pass breakups. Dillingham told Torrence, “Nobody should throw red zone on you; you're too long."
Both sides of the ball ended practice against scout teams as usual on Wednesdays. It was a bit of a flipped script from yesterday as safety Chris Edmonds said after practice that the last two days have been the best practices for the defense. A good end on a Wednesday as the team tries to play spoiler on Fresno State's 11-game win streak. The nuts and bolts have to be tightened before Saturday.
Caleb with the session’s report:
Today's practice has the players in helmets, shoulder pads, and shorts as the team got to work on a breezy morning. After the stretch lines, the usual special teams period ensued, with the field split up as it is most Wednesdays. Assistant coach Charlie Ragle was working with Dee Ford and Jordan Clark, especially on punt blocking. This is something we’ve seen in practice, but aggressiveness is what was wanted during the rushing drill.
As the special teams went about their way, the offensive line group looked a lot more focused this morning. As one of the more vocal coaches, Saga Tuitele was almost constantly reminding the guys, "Snapping our hips!”. With a lot of rotation on the line, today, in particular, saw Aaron Frost get a lot of coaching attention as the Nevada transfer might find himself getting some snaps Saturday as solidifications are still not entirely in place.
While the special teams period was going on, the defensive line was getting their day started on the other field. The defensive line under Vince Amey’s direction was going over a lot of their movement for this week's contest. The interesting thing here was Anthonie Cooper was back in full participation as he has been out of practice in recent weeks. This addition adds some depth if he is listed to play on Saturday.
Ball security preceded the tempo period, where the defense was the main point of focus for the coaching staff. The usual open field tackling drills were in place, with some fumble recovery added in for the defense. Amey repeated, “Scoop and score!”. Kenny Dillingham also got involved in the loud encouragement, adding for the defense to set the tone as they have most practices and especially in games seen last week against Oklahoma State.
The tempo period followed ball security, where Dillingham set up the offense very situational as a two-minute drill was in place. Dillingham continuously reminded his players to recognize the situation. The offense was able to move the ball, even converting on a fourth down. Here, linebacker James Djonkam had a tipped ball. Will Shaffer got involved with a near pick in the end zone. The offense did eventually score though, with a roll out back endzone throw complete to Xavier Guillory.
After the shorter than usual tempo portion, there was an inside run period. The beginning of the period looks good for the offense as there were some good holes for the combination of running backs to run in. Today saw a lot more of George Hart III getting carries. The latter half of the period saw a little more jumbling, if you will, up front, though don't know if by design, but that's how it ended before some balls were thrown.
The team on both sides got into individual drills. Starting with the defense line, the line was working against double teams from some scout team O-line. After that, it practiced shedding blocks and moving forward. Defensive ends during this time were going through the run game coverage and screen coverage.
Safeties were going through a lot of zone coverages with defensive coordinator Brian Ward. Here there was a lot of communication as there were a lot of handoffs in a zone perspective. Ward moving around himself, giving the players a visual. Linebackers also worked on coverages partnering some blitz looks.
On the offensive side, wide receivers were busy with the usual footwork as Ra’Shaad Samples was vocal all day. “Stay under control,” and “Change of speed, change of speed.” Receiver Shawn Charles also got some attention as he was instructed to stay vertical. As mentioned yesterday, Charles has been moving up the depth chart.
As receivers moved with the quarterbacks, balls looked a lot better today as there were very few incompletions and no issue with underthrown balls like yesterday. Things moved very efficiently as receivers also looked very in sync. Jordyn Tyson, who is working back from an ACL injury suffered last November, continues to get more involved in drills every week.
Jason Mohns was working with the tight ends as Ryan Morgan has really stepped up this week in his overall play adding to the already somewhat deep tight end group. Mohns repeated, “Snap your eyes back,” on a lot of the movements and routes they were running.
Lastly with the offense. Before team segments ran the course of the rest of the practice, the offensive line, led by Tuitele, passed off blocks on their drill. Graduate assistant Steve Miller had an encouraging message for the lineman, saying, “The hard way, the hard way! The easy way isn’t going to get you s**t”.
A team segment eventually followed with the offense looking in command with not as many miscues. Gio Sanders, Andre Johnson, and Morgan were all getting involved today as it seems the depth at a lot of the offensive skilled positions are starting to, in some senses, get deeper. During these periods, there was some scout team work before some plays were run on air to establish rhythm like yesterday.
Looking at a two-receiver on two defensive back competition style segments, the offense was on point, having four straight completions in a red zone situation. The defense caught up a bit with Keith Abney II having a near pick and fellow freshman Keontez Bradley playing very physical. The offense won the period, but some might blame it on some defensive backs wearing what looked like snow mitts to eliminate holding penalties tendencies.
After some seven-on-seven from outside the red zone, some red zone seven-on-seven had some great plays to highlight on the defensive side. Ro Torrence and Will Shaffer both had nice pass breakups. Dillingham told Torrence, “Nobody should throw red zone on you; you're too long."
Both sides of the ball ended practice against scout teams as usual on Wednesdays. It was a bit of a flipped script from yesterday as safety Chris Edmonds said after practice that the last two days have been the best practices for the defense. A good end on a Wednesday as the team tries to play spoiler on Fresno State's 11-game win streak. The nuts and bolts have to be tightened before Saturday.
