Team was still in helmets and shoulder pads and in the Dickey Dome due to the slick fields.
Personnel news:
As I reported, sophomore quarterback Jayden Daniels missed Wednesday practice as he drove back home to attend the funeral for both of his grandparents, who passed away. He was at practice not dressed as he goes through Covid protocols to be cleared from coming back from out of state. I don’t know when he can resume practices as he has to have multiple negative tests. Fair to assume that he will return to action next week, just not sure what day.
Redshirt freshman defensive lineman Amiri Johnson was doing conditioning drills on the side, as was senior safety Evan Fields.
Junior defensive lineman Tyler Johnson is out of the entire spring (knee)
Redshirt defensive tackle Stephon Wright out of the arm sling, still not dressed.
Freshman offensive lineman Sioene Veikoso still out (ankle), but there is a chance that he can practice next week once the team doctor clears him. Obviously, he will have to go through an acclimation period, and it will be several days until he can put pads on, but for a newcomer such as himself who was out of football the last two years while on an LDS mission, any little bit he can do in the spring will be helpful.
Sophomore offensive lineman Dohnovan West participated early on in practice but sat out the rest of the night. Not sure if he was hurt or not.
Did not see freshman offensive lineman Triston Miller.
Freshman cornerback Macen Williams was not dressed.
Sophomore wide receiver Ricky Pearsall who didn't finish practice due to an undisclosed injury two days ago, wasn’t dressed.
Sophomore defensive back Willie Harts and junior defensive lineman Jermayne Lole both not at practice due to personal reasons.
Looking at the footage I took from the 11 on 11, here's the two-deep:
First team offense
QB Daylin Mclemore, Trenton Bourguet, and Finn Collins rotated.
RB the three that rotated were Chip Trayanum, Rachaad White, and Daniyel Ngata
OL from left to right Kellen Diesch, LaDarius Henderson, Cody Shear, Henry Hattis, and Ben Scott
WR Geordon Porter
WR LV Bunkley-Shelton
WR Andre Johnson
TE Curtis Hodges
Fullback Case Hatch was in two tight-end sets; Johnny Wilson was in there too at times with the first team.
First team defense
Right defensive end Travez Moore
3-technique Shannon Forman
Nose DJ Davidson
Left Right defensive end Michael Matus
LB Merlin Robertson
LB Darien Butler
LB Kyle Soelle
S DeAndre Pierce
S Cam Phillips
CB Chase Lucas
CB Jack Jones
Lucas took some nickel reps with Jones and Tiamrcus Davis beside him. Kejuan Markham rotated with Phillips at safety.
Second team offense
QB Daylin Mclemore, Trenton Bourguet, and Finn Collins rotated.
RB the three that rotated were Chip Trayanum, Rachaad White, and Daniyel Ngata (same as the first team)
OL from left to right Isaia Glass, Armon Bethea, Ben Bray, Jarrett Bell, and Ralph Frias
WR Johnny Wilson
WR LV Bunkley-Shelton
WR Elijhah Badger
TE Jalin Conyers
Second team defense
Right defensive end Joe Moore
3-technique Anthonie Cooper
Nose TJ Pesefea
Left Right defensive end Stanley Lambert
LB Connor Soelle
LB Eric Gentry
LB Caleb McCullough
S Cam Phillips
S T Lee
CB Tommi Hill
CB Jordan Clark
TJ Pesefea took some 3-technique reps and that time DJ Davidson was at nose. Tiamrcus davis took some second team reps at corner.
Biggest personnel change was West’s absence sliding Cody Shear into first-team center duties, All in all, snaps, by and large, did go off smoothly with him at that role, and he does snap the ball lower than West (although west is getting better in that regard). Ben Bray elevated as a result from third to second team center and didn't witness any issues with him as well. So, the fact that Ben Scott remained at right tackle shows to me that, at least for now, the coaches do want to keep the starting front five intact with West at center upon his return.
Travez Moore replacing Anthonie Cooper at first team defensive end isn’t surprising at all. Moore has been performing well, and Cooper really was quite pedestrian until now. Moore really shined in 11x11 sessions, mostly going up against Kellen Diesch, so the LSU grad transfer responded exactly as you wanted him to with his promotion.
Talked about how much Armon Bethea impressed me on Wednesday, so you chalk up his promotion to the second team as another not surprising move. Perhaps the unexpected on this unit is Ralph Frias now lining up at right tackle, bumping down Spencer Lovell, who I always thought was the better of the two. In general, I thought the second team offensive line looked shaky to begin spring practice, but tonight was overall a better showing.
Not sure if Clark moving away from nickel corner and just lining up as second team corner w is the catalyst here, but tonight was the best showing I saw from him. In the red zone drill broke at least one pass in the end zone and just appeared as someone who is playing with more confidence.
The bad news about Clark, if you can call that bad news, is that he was involved in the prettiest touchdown of the night. An absolute “right in the breadbasket” pass from Finn Collins to Andre Johnson in the end zone corner. Clark couldn’t have defended that better, but the ball placement (something that Collins really excels in quite a bit from my observations) was exceptional, and if Johnson doesn't make the reception (and kudos for him for doing so), the ball goes out of bounds. I think Daylin Mclemore and Trenton Bourguet were better today and on Wednesday than they were earlier in the spring, but Collins is the most consistent out of the three. As I said before, he may just be the clubhouse leader to win the no. 2 quarterback job which would further justify the pre-spring buzz I heard about him.
In the passing game, Johnny Wilson and Curtis Hodges really impressed me, especially with the former showing that he can be the matchup nightmare catching touchdowns in tight quarters where he shields his 6-7 body from defenders. Elijhah Badger has the best showing so this spring, at least from all the practices I attended.
Chase Lucas had a diving interception.
Tommi Hill. Rachaad White, Jack Jones, and DJ Taylor lined up as punt returners.
Timarcus David and Jordan Clark were the gunners on the punt team.
As you know, the media outlets covering the team rotate in coverage, so we cannot be there at practice for all 15 sessions. But I will be there Monday the 15th, and the team should be in full pads at that time.
As always, I can answer any questions you have.
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