After Tuesday’s practice, offensive coordinator Thomas Brown talked about which young players stood out to him and earned more playing time after UM’s 77-0 win over Savannah State.
“Obviously, Lorenzo (Lingard) had a big day,” Brown said. “He’s going to play more, has earned more reps. The more he takes coaching real well, the more he’ll play. (Brian) Hightower seems to be impressing and (Mark) Pope has a bunch of ability, really good route runner, smooth. I’d say those guys for sure (could play more).”
The starting offensive line remained unchanged in practice today after struggling a bit in the run game against Savannah State. Brown says it’s more about communication and unforced errors than anything talent related.
“We need to start faster, do a better job of communicating up front,” Brown said. “We had some missed opportunities, but when you look at the overall yards per rush, it’s pretty good, pretty efficient. We started slow, had some mental errors.”
On poor downfield blocking in the first two games, which Mark Richt has said is an issue: “It wasn’t a lack of execution in knowing who you have, it was a lack of effort,” Brown said. “Too many guys not just receiver wise, other guys, taking plays off. We’ll get that corrected. It’s going to get better, I promise you that.”
**WR coach Ron Dugans talked after practice today about the difficulty of dividing reps in a deep receiving corps, as well as deciding who will possibly redshirt among the freshmen receivers.
“It is tough because the first thing you think about is the team and how you can put the guys in a position to help the team out and not just the individual and at the end of the day, you don’t want to ***** the kid also,” Dugans said. “It comes from experience, the decision you have to make as a coach. I’ve been in the situation before.
“It’s a little tougher now because you’ve got those four games where you can throw a kid in. You may have a kid that’s played four games already and it’s the fifth game and you may only need him for one rep, so you’ve just got to make sure you’re not ******** the kid. It is tough. We talk about it as a staff and we’ve just got to make sure we make wise decisions.”
Who made the most plays in practice today out of the freshmen?
“(Dee) Wiggins, today. These guys are making it tough because all of those guys made a play in practice,” Dugans said. “Wiggins made multiple plays. (Marquez) Ezzard, we ended the practice with him catching a flag route like he just dove for it. And (Mark) Pope is doing a good job also.
“I really can’t say which one of those guys will be in. I plan on playing all of those guys really. I’m not going into this game or the rest of the season saying, ‘I’m going to redshirt this guy or that guy.’ In the game of football, there is attrition, so we may need them all.”
Starting WR Ahmmon Richards remained out with a knee injury in practice today and Dugans elaborated a bit on Richards now facing injury issues each of the past two season.
“It’s always tough when you’re facing adversity,” Dugans said. “As adults, we’ve been through adversity before. We’ve kind of found a way to deal with it and persevere throughout. As a younger kid, it’s a little tougher because they’ve never gone through something like this before where it’s multiple times that they’ve got to miss a game. I try to be there for him and rally the guys around him. Just keep his mind focused on, ‘God has a plan and it’s not your plan and not your timing. It’s all about Him so you’ve just got to trust Him.”
Sophomore receiver Jeff Thomas caught yet another deep ball last week and is now averaging a whopping 33.2 yards per catch on his six receptions so far this season. Dugans expanded on the evolution of Thomas’ game from last season to this year.
“The thing for Jeff, I couldn’t coach his speed,” Dugans said on Thomas. “He’s fast, but I kind of told him how to manage the speed and the tempo of the game, when and when not to run in and out of windows. Also for Jeff was becoming a student of the game. Learning from [Braxton] Berrios and myself going back and making different cut-ups of Berrios and [Stacy] Coley and how the game is played, how certain concepts are run and what looks you’re going to see. It was more development in the classroom than it was on the field.”
“Obviously, Lorenzo (Lingard) had a big day,” Brown said. “He’s going to play more, has earned more reps. The more he takes coaching real well, the more he’ll play. (Brian) Hightower seems to be impressing and (Mark) Pope has a bunch of ability, really good route runner, smooth. I’d say those guys for sure (could play more).”
The starting offensive line remained unchanged in practice today after struggling a bit in the run game against Savannah State. Brown says it’s more about communication and unforced errors than anything talent related.
“We need to start faster, do a better job of communicating up front,” Brown said. “We had some missed opportunities, but when you look at the overall yards per rush, it’s pretty good, pretty efficient. We started slow, had some mental errors.”
On poor downfield blocking in the first two games, which Mark Richt has said is an issue: “It wasn’t a lack of execution in knowing who you have, it was a lack of effort,” Brown said. “Too many guys not just receiver wise, other guys, taking plays off. We’ll get that corrected. It’s going to get better, I promise you that.”
**WR coach Ron Dugans talked after practice today about the difficulty of dividing reps in a deep receiving corps, as well as deciding who will possibly redshirt among the freshmen receivers.
“It is tough because the first thing you think about is the team and how you can put the guys in a position to help the team out and not just the individual and at the end of the day, you don’t want to ***** the kid also,” Dugans said. “It comes from experience, the decision you have to make as a coach. I’ve been in the situation before.
“It’s a little tougher now because you’ve got those four games where you can throw a kid in. You may have a kid that’s played four games already and it’s the fifth game and you may only need him for one rep, so you’ve just got to make sure you’re not ******** the kid. It is tough. We talk about it as a staff and we’ve just got to make sure we make wise decisions.”
Who made the most plays in practice today out of the freshmen?
“(Dee) Wiggins, today. These guys are making it tough because all of those guys made a play in practice,” Dugans said. “Wiggins made multiple plays. (Marquez) Ezzard, we ended the practice with him catching a flag route like he just dove for it. And (Mark) Pope is doing a good job also.
“I really can’t say which one of those guys will be in. I plan on playing all of those guys really. I’m not going into this game or the rest of the season saying, ‘I’m going to redshirt this guy or that guy.’ In the game of football, there is attrition, so we may need them all.”
Starting WR Ahmmon Richards remained out with a knee injury in practice today and Dugans elaborated a bit on Richards now facing injury issues each of the past two season.
“It’s always tough when you’re facing adversity,” Dugans said. “As adults, we’ve been through adversity before. We’ve kind of found a way to deal with it and persevere throughout. As a younger kid, it’s a little tougher because they’ve never gone through something like this before where it’s multiple times that they’ve got to miss a game. I try to be there for him and rally the guys around him. Just keep his mind focused on, ‘God has a plan and it’s not your plan and not your timing. It’s all about Him so you’ve just got to trust Him.”
Sophomore receiver Jeff Thomas caught yet another deep ball last week and is now averaging a whopping 33.2 yards per catch on his six receptions so far this season. Dugans expanded on the evolution of Thomas’ game from last season to this year.
“The thing for Jeff, I couldn’t coach his speed,” Dugans said on Thomas. “He’s fast, but I kind of told him how to manage the speed and the tempo of the game, when and when not to run in and out of windows. Also for Jeff was becoming a student of the game. Learning from [Braxton] Berrios and myself going back and making different cut-ups of Berrios and [Stacy] Coley and how the game is played, how certain concepts are run and what looks you’re going to see. It was more development in the classroom than it was on the field.”
