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CORAL GABLES – Al Golden planned to spend Sunday morning filling out a depth chart.
It could look different by Sept. 5.
“We are a long way out,” Golden said after his team ran through three quarters of game simulation Saturday, two weeks before its season-opener against Bethune-Cookman. “We have to all get better.”
That’s not to say Golden wasn’t pleased with the results of the closed scrimmage, held at a newly lighted Greentree Practice Fields.
First of all, he liked that no players suffered a major injury during the scrimmage. Players were impressed by the offense, which seemingly had a much better night than they did Aug. 13, during the team’s first scrimmage.
Instead of regretting early penalties and sacks allowed, players – who spoke mostly in generalities — mentioned a long touchdown catch-and-run by junior wide receiver Stacy Coley. Teammates estimated Coley took it 50 yards.
“We caught the defense sleeping,” senior receiver Rashawn Scott said. “We were moving a little faster today. … He broke out, and that was the end of that.”
The first-string offensive line, quarterback Brad Kaaya said, “only gave up one sack.” The first-string offense didn’t turn over the ball. “The majority of our drives came away with points,” Kaaya said.
Defensively, teammates credited sophomore defensive tackle Anthony Moten with a pair of sacks. “He was getting in the backfield a lot,” defensive end Chad Thomas said.
Golden’s gripes were mostly minor.
“We came up one yard short on a route on a third-and-5. We didn’t run the requisite depth,” he said. “We had a third-and-13 on defense and we had someone who was supposed to be backed up, but played close to the line of scrimmage. Little things like that.”
He added his players committed some “costly” penalties but the scrimmage was “cleaner overall” than the first. UM ranked 108th nationally in penalty yards per game (63.6) last year.
The scrimmage was closed to the media, but was open to dozens of high school players, their families, coaches and other invited guests.
O-line starters: Multiple people who watched the scrimmage said the Hurricanes opened with Trevor Darling as starting left tackle. Darling, a 6-foot-5, 318-pound sophomore from Miami Central, started five games at right tackle last season because of injuries along the line.
“Right now compared to spring, he’s really moving,” offensive coordinator James Coley said. “He’s slimmer. He’s got a really good punch. When he locks on you, he can really move guys.”
The starting right tackle was Danny Isidora, who played 13 games at right guard last season and has been taking reps at tackle in practice of late. Coley noted that Isidora “was a tackle in high school. The fastest way for him to get in there was to play guard.”
Also getting into the mix at tackle, according to Coley, was Kc McDermott. The sophomore from Palm Beach Central High, competing with redshirt sophomore Sunny Odogwu and Darling for a first-team spot at one of the tackles, is coming off knee surgery early last October.
“He’s fine,” Coley said. “Just competing for a job.”
With Isidora playing tackle, the starting right guard was Joe Brown, a 6-foot-4, 320-pound redshirt freshman from Compton, Calif. Brown was a second-stringer for most of camp.
The starting left guard, junior Alex Gall, and the center, sophomore Nick Linder, have taken the majority of first-string reps.
“I thought the ones played very well,” Coley said. “They’re going against that one defense – guys, that one defense is good. They’ve got some really good players up front. We have to scrap. When we scrap with those guys, every now and then, we get some ‘bad ball,’ meaning, some penalties. We’ve got to really grab those guys because they’re big, they’re strong and they’re fast. That hurt us a little bit. The twos are still learning … but they’ve gotten better from last scrimmage, so I’m encouraged.”
The backups for the start of the scrimmage were true freshman Tyree St. Louis (left tackle), Odogwu (right tackle), redshirt senior Hunter Wells (left guard), true freshman Tyler Gauthier (right guard) and Gall (center).
Injury report: Slot receivers Braxton Berrios and Malcolm Lewis and backup middle linebacker Juwon Young were held out due to injuries. Young has a sprained foot. Berrios has a hamstring injury. Lewis’ injury is unknown.
Running back rotation: As they did last scrimmage, running backs Gus Edwards, Joe Yearby, Trayone Gray and Mark Walton split carries. “They complement each other, and we’re not afraid to roll them in there,” Golden said. “We’ve got a lot of competition coming up before that’s settled, for sure.” Yearby: “Everyone got in and got some big runs.”
Coley: “I thought there were a couple runs where “Choc” [Gray] could have been lower in the goal-line area, so I’m kind of down on him on that. But as far as the open-field stuff, Mark looked good. Joe looked good. Gus showed some tough running. He’s a big back.”
D looking good: Golden’s thoughts on his defense: “I thought we tackled better. Our pass rush was better. Our third-down defense was better. We had one stop inside the 5, which was good. … I thought there was a couple third downs we shouldn’t have given up.”
Thomas said rush end Al-Quadin Muhammad “made some plays. … That motivated a lot of D-linemen, watching Quan go out there and making plays, setting edges, doing his job.”
Strong-side linebacker Darrion Owens: “I would say the biggest difference from the last scrimmage to this one was, there was a lot more communication.” Asked how many sacks the defense picked up, he said, “I can’t even think about it … we got a couple.”
Freshmen in action: Golden said “probably 11 or 12” freshmen played, with some getting looks with a higher unit. “I’m pleased with that group overall,” he said. Scott spotlighted the play of cornerback Sheldrick Redwine and receiver Lawrence Cager.
QB rotation: Coley, asked what he learned Saturday: “We have four quarterbacks that can go in the game.” He was seemingly referring to Kaaya, backup Malik Rosier, sophomore Vincent Testaverde and freshman Evan Shirreffs.
Coley, asked who produced the biggest plays on offense: “Stacy. Brad. Evan,” Coley said, trying to spotlight everyone he could. “I thought we had some good runs by Mark down the field. [Tight end/H-back David] Njoku had a couple nice big plays. Herb had three or four phenomenal catches and converted on third down. Stacy had some third-down catches, which is great to see because those guys are really fast. When they get tackled in the secondary, that’s encouraging, because those guys are really fast.”
Miami Hurricanes offense shows improvement in second scrimmage | Canes Watch
It could look different by Sept. 5.
“We are a long way out,” Golden said after his team ran through three quarters of game simulation Saturday, two weeks before its season-opener against Bethune-Cookman. “We have to all get better.”
That’s not to say Golden wasn’t pleased with the results of the closed scrimmage, held at a newly lighted Greentree Practice Fields.
First of all, he liked that no players suffered a major injury during the scrimmage. Players were impressed by the offense, which seemingly had a much better night than they did Aug. 13, during the team’s first scrimmage.
Instead of regretting early penalties and sacks allowed, players – who spoke mostly in generalities — mentioned a long touchdown catch-and-run by junior wide receiver Stacy Coley. Teammates estimated Coley took it 50 yards.
“We caught the defense sleeping,” senior receiver Rashawn Scott said. “We were moving a little faster today. … He broke out, and that was the end of that.”
The first-string offensive line, quarterback Brad Kaaya said, “only gave up one sack.” The first-string offense didn’t turn over the ball. “The majority of our drives came away with points,” Kaaya said.
Defensively, teammates credited sophomore defensive tackle Anthony Moten with a pair of sacks. “He was getting in the backfield a lot,” defensive end Chad Thomas said.
Golden’s gripes were mostly minor.
“We came up one yard short on a route on a third-and-5. We didn’t run the requisite depth,” he said. “We had a third-and-13 on defense and we had someone who was supposed to be backed up, but played close to the line of scrimmage. Little things like that.”
He added his players committed some “costly” penalties but the scrimmage was “cleaner overall” than the first. UM ranked 108th nationally in penalty yards per game (63.6) last year.
The scrimmage was closed to the media, but was open to dozens of high school players, their families, coaches and other invited guests.
O-line starters: Multiple people who watched the scrimmage said the Hurricanes opened with Trevor Darling as starting left tackle. Darling, a 6-foot-5, 318-pound sophomore from Miami Central, started five games at right tackle last season because of injuries along the line.
“Right now compared to spring, he’s really moving,” offensive coordinator James Coley said. “He’s slimmer. He’s got a really good punch. When he locks on you, he can really move guys.”
The starting right tackle was Danny Isidora, who played 13 games at right guard last season and has been taking reps at tackle in practice of late. Coley noted that Isidora “was a tackle in high school. The fastest way for him to get in there was to play guard.”
Also getting into the mix at tackle, according to Coley, was Kc McDermott. The sophomore from Palm Beach Central High, competing with redshirt sophomore Sunny Odogwu and Darling for a first-team spot at one of the tackles, is coming off knee surgery early last October.
“He’s fine,” Coley said. “Just competing for a job.”
With Isidora playing tackle, the starting right guard was Joe Brown, a 6-foot-4, 320-pound redshirt freshman from Compton, Calif. Brown was a second-stringer for most of camp.
The starting left guard, junior Alex Gall, and the center, sophomore Nick Linder, have taken the majority of first-string reps.
“I thought the ones played very well,” Coley said. “They’re going against that one defense – guys, that one defense is good. They’ve got some really good players up front. We have to scrap. When we scrap with those guys, every now and then, we get some ‘bad ball,’ meaning, some penalties. We’ve got to really grab those guys because they’re big, they’re strong and they’re fast. That hurt us a little bit. The twos are still learning … but they’ve gotten better from last scrimmage, so I’m encouraged.”
The backups for the start of the scrimmage were true freshman Tyree St. Louis (left tackle), Odogwu (right tackle), redshirt senior Hunter Wells (left guard), true freshman Tyler Gauthier (right guard) and Gall (center).
Injury report: Slot receivers Braxton Berrios and Malcolm Lewis and backup middle linebacker Juwon Young were held out due to injuries. Young has a sprained foot. Berrios has a hamstring injury. Lewis’ injury is unknown.
Running back rotation: As they did last scrimmage, running backs Gus Edwards, Joe Yearby, Trayone Gray and Mark Walton split carries. “They complement each other, and we’re not afraid to roll them in there,” Golden said. “We’ve got a lot of competition coming up before that’s settled, for sure.” Yearby: “Everyone got in and got some big runs.”
Coley: “I thought there were a couple runs where “Choc” [Gray] could have been lower in the goal-line area, so I’m kind of down on him on that. But as far as the open-field stuff, Mark looked good. Joe looked good. Gus showed some tough running. He’s a big back.”
D looking good: Golden’s thoughts on his defense: “I thought we tackled better. Our pass rush was better. Our third-down defense was better. We had one stop inside the 5, which was good. … I thought there was a couple third downs we shouldn’t have given up.”
Thomas said rush end Al-Quadin Muhammad “made some plays. … That motivated a lot of D-linemen, watching Quan go out there and making plays, setting edges, doing his job.”
Strong-side linebacker Darrion Owens: “I would say the biggest difference from the last scrimmage to this one was, there was a lot more communication.” Asked how many sacks the defense picked up, he said, “I can’t even think about it … we got a couple.”
Freshmen in action: Golden said “probably 11 or 12” freshmen played, with some getting looks with a higher unit. “I’m pleased with that group overall,” he said. Scott spotlighted the play of cornerback Sheldrick Redwine and receiver Lawrence Cager.
QB rotation: Coley, asked what he learned Saturday: “We have four quarterbacks that can go in the game.” He was seemingly referring to Kaaya, backup Malik Rosier, sophomore Vincent Testaverde and freshman Evan Shirreffs.
Coley, asked who produced the biggest plays on offense: “Stacy. Brad. Evan,” Coley said, trying to spotlight everyone he could. “I thought we had some good runs by Mark down the field. [Tight end/H-back David] Njoku had a couple nice big plays. Herb had three or four phenomenal catches and converted on third down. Stacy had some third-down catches, which is great to see because those guys are really fast. When they get tackled in the secondary, that’s encouraging, because those guys are really fast.”
Miami Hurricanes offense shows improvement in second scrimmage | Canes Watch
