Super Bowl Update

Larry Blakeney at media day

 
Today was the first scrimmage and media day with all of the coaches and some players. I got a lot of stuff, but will spread it out throughout the week and get to the quick points here.

SCRIMMAGE - No stats were kept. The No. 1 defense was better than the No. 1 offense, which was good because you don't want to see a defense getting burned a lot in an early scrimmage. However, it takes longer to gel and I don't worry about the offense at all, really. They will be much better next Saturday for the scrimmage and by Sept. 1.

The highlight was Camren Hudson intercepting a Corey Robinson pass and returning it 108 yards for a score. The No. 1 offense didn't get in the end zone until late. Brandon Burks scored from a yard out and on the final play, Robinson hit Chip Reeves for a 26-yard touchdown. Burks, though he had a late fumble, was impressive. With work in 2s-on-2s, Burks caught a slip screen from Deon Anthony and took it 42 yards for a score. An astute twitter follower noted there was holding on that play, but no flags were thrown. Anthony also threw a screen to Chris Williams, who went down the sideline and up the middle and scored from 68 yards out.

***Some media day stuff. Karl Benson was there. He's the Sun Belt Commissioner. Benson has maintained all along that the Sun Belt was a winner in realignment and that "the pieces are in place for the Sun Belt to exceed where Conference USA is." We'll see how that turns out. But they recognize that more movement could occur. He also said they are engaged with an outside company about rebranding and repositioning - that announcement could come in early September and that whole process would take a few months. He said it would be similar to the Pac-12. He said they would look at everything and decide if it would be best to change or keep the same. Even the name.

Defensively, they feel like they are a lot deeper, especially up front and in the secondary. At linebacker, they're still pushing for more depth. The offensive line is a work in progress to see who will be starting, but running back is very deep and the receiver unit should be as well.

Based on what position coaches said, here is some info about some positions.

CORNERS - Top two guys appear to be Zach Miller and Bryan Wills, and T.J. Bryant will play a lot. Dionte Ponder is making a big push. Ethan Davis is hurt but freshman Chris Davis has been a nice surprise. Shaq Beverly has moved to nickel.

SAFETY - Four guys who are experienced and have played - Brynden Trawick, Barry Valcin, Cam Hudson and Chris Pickett - should make this a good one.

LINEBACKER - The starting unit looks solid, with Brannon Bryan, Kanorris Davis and Dimitri Miles. Mark Wilson is behind Miles but doing well. Wayland Coleman-Dancer is also at the WLB. De'Von Terry has been working behind Davis. Benjy Parker said they need Brach Bessant and Eli Canton to step it up in the middle.

DEFENSIVE LINE - Coach Randy Butler said that the D-line could go 7-deep, which is more than they've ever had at the position. Shermane TeArt and John Clark are the current starters, with Kyle Lucas and Aaron Williams behind them and D.J. Johnson as the fifth guy. The two JUCO transfers - Xavier Melton and Derrek Upshaw - have to get in better shape, but they're working and when they do catch on, should be very good. Butler promises he'll have them ready by UAB game. Also, bringing those guys in has made the returning guys step their game up. Tony Davis is the starting defensive end and one of the top players on this team. Marty Stadom is behind him and Deon Lee has a role. Walk-on JUCO transfer Jadarius Gardner "has as high of a motor as anyone I've ever coached."

SPECIAL TEAMS - Will Scott is the punter, but the kicker battle is 3-way between Scott, Ryan Kay and Jed Solomon. They expect to have a guy named there in a week or so. The kicking wasn't very good today as Scott missed two field goals and Solomon one. Kay has a pretty big leg and is a sleeper candidate here. My guess is whoever is the most consistent will be the FG guy.