April 3, 2009
By Ted Bryant - Media Relations Student Assistant -
The offense got the honor of showing off their black jerseys Thursday as a result of their inspired Tuesday practice. Due to the less-than-favorable Columbia weather, the Tigers are growing increasingly familiar with the confines of Dan Devine Pavilion, and that's where they worked out Thursday for over two hours. The intensity continues to escalate as each practice goes by, a good sign for the team's first scrimmage on Saturday at Faurot Field.
To begin practice, the defense worked on their pursuit drills. The way the coaches have it set up, there is one less bag to run through on the sideline than there are defenders. This led to quite a bit of playful shoving from the two players competing to reach the last bag, prompting chuckles from the handful of onlookers. The offense began as usual with handoffs and route running. Blaine Gabbert is making the quarterback position look increasingly easy, appearing more accurate today during drills than in previous practices. It helps that Jimmy Costello is right on his heels, pushing him that much harder. Even if for some reason Costello doesn't see a lot of playing time in the upcoming season, the effect he's having on the Tiger pool of quarterbacks will not go unnoticed.
During inside run drills, the defense handled the offense pretty soundly. Inside run is basically a scrimmage without wide receivers or a secondary. I'm explaining that because the only success the offense could seem to find against the fired-up defense was to the outside, where there were no defenders. Both Shawn Scott and Mukai Matsiga broke off big runs after cutting to the sideline.
Scott was the number one ball carrier at today's practice, as Derrick Washington and De'Vion Moore were unavailable for contact drills - Washington with his off-season knee surgery and Moore, who strained a groin in Tuesday's practice (Moore is expected to scrimmage Saturday). Scott definitely impressed with the first team, making a handful of athletic catches and displaying good vision in finding his blockers. During seven-on-seven, he managed to snag a ball over the middle despite being completely blanketed by the defender. Scott is my pick for the player who stood out most at today's practice.
Tight end Andrew Jones was a very reliable target during seven-on-seven and scrimmage, hauling in multiple receptions. He managed to pluck one of Gabbert's tosses right out of the hands of the defender in the back left corner of the end zone on a fade route. Wide receiver Brandon Gerau is continuing to impress me with his work ethic and vision. During one-on-one route drills, he managed to make an impossible overhead catch in the back right corner of the endzone. Also, after dropping a ball on an easy outside curl route, he came right back on the next play to burn his defender, make the catch, and tip-toe down the sideline for a few extra yards.
A surprising and encouraging revelation from today's practice is how potentially lethal Gabbert could be with his feet. He might not have lightning-fast foot speed, but his long, powerful stride manages to get him up field rather quickly. I would not at all be surprised to see him put a defender on his butt in the future if he ever decided to lower his shoulder.
The intensity of the past few practices are building to what should be an exciting scrimmage this Saturday morning. The Tigers will begin at 9:00 a.m. and are hoping to get a good look at a lot of players and continue to work towards a final depth chart. The top three units are expected get around 60 snaps each, so it will be a long one. We'll have a full recap of the day here on MUTigers.com, so stay tuned!