Beautiful day, I estimate a crowd of 20,000 or so.
Star of the day...surprise! Lamar Jackson! Hit some beautiful, long throws for TD's. Had over 500 yards, averaging over 20 yards a catch while playing only one second half series. Looked as elusive as seen last year when he did decide to leave the pocket. Short passing game was very accurate, liked seeing Cole Hikutini catch (5) first half passes for good gains. Charles Standsberry caught a nice TD throw. I remember one sweet reception made by L.J. Scott out of the backfield. Reggie Bonnafon was a slow starter at receiver, but ended up with (3) catches, one long catch-and-run for a TD. Quick made some nice grabs as well. Jaylen Smith also made a very long nice sliding-go-get-it TD catch. Jaire Alexander had his clock cleaned with a vicious block when trying to tackle a receiver on a long run-and catch. If anyone knows who threw that block let me know!
Speaking of the pocket; the first team O-Line was absolutely impenetrable. Jackson had at least 4 to 5 seconds all day long to find his receivers. Of course, it was 1st's vs. 2nd's, not a match-up that I'm in favor of, but it is what it is. Poor Kyle Bolin was completely stuffed in the first half playing behind the 2's. I could see his frustration early in the second half. After Lamar threw another long TD pass in the first 2nd half series, Coach Petrino took him out for the remainder of the game and put Kyle in his place. Bolin was never sacked (or even pressured) after that and moved the first team well. Was the first team O-Line that good, or the second team D-line just ineffective? My opinion: the first team O-Line is that good.
Running game: pretty good. I thought L.J. Scott and Brandon Radcliff are fairly even: L.J. a little shiftier and a better pass catcher, Brandon more powerful. This kid really knows how to finish a run, as some banged-up corners and safeties will attest. I love Jeremy Smith as a RB, but he fumbled again today, reenacting an all too familiar scene from last season. I would like to see this troublesome habit disappear. The only TD scored by the second team was a long 63-yarder by Malin Jones early in the second half. He appeared to be stopped near the sideline, but broke loose and showed amazing speed for such a big guy taking it down the sideline for a score.
Defense: first team just spanked the second team offense. No running up the middle, QB constantly pressured and good secondary coverage. I considered Trumaine Washington's coverage just average last year, though he did lead us in interceptions. Guess what? He had two picks today, but his over-all coverage was pretty vanilla. Maybe he is an all-of-nothing guy, I don't know. I think Jaire Alexander is our best corner, and he appeared to be pretty chatty with the receivers he covered. The second team was given some gifts by the coaching staff and moved the ball to the one in the first half (their only drive of the half). Josh Harvey-Clemons exploded through the line to tackle a running back taking a pitch-out for a 5 yard loss. The first team D stopped them for no score. I can see why the coaching staff is high on Jonathan Greenard at LB; he looked impressive, as did Henry Famurewa and Amonte Caban. I liked Dee Smith and Khane Pass in the spring practices I saw, but I honestly can't say I saw anything outstanding from that duo today. That said, I am very excited with the young talent shown on the defensive side of the ball.
No doubt there was a lot of talent on that field today. As stated earlier, the second teams didn't show much, so quality depth could be an issue. But I was impressed. I was thinking 10 and 2 for a record this season, but I might shift that up a bit!
Go Cards!!!
Star of the day...surprise! Lamar Jackson! Hit some beautiful, long throws for TD's. Had over 500 yards, averaging over 20 yards a catch while playing only one second half series. Looked as elusive as seen last year when he did decide to leave the pocket. Short passing game was very accurate, liked seeing Cole Hikutini catch (5) first half passes for good gains. Charles Standsberry caught a nice TD throw. I remember one sweet reception made by L.J. Scott out of the backfield. Reggie Bonnafon was a slow starter at receiver, but ended up with (3) catches, one long catch-and-run for a TD. Quick made some nice grabs as well. Jaylen Smith also made a very long nice sliding-go-get-it TD catch. Jaire Alexander had his clock cleaned with a vicious block when trying to tackle a receiver on a long run-and catch. If anyone knows who threw that block let me know!
Speaking of the pocket; the first team O-Line was absolutely impenetrable. Jackson had at least 4 to 5 seconds all day long to find his receivers. Of course, it was 1st's vs. 2nd's, not a match-up that I'm in favor of, but it is what it is. Poor Kyle Bolin was completely stuffed in the first half playing behind the 2's. I could see his frustration early in the second half. After Lamar threw another long TD pass in the first 2nd half series, Coach Petrino took him out for the remainder of the game and put Kyle in his place. Bolin was never sacked (or even pressured) after that and moved the first team well. Was the first team O-Line that good, or the second team D-line just ineffective? My opinion: the first team O-Line is that good.
Running game: pretty good. I thought L.J. Scott and Brandon Radcliff are fairly even: L.J. a little shiftier and a better pass catcher, Brandon more powerful. This kid really knows how to finish a run, as some banged-up corners and safeties will attest. I love Jeremy Smith as a RB, but he fumbled again today, reenacting an all too familiar scene from last season. I would like to see this troublesome habit disappear. The only TD scored by the second team was a long 63-yarder by Malin Jones early in the second half. He appeared to be stopped near the sideline, but broke loose and showed amazing speed for such a big guy taking it down the sideline for a score.
Defense: first team just spanked the second team offense. No running up the middle, QB constantly pressured and good secondary coverage. I considered Trumaine Washington's coverage just average last year, though he did lead us in interceptions. Guess what? He had two picks today, but his over-all coverage was pretty vanilla. Maybe he is an all-of-nothing guy, I don't know. I think Jaire Alexander is our best corner, and he appeared to be pretty chatty with the receivers he covered. The second team was given some gifts by the coaching staff and moved the ball to the one in the first half (their only drive of the half). Josh Harvey-Clemons exploded through the line to tackle a running back taking a pitch-out for a 5 yard loss. The first team D stopped them for no score. I can see why the coaching staff is high on Jonathan Greenard at LB; he looked impressive, as did Henry Famurewa and Amonte Caban. I liked Dee Smith and Khane Pass in the spring practices I saw, but I honestly can't say I saw anything outstanding from that duo today. That said, I am very excited with the young talent shown on the defensive side of the ball.
No doubt there was a lot of talent on that field today. As stated earlier, the second teams didn't show much, so quality depth could be an issue. But I was impressed. I was thinking 10 and 2 for a record this season, but I might shift that up a bit!
Go Cards!!!
