Spring Practice Report: Week 3

[Terriertime]

The Terriers practiced four times this week. On Monday they practiced in full pads for two hours, yet did not do any contact drills to try and help recover from the past weekend's scrimmage. On Wednesday, the Terriers did have a lot of contact, but limited the session to 1 hour and 45 mintues to try and help keep people fresh.

On Friday, Wofford coaches hosted 125 high school coaches at the second annual "Wofford Football Coaching Clinic." During the practice the Terriers practiced for an hour and a half, and did about 15-20 minutes of full contact, and they tried not to have too contact much because Saturday's scrimmage.

Last week I said I thought the scrimmage was an offensive-dominated scrimmage. Well this week was probably more defense-dominated, as Dan Tavani, Brian Ford, Brian Kemp, and Matt Norcia all recorded interceptions on the day. The offense was not physically dominated; however, several young O-Lineman forgot their assigments. There were also several costly penalties, and severall bad snaps as well. When the first-team was in the scrimmage, they moved the ball pretty good. Overall, there were some big plays on offense, but not as many consistent drives as last week.

One bright spot, which was somewhat a surprise, was freshman RB Frank Dommonousky who had some nice runs on the day. I have been told that the Terriers put a lot of new plays in this week, which might have led to some of the confusuion on offense. To me, this is understandable, sometimes it takes younger players time to learn the complicated system. I would rather see the Terriers iron their problems out now, instead of in Septmeber.

Overall, spring is still going well. There have been 8 practices so far, and there are seven left. Next week, the Terriers will practice Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Scrimmage on Saturday. After the scrimmage, the Terriers will have their annual banquet.

Injury report:
Many guys are banged up, QB Ben Widmyer went down with an AC shoulder sprain which will probably keep him out the rest of spring, but to my knowledge it is not considered serious.

Also, Guard Travis Andrews went down right at the end of the scrimmage with an ankel sprain which will probablly keep him out the rest of spring practice, it is also not considered serious. The bad thing about Andrews' injury is that it leaves the Terriers with just 3 healthy guards the remaining practices: Tiller, Quick, and Hufford.

There are some other guys also banged up, but these were the injuries that occured today.

[fgs44]

Thanks for the report---I was glad to hear about Dommonousky---I had not heard anything about him, so I've been curious---Does he have a lot of speed?

[Puppyfan]

I thought I saw several young O-linemen in at many different positions. Is this because we are short some guys and are waiting for the freshmen? O-line is very complicated and playing more than one position is tough, good to see our young talent is willing to step up to the challenge. Give the guys time to get their legs under them, while not the best offensive showing, a bit of patience and we are going to see great things from this group of guys.
Widmeyers injury is disheartening, what are we thinking tackeling our own q-back? I realize it is full contact, and that injuries happen, but goodness, that is a real blow to Widmeyers development to miss out on the rest of spring ball. Josh is a fine q--b but we definatly need to have both men ready and capable of playing. Just my 2 cents (worth exactly that)
GO TERRIERS

[Terriertime]

Don't get me wrong, I understand that the system is very complicated to learn, I just said they had some problems (not being critical at all). I still say there's no cause for concern, we'll iron it out before Septmeber...

[Puppyfan]

Hey there, I didn't think you were criticizing, just commenting- I was just thinking that it was hard for the young guys who are playing two positions.
I couldn't tell who was who out there, no roster with me, but I thought the O-line had at least one guy who played two or three positions. You are a terrific fan and I always wait to see what you have to say. You have great insight and if you have a camera (i don't) it would be great to see a picture or two on the site.
GO TERRIERS!

[Pawpower1995]

Thanks for the great report! It is great to have someone give us detailed reports of the Spring Practices.

Question: Are all of the practices open to the public?

[Terriertime]

Yes! All practices are open to the public.

[walliver]

Widmeyers injury is disheartening, what are we thinking tackeling our own q-back?

I guess it is a double-edged sword. Last spring Collier wore a red shirt and didn't have a full-contact spring. I think it affected his on-field performance this fall.

Who quarterbacked the second team in the scrimmage?

[Terriertime]

Walk-on Mack Young was QB for the second team.

[Puppyfan]

Do you see a platoon situation in the QB spot? When does the depth chart come out, after the last day of practice? Any word on Ben's shoulder this morning? And last, what is Baur's situation and how are we looking at tackle?
Comment, seems like our defense is going to be able to step it up-big shoes to fill on the line, but seems like that is really syncing up. Watch the athletes in the back field, I think we are going to see some huge improvement there.

GO TERRIERS!

[Terriertime]

Keep in mind these replies carry zero weight, and these are just my personal observations:

I could definately see a two QB system next season, not because Josh isn't good, but because Ben is a very capable player, and deserves some playing time. From what I hear both are high-character kids, and will handle the situation in a first-class manner. As of this morning, I have not heard anything about Ben's shoulder, but it did not appear super-serious. However, anytime a QB you're counting on in the fall goes down everybody in the stadium kind of takes a deep breath.

From my understanding, the Bauer injury was pretty severe. He is re-habbing extremely hard (known for his intense work-out habits), and trying to get healthy in the fall. I am sure he is itching to get out there as soon as possible, and I'm sure he's going to try and be ready for camp.

As for O-Tackle, it looks as though Will Rutherford and Derek Wooten have stepped in nicely for Brad Birrenkott and Kevin Hodapp. Will played a good deal of snaps last year and should be just fine. Wooten didn't play much last year, yet is a good athlete with a ton of potential, he'll do well. Jermaine Rogers (Rs-Fr.) has has been a pleasant surprise this spring backing up Wooten at right-tackle. Brent Owens is splitting time between left-tackle and center, and I'm not sure where he'll settle in come the fall, it probably depends on whether or not any true freshmen are ready to step in and play. Overall, I feel better about the tackle situation than I did at the beginning of spring ball, and I feel we will be solid on the O-line in general.

[Pawpower1995]

Thanks again for the updates.

A two quarterback system is like looking at a two headed snake. You do not know which head will bite you, and you do not know what to expect. It is a great system to run, if you have two very good QB's that work very well together and help each other and encourage each other after each play. I think we have that at Wofford. I believe that using this system adds so much work to other teams defensive Coaches and players when they prepare. You have to be ready for both. Some teams in doing this, end up not being prepared for even ONE, due to the added strees, film time, and multiple formations, or playes out of the same formations. Seems very interesting!

GO TERRIERS!!

[Puppyfan]

"Brent Owens is splitting time between left-tackle and center, and I'm not sure where he'll settle in come the fall, it probably depends on whether or not any true freshmen are ready to step in and play. Overall, I feel better about the tackle situation than I did at the beginning of spring ball, and I feel we will be solid on the O-line in general."

Terrier time, is he working out better at tackle or center? Where do we need the depth?

The O-Line is the key, it is great the walk-ons are stepping up, the program can't function without quality walk-ons. Any word on any walk-ons considering WOCO?

I have been impressed with the D-line, they really seem to be pulling it together.

Anyone have any thoughts on the recievers? Fenn is a beast, how is the passing game going to shake up?

GO TERRIERS

[Terriertime]

I think Brent is pretty good at both positions, but I would think he was more valuable at Center simply because it's a much tougher position to play. We need more depth really at all three positions. I feel the most comfortable with the guards, that is, if Bauer and Miller are healthy in the fall. Corey Mckenna at center is very solid, yet converted D-Lineman Tyler Crahan and Brent Owens don't have any game experience at the position, but both have improved drastically this spring. At tackle, it's the same story with Will Rutherford and Derek Wooten being very dependable; however, their only back-ups right now are Rs-Fr. Jermaine Rogers and Brent Owens. I'm not saying Rs-Fr. can't be good players; but as banged up as our lineman get during the season, you want all the depth you can possibly get. As I have said before, I think Coach Nash has done an outstanding job with the line, and I don't see any reason that won't continue.

I have not heard of any walk-ons coming in, but the staff always brings in several quality kids after signing day, so I'm sure that will continue. You're right, walk-ons are a huge part of our program with such tight scholarship limitations.

I think the D-line is playing well also. I just hope the two nose guards can get the job done. No plays harder or has more heart than Blair, you just worry about his size sometimes. McCullough is a big kid, who once he fully learns the system will be a very solid player at Wofford, in my opinion.

Reciever should be a strong point with Beavin, Harris, Strickland, Robinson, Berry, and Smith all returning. I agree Fenn is a beast too. He is definatley a viable threat at the TE position, I don't know if we've ever had a weapon like him. It will allow the middle of the field to open up much easier. I would love to see us throw some, but all I really care about is scoring points and winning games!!! Go Terriers!

[sarah3686]

Great Report! Very informative!

GO TERRIERS!