AJC > Sports > Tech > Blog > Archives > 2007 > August > 11 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USScrimmage No. 1: Off and running
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Tech works out at Bobby Dodd Stadium today for the first time this preseason. The Yellow Jackets just finished punt practice (Durant Brooks boomed a 67-yard punt; no, that’s not a typo), and now they’re doing some seven-on-seven work at one end of the field and O-line vs. D-line on the other end. Taylor Bennett and Calvin Booker are wearing green mesh vests over their uniforms as a “don’t hit the quarterback” reminder.
Left guard Matt Rhodes, who has missed a lot of practice lately with an unknown injury, is back with the No. 1 line today. Freshman Clyde Yandell replaces left tackle Andrew Gardner, who has been in and out of practice with an unknown injury.
Among the players not in pads today: linebacker Travis Chambers (shoulder) and defensive end Michael Johnson (unknown).
They’re practicing kickoffs now, and the return unit was Dominique Reese, Tony Clark, Troy Garside, Joe Gaston and James Liipfert up front, Robert Hall and Derrick Morgan and Morgan Burnett and Martin Frierson behind them, and Jamaal Evans and Rashaun Grant as returners. Evans returned the first kick to the 43.
Mohamed Yahiaoui and Scott Blair are doing the kickoffs. Blair kicked two good ones.
James Johnson is not in pads today. I’m not sure what’s wrong with him.
Tashard Choice changed directions on a play designed to go to the right and ran 20 yards on the first play of the scrimmage. The No. 1 offense, working against the No. 2 defense, stalled after that. On the second series, Taylor Bennett completed an 8-yard pass to Greg Smith but the offense did not pick up a first down.
Now, it’s the No. 2 offense against the No. 1 defense. The No. 2 offense is not getting anywhere, not surprisingly. The worst play, which was nullified by a penalty, was a Calvin Booker pass that Gary Guyton almost intercepted.
No. 1 O vs. No. 2 D again. Jamaal Evans runs for 7 on 1st and 15, and then Taylor Bennett dumps a pass to Rashaun Grant, who uses some extra effort to get the first down while being tackled by Dominique Reese. Jonathan Dwyer follows with the best run of the day so far, a 19-yarder that suggests the recruiting excitement surrounding him might have had some basis in reality.
After a holding penalty, Bennett throws a 14-yard pass to Correy Earls, and on third-and-6 he hits Grant again, this time for 10 yards to the 20. Bennett throws a 16-yard TD pass to Greg Smith, who catches the ball near the right front pylon.
Cord Howard is playing No. 2 right tackle, and David Brown is playing No. 2 left tackle, and Booker is completing passes, a 10-yarder to Willie White on third-and-10, an 11-yarder to Jonathan Malone on second-and-8.
Now it’s the No. 1 offense again, and after a strong stiff-arm-assisted run by Dwyer Bennett passes to Greg Smith, who does a good job finding an open spot in the zone defense and then does an even better job breaking tackles to complet a 13-yard gain. Dwyer caps the drive with a 24-yard touchdown run on which the blocking is superb. He showed his speed, but he didn’t have to make any great moves or break any tackles.
Halftime, after the No. 2 offense failed to do anything in two series against the No. 1 defense.
I haven’t seeen Damaryius Thomas out here. Thomas hurt his knee in practice on Friday and is likely to be out awhile, but the good news Friday afternoon was that he’ll be back in time for the Notre Dame game.
The No. 3s are out there, and we learned right away why Josh Nesbitt isn’t wearing a green vest like Bennett and Booker. He takes a shotgun snap, fakes a handoff and runs for 12 yards, then does a quarterback sweep for a yard before a miscommunication with Jason Davis leads to a 6-yard loss. Nesbitt tried to pull the ball back, but Davis had it and held on. Nesbitt then scrambled for 22 yards on third-and-15, then ran 2 yards to the 6. A shotgun snap sailed over Nesbitt’s head on third down from the 3.
Nesbitt finally threw a pass, and completed it, on his second series, an 8-yarder to Willie White. After an incompletion, Nesbitt ran 15 yards to the 14. Then Ben Anderson broke through the line to hit Josh Wallace for a 3-yard loss, and Nesbitt completed a 4-yard pass to Alex Paquette.
Damaryius Thomas is here, and he’s walking with no apparent issues.
Now, the big moment, the No. 1 offense vs. the No. 1 defense. A 3-yard gain for Jamaal Evans, followed by a 5-yard penalty, followed by a 1-yard gain for Evans. On fourth down, Travis Bell kicks a 45-yard field goal.
Permalink | Comments (31) | Post your comment | Categories: Football
Comments
By wes
August 11, 2007 12:13 PM | Link to this
Any news on Bebe?
Seen MJ?
Tell us how this Blair kid is booting it if ya’ would.
Thanks 4 everything!
By d
August 11, 2007 12:50 PM | Link to this
Cool.
How did Evans look carrying the ball? Was that the only carry for him so far today or does he also run with the no. 2 Offense?
By GTGreg
August 11, 2007 1:01 PM | Link to this
Yikes… I hope that that return to the 45 is indicative of Jamal’s crazy skills, and not that our kickoff coverage team is still sucking canal water.
By John O'Dell
August 11, 2007 1:03 PM | Link to this
Mike, You and Matt do a GREAT job with these daily updates on practice. For a Tech fan living in Wisconsin , it really helps me get a feel for what’s going on with the team. Keep up the good work !!!!
By Mike Knobler
August 11, 2007 1:11 PM | Link to this
Bennett throws a 22-yard pass to D.J. Donley, who got the last 10 by breaking Jahi Word-Daniels’ tackle. But the offense couldn’t pound it in from the 3.
By Mike Knobler
August 11, 2007 1:17 PM | Link to this
Thanks for the kind words, John O’Dell.
GTGreg, the kickoff coverage team looked better after that first return, but though I don’t know if I’d describe it as colorfully as you it’s true that first return was reminiscent of kickoff return coverage nightmares of the recent past.
The guys out there now are way down on the depth chart, including walkon QBs Jim Henry at the start of this possession and now Bryce D**. I’m sorry I’m not giving you more details on this, but I have started working on some other responsibilities, like answering your questions and figuring out what I’m going to write for the Sunday paper. (Looks like that will be a story about Dwyer and Nesbitt. Wish me luck, as they aren’t available for interviews until after the first game.)
Willie White just caught a 6-yard touchdown pass from D**.
By Mike Knobler
August 11, 2007 1:23 PM | Link to this
The No. 1s are going against the No. 1s, and they started at the 10 and have gone back 10 yards to the 20, and a third-down pass into the end zone just fell incomplete.
OK, start over, 1st and goal from the 9. Bennett passes to Dwyer for 3.
Dwyer has played a lot today with the ones, because there’s no reason to get Tashard Choice hurt. Well, there’s no reason to get anyone hurt, but you know what I mean.
That has been one of the best things for Tech in this scrimmage. Nobody has gotten hurt today that I’ve noticed. Not trying to jinx anyone there, BTW.
Bennett just threw a touchdown pass to Greg Smith. They really seem to have excellent communication, or vibe, or whatever.
By Mike Knobler
August 11, 2007 1:32 PM | Link to this
We’re winding down now. The No. 2 O played the No. 2 D in an end-of-half situation, 1st down from your own 35 with 90 seconds left. The No. 2 O didn’t get a first down.
Now, it’s No. 1 vs. No. 1, same situation. Incomplete pass, then Darrell Robertson breaks through to sack Bennett (touches him, doesn’t hit him) and they call holding on the offense. Incomplete, and now it’s third-and-20. D.J. Donley beats the coverage but drops a well-thrown pass from Bennett that would have been enough for a first down. It’s fourth down. Bennett hits Greg Smith for 24 yards and a first down.
Donley catches a timing route, with the ball thrown well before he turns, and it’s perfect, for 20 yards.
It’s over. Avery Roberson intercepts a pass. Oh, boy. Taylor runs over to try to make the tackle, and Darrell Robertson just got into it with Bennett, and the scrimmage is over after the fight is broken up.
By Elijah
August 11, 2007 3:13 PM | Link to this
I went to the scrimmage and saw the fight. They are going to have to get it together. I know sometimes tempers flair, but someone could get hurt. I also saw John Tenuta push the grounds crew guy or I dont know what he was, but he is suppose to be an example. Lot of recruits have been coming to tech to because of the teams closeness. I didn’t see that today. I was a bit disappointed in the way this thing ended.
By Francesco Sinibaldi
August 11, 2007 3:16 PM | Link to this
In the sound sleep of a kitten.
Quietness and calm when the light of a luminous candle arrives at the end of a dream, instantly, like a gentle breeze in the care of the darkness; and always a sound in its heart, a delicate eye arising alone when your crying overcomes.
By techgold
August 11, 2007 4:30 PM | Link to this
No worries Elijah…they were all laughing about it as they went to eat together and with their families coming out of the locker room. They are competitors (thank God)…and competitors want to win every drill, every play, and every game regardless of the situation. It is not like they are thugs or something…these are two great kids…a junior and a senior that play 110% every play. Listen to this audio clip from head coach Hawkins of Colorado: http://media.odeo.com/7/7/5/0207hawkins.mp3
By KDC
August 11, 2007 5:29 PM | Link to this
Should we be concerned that other coaches can see what we are doing in practice. Specifically, what we are doing on third down.
By GT08
August 11, 2007 5:48 PM | Link to this
Dwyer looked GOOD today in practice. Any thoughts on his role this season?
By Steve
August 11, 2007 7:22 PM | Link to this
I second what O’dell (Wisconsin)bloged. Mike, you and Matt do a great job of keeping us grads who live out of the area up to date on what’s happening at Tech. I check your postings almost every day.
I live in Los Angeles (Orange County) and all we get out here is USC Trojans. Even UCLA takes a back seat in football news. USC signs so many 5-star recruits that the day when the sought after receiver from Norcross signed, it wasn’t even mentioned out here. It received a one liner on the back page of the sport section a couple of days later. USC’s No. 7 running back on the depth chart is a 5-star guy signed last year. Talk about stacking positions. Really big time/money programs like USC where an athelete’s parents are supplied rent free million dollar house to live in and accepted classses for credit are ballroom dancing and off campus spanish courses at a local JC where you don’t actually attend classes but just turn in a paper at the end of the course take the balance out of fair competition.
I enjoy following Tech not only because it’s my alma mater, but because they are on a more even playing field talent wise with other teams on their schedule. To me that’s very important because of the STUDENT-atheletes we have to recruit. Maintain the good work of keeping me informed about Tech football.
By Kendall
August 11, 2007 8:08 PM | Link to this
From the AJC….”Troubled Buffalo Bills defensive end Anthony Hargrove was suspended for four games without pay by the NFL on Saturday for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.”
I guess he figured since it was ok to take drugs and still be allowed on the team at tech, it was ok to do it in the pro’s. Nice drug college you nerds are running over there.
By Vince Dawgly
August 11, 2007 8:54 PM | Link to this
Hey Kendall, Since we have Odell Thurman as a proud UGa man you ought to leave the Hargrove thing alone. I think the Dogs are way up on the “nerds” when it comes to arrests, suspensions, and bad behavior.
By BeeBad
August 11, 2007 8:56 PM | Link to this
Well, it looks like I was wrong about Bennett. He certainly is no “mama’s boy”.
But, then again, I’m usually wrong about anything having to do with Tech football.
BeeBad bbuzzoff@hotmail.com
By The Truth
August 11, 2007 9:27 PM | Link to this
BeeBad - admitting you’re wrong is the the first step to recovery. congrats
By yellowblood
August 12, 2007 12:07 AM | Link to this
Good to hear from our brothers throughout the nation. Mike, you made it clear that Nesbitt can run. How is his passing game ?
By James
August 12, 2007 8:14 AM | Link to this
Hargrove suspended?? Good ole Tech fans! They claim their program has “model” athletes. Before you start critisizing everyone else…look at your own program first.
By fayncDAWG
August 12, 2007 9:17 AM | Link to this
Anthony Hargrove! Now Taylor Bennett and Darrell Robertson! Almost forgot about when Reggie Ball tried to pick a fight with the whole Dawg team in his freshman year. Y’all boys in the Yelller Nation sure love to fight!! I guess getting beat done by the Dawgs year after year does that to you!
By magicbuc
August 12, 2007 11:40 AM | Link to this
Why are we not learning about why the JOHNSONS are on the sidelines. Is it academic or injury? Someone knows! Matt and Mike: Although you both are excellent reporter…where are your good sources?
By TDone
August 12, 2007 3:47 PM | Link to this
Though I don’t like the tempers flaring, it shows that Taylor will stand up for him himself and won’t be pushed around.
As for Hargrove who was recruited by O’Leary, think he was a problem child at Tech and one of the guys who had the academic problem. He went to the NFL on the supplemental draft. Now he is just a professional head case.
We need the Mutters help on this; what is the statute of limitations once an player leaves for him to still be accountable to the university for doing wrong?
You guys would definitely know based on your sordid history.
By Davey
August 12, 2007 6:40 PM | Link to this
Hargrove is a member of Flunkgate. He is barely appart of the GT family.
By reckme
August 12, 2007 8:36 PM | Link to this
WHO CARES ABOUT HARGROVE??? This is 07 and its about this team. Not Hargrove. People rave about Va Tech and Frank Beamer’s teams…..Look at Vick…so don’t clog up this blog with your pointless comments about players who have since move on to the pros.
This has to be the most ridiculous group of idiots I’ve ever taken the time to respond to. Get back to the subject at hand. TECH FOOTBALL FOR THIS SEASON!!
PS: Not all of you are idiots. Just the moorons who just had to take a shot at Hargrove and the ones who wasted their time to defend him (like me…I’m taking up space telling you folks to knock it off)
I am very glad to see that Bennett is stepping up to earn respect physically. I guess he’s watched that move “Remember The Titans” too many times when that QB hip flipped that DB during the game!!
By trade skooler
August 12, 2007 9:49 PM | Link to this
So…your quarterback beat up your defensive end? Looks like Trek’s defense is gonna be awesome this year.
By Hooked On Phonics
August 12, 2007 9:52 PM | Link to this
“Barely APPART of the GT family”??? Don’t you mean “a part” I can tell this was written by a techie. Great grammar.
By Hooked On Phonics
August 12, 2007 9:52 PM | Link to this
“Barely APPART of the GT family”??? Don’t you mean “a part”? I can tell this was written by a techie. Great grammar.
By Davey
August 12, 2007 10:03 PM | Link to this
hey hooked on phonics i’ll pay you .50 cents a day to proofread everyone of my comments, deal?
By Matt Winkeljohn
August 12, 2007 10:09 PM | Link to this
By the way, Michael Johnson is virtually certain to go 100 percent with teammates at some point this week, perhaps by Monday.
As for James Johnson, good question. Don’t know if his problem is related to whatever kept him out of spring practice or not. It really came out of the blue. He’d been at practice in previous days, and we saw no injury.
We’ll try to report the news.
Matt
By gtg
August 13, 2007 10:42 AM | Link to this
the “Bryce D**” mentioned above by Mike K is actually Bryce D** from Norcross High. i hear that he is a great talent who got some mediocre coaching, and made some poor decisions on the field. but he might be good for us in a couple years.