Commodores Stage First Scrimmage of Spring Saturday

Commodores Stage First Scrimmage of Spring Saturday

3/19/2005

Johnson Pleased With Defensive Intensity, Overall Effort

On Campus in Vanderbilt Stadium – Enjoying their first full-contact session of Spring Practice, the Commodores staged a lengthy scrimmage Saturday morning in Vanderbilt Stadium.

Both offensive and defensive coaches will have plenty to evaluate after Head Coach Bobby Johnson put the squad through a 99-play scrimmage. Johnson witnessed an aggressive defense, saw plenty of positive plays, both units.

“I saw a lot of good things from a lot of guys, even though it’s been a while since they played football,” Johnson said. “Defensively, we had a lot of guys getting to the ball, trying to make plays. On offense, we did a lot of things right, but probably lacked some consistency. The effort was there.  I think we’ll continue to improve offensively as spring ball continues.

“It sure appeared that our guys had fun today and I like that part of it too,” Johnson added.
The defense performed well for much of the scrimmage, though the Commodore offense kept its gameplan focused on its short-yardage passing attack and power running game. The defense limited their counterparts to a pair of field goals until the offense put together a red-zone touchdown drive in the next-to-last possession of the scrimmage.

Early on, the defense made plays to show it was ready for the scrimmage. In the third series, consecutive hits by linebackers Moses Osemwegie and Curtis Gatewood set an aggressive defensive tone early that continued through much of the practice. 

Three defenders moving to new positions this spring – Herdley Harrison, Andrew Pace and Marcus Buggs – impressed with their aggressive play.  Harrison, moving from linebacker to end, was a frequent visitor to the Commodore offensive backfield, recording three sacks. Pace, moving from safety to cornerback, deflected a pass and stopped another possession by forcing the quarterback to throw a pass away. Buggs, another former safety moving to linebacker, provided three jeering tackles, including one on tight end Brad Allen.

Several other defenders made impressive plays, including outside linebacker Moses Osemwegie, linebacker Kevin Joyce, inside linebackers Jonathan Goff and Otis Washington, cornerback Cheron Thompson and safety Reshard Langford. 

On offense, quarterback Jay Cutler was solid in limited duty.  He led the offense inside the defensive red zone on three drives, though only two possessions resulted in points.  Among Cutler’s favorite targets were tight end Dustin Dunning and wide receiver Erik Davis.

Quarterback Steven Bright directed the lone touchdown drive, though much of the production came from the rushing of sophomore tailbacks, Jeff Jennings and Cassen Jackson-Garrison. Jennings scored the only touchdown, bullying over from five yards out.  Redshirt freshman quarterback Chris Nickson also directed four possessions, connected with Allen and freshman receiver Bryant Anderson, among others.

Watching Practice
Two other Commodores who worked out for NFL scouts on Friday, defensive end Jovan Haye and fullback Matt Tant, watched much of the practice from the sidelines.

Haye and Tant were two of 12 former Commodores who tried to elevate their NFL prospects at the Vanderbilt Pro Day activities. Others participating were receiver Brandon Smith, tailback Norval McKenzie, tackle Justin Geisinger, guard Brian Kovolisky, defensive tackles Matt Clay and Robert Dinwiddie, cornerbacks Bill Alford, Dominique Morris and Lorenzo Parker and punter/kickoff specialist Abtin Iranmanesh.

Upcoming Schedule
The Commodores will expected to off the practice field until next Tuesday when they will return to the John Rich Practice complex for the first of three consecutive practice days. The Rich complex sessions are closed to the public.

The next public practice is scheduled Saturday, March 26, when the Commodores conduct their annual Black and Gold Scrimmage in Vanderbilt Stadium.  The scrimmage is expected to start at 10:00 a.m., and conclude before the Vanderbilt baseball squad takes on the Alabama Crimson Tide in an important SEC game.