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On Campus in Nashville – While film study will provide the ultimate answer, Head Coach Bobby Johnson left Dudley Field Saturday feeling like some of his younger Commodores made strides toward getting on the field more frequently this season.
Johnson offered his comments after directing a 15-drive, 70-play scrimmage in the stadium as his Commodores prepare to conclude two-a-day drills and intensify preparations for the season opener Sept. 1 at Wake Forest.
“As a staff, we wanted to get in the stadium and use the scrimmage as a chance to take a look at a lot of individual players, especially the young guys. We want to see their progress and see how they competed,” Johnson said. “The film will tell us a lot, but from an initial impression, I saw a lot of good things. We had some guys that were getting after it.
“Overall, I also thought our mental approach and focus was pretty good. I only remember three penalties and one fumble, and the offense recovered that one. We’ll take a lot of positives away from this one,” the head coach said.
Both units provided highlights during the scrimmage. Quarterback Jay Cutler opened the session by directing the “A” offense on a 10-play, 65-yard touchdown drive, capped by a scoring strike to sophomore Jeff Jennings. The drive also featured the rushing of sophomore Cassen Jackson-Garrison and the aerial tandem of Cutler and senior Erik Davis.
After the initial possession, the Commodore defense clamped down, limiting their counterparts to a lone first down during the next five possessions. Sparking the defensive effort was a pair of tackles for loss by sophomore Marcus Buggs, pass deflections by senior Herdley Harrison and sophomore Curtis Gatewood, and a quarterback sack by sophomore Theo Horrocks.
The second offensive touchdown came on a red-zone possession led by redshirt freshman quarterback Chris Nickson, who rushed for a crucial first down before finding the end zone from five yards out.
The offense did not score another touchdown until Nickson found freshman Larry Simmons on a 30-yard pass five possessions later. Several defenders, including end Chris Booker, tackles Lamar Divens and Gabe Hall, and safeties Ben Koger and Reshard Langford, made plays to halt drives.
The final offensive touchdown came in the closing minutes when freshman Alex Washington picked up a fumble and scored from 10 yards out.
In special teams play, freshman Bryant Hahnfeldt and sophomore Kyle Keown were impressive in limited punting duties to open the practice. Hahnfeldt’s lone effort went 65 yards while Keown’s effort was 47 yards, with good hang time. Hahnfeldt was also effective as a placekicker, displaying excellent distance and height while converting five of six attempts. Junior Patrick Johnson made four of six field goal attempts while redshirt freshman Daniel Lee was successful on half on his six attempts.
Practice Schedule
The squad is expected to take their first day off on Sunday, returning for a single session on Monday and the final two-a-day practice on Tuesday.
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