March 22, 2011
On Campus in Nashville – James Franklin wants the Commodores thinking about the task at hand when they’re on the practice field. He might have witnessed too much thought during the team’s first full-pad session Tuesday.
“Maybe guys were thinking too much, but you can expect that,” the head coach said. “The more confident they get and more success they have, everything will pick up.
“Overall, I thought it was good and I liked our attitude. As long as we keep working, we’ll be fine,” Franklin added.
After two practices in limited gear, the Commodores quickly moved into full contact drills Tuesday. After 15 minutes of individual position work, the head coach introduced his squad to the `Dore War Drill, an inside-the-tackle competition pitting defenders trying to shed 1-on-1 blocks and tackle a trailing ball carrier.
Several defensive players, including Chris Marve (Sr., LB), Casey Hayward (Sr., CB), Josh Jelesky (R-Jr., DT) and Taylor Loftley (R-Jr., DT), were singled out by teammates for individual plays during the team drill. On offense, Wesley Tate (R-So., RB), Trent Pruitt (R-Fr., WR) and Marc Panu (R-So., FB) also earned praise.
Besides the `Dore War Drill and a brief segment of full contact work aimed at goal line execution, the coaches continued to broaden the playbook, push for better fundamentals, and focus on conditioning for much of the rest of practice.
Changing Positions
Blake Southerland (R-So.) switched to fullback Tuesday, after seeing repetitions at linebacker last week. Southerland is the younger brother of former Georgia starting fullback Brannan Southerland. He and Panu are both new to the fullback position.
Also working at a different position this spring is Blake Gowder (R-Fr.), who moved from offense to the linebacking corps, where he impressed last Saturday with an interception resulting in a score. Eric Samuels (Jr.) is seeing full-time action in the Commodore secondary after playing running back and defensive back last year.
Lacking Numbers Up Front
The Commodores have just 10 offensive linemen in uniform this spring.
While all five starters return from a year ago, the corps includes just one true center (sophomore Logan Stewart), forcing others to take snaps at the position, including starting guard Jabo Burrow (R-Jr.).
“You’d like to have 15-16 (linemen), so we are obviously lacking bodies there. We’ll have to do some different things to manage it,” Franklin said.