The Gators weren't in full pads today but the intensity was ratcheted up for day six of spring practice. Three fights broke out among players as the competitive fires showed that they are burning brightly. The defense seemed to be the big winner again on Friday.
Lucky for me I was covering the defense and have quite a bit to share. Here is our defensive report from the Florida Gators sixth spring practice of 2008.
This is a chronological look at what was going on. After individual drills, the offense and defense front seven squared off in front of the media.
HALF LINE BLOCKING DRILLS: The drills consist of two or three offensive linemen vs. two to three defensive players. It gets a little tough and every practice so far, the offense has dominated the drill. It was no different today. Among the highlights, James Wilson was with the second group and he got the better of John Brown on one snap and the coaches and teammates mobbed him after the play. Wilson has been doing a whole bunch of contact. Offensive line coach John Hevesy jumped Steven Wilks, who seemed to make a nice block on one linebacker but didn’t follow all the way through and drive him away. The Pounceys and Jim Tartt just refuse to give an inch in this drill, ever.
Then the skill guys on both sides of the ball lined up against each other in one of my favorite drills. They did this one on Wednesday and the object is for the offensive player to get the ball and run 15 yards for a score. He has about a five-yard path to stay in and it is the defense’s duty to not let him get the 15 yards without going down or out of bounds first.
15-YARD TACKLE DRILL (Rapid fire, I missed some of them): Brandon Hicks drags Kestahn Moore out of bounds ... Bryan Thomas gets the best of Carl Moore ... Joe Haden whiffed on a walk on receiver ... Chris Rainey made Brendan Beal grab for air ... Brandon Spikes mauls Brandon James ... Kestahn Moore gets by Dustin Doe ... Jeremy Brown gets Justin Williams ... Mon Williams gets by Jerimy Finch ... Kestahn Moore tackled by Dustin Doe ... Mon Williams absolutely trucks over Jerimy Finch ... Finch whiffs on Mon ... Lorenzo Edwards knocks Rainey out of bounds ... Finch gets Moody ... Beal just gets Rainey ... Deonte Thompson gets by Wondy Pierre-Louis ... Brandon Spikes laid out Kestahn Moore on a devastating hit
The team next practiced punt blocking and punt protection. The highlights were the first two punts. Chaz Henry hit two consecutive rockets, one for 70 plus yards in the air beyond the line of scrimmage, the next for 60 plus yards beyond the line of scrimmage. He then proceeded to shank his third try into the stands about 30 yards total.
The team then moved on to a drill that is designed to help the offensive linemen with blitz schemes. They usually don’t run this one exactly full speed but somewhat fast. The blitz protection drill doesn’t really show a whole lot, but as a whole I think the offensive line and backs protected pretty well.
11-ON-11 PASSING SESSION: The offense and defense squared off for some passing action the defense was really scrambling around the rotations out there. The first nickel they allowed Moses Jenkins to play instead of Joe Haden. They had Wondy out there with Jacques Rickerson in the nickel position. The starting defensive line was Trattou and Cunningham at ends, and John Brown and Lawrence Marsh at defensive tackles. From there they substituted freely and every which way.
They then proceeded to do kick return practice and the notable returners were Brandon James, Chris Rainey, Deonte Thompson, and Mon Williams. There are schools that would die for just one of those.
9-ON-7 DRILL: This drill combats the front seven of the defense against the running portion of the offense. The offense dominated again, and the first three plays the running backs went untouched. The only other highlight or lowlight in the action was that Emmanuel Moody did fumble the ball during the drill.
The teams then split into skills vs skills and did their usual 7-on-7 passing drill. The defense, which has dominated the last few practices in this drill, came out ahead again although this time it was more due to the offense dropping so many balls. Here are the plays that stood out one way or the other.
SEVEN-ON-SEVEN PASSING: Carl Moore makes a nice medium distance grab ... Brandon Hicks picks off a tipped ball from David Nelson’s hands. Nelson is a little gimpy from a slight injury incurred during one on ones ... Cornelius Ingram dropped a wide open pass from John Brantley in the deep middle of the field ... Wondy blitzes and blocks a pass from John Brantley ... Deonte Thompson dropped a mid-range post pattern ... David Nelson dropped a short pass, still struggling from injury incurred earlier ... Long pass to Deonte Thompson was covered well by Moses Jenkins and went incomplete … Brantley back in and fires a long streak pattern to Deonte Thompson over Moses Jenkins that would have resulted in a touchdown ... Jacques Rickerson followed that up with a nice pass breakup of a Cam Newton pass ... Jeremy Brown had tight coverage on Deonte Thompson and broke up a Brantley pass ... Nice mid-range pass to Carl Moore complete from Tebow in front of Joe Haden ... Tebow comes back to Moore again and Haden intercepts this time ... Wondy breaks up a pass intended for Carl Moore from Tebow ...Tate Casey drops a short pass from Newton ... Justin Williams held on Moses Jenkins who was covering Williams like a blanket, and still couldn’t get to the ball ... Jamar Hornsby makes a quick hit on Louis Murphy less than five yards beyond the line of scrimmage.
11-ON-11 OFFENSE VS. DEFENSE: Cunningham got caught in a bad match up and covering Hernandez. The ball was thrown over the top to Hernandez for a really long gainer ... Tebow gets sacked waiting on receivers to get open ... Next play a hard hit happens and the running back’s mouthpiece pops out and a fight ensues (couldn’t tell who any of them were) ... Tebow slightly overthrows Justin Williams who would have lost his lunch from Ahmad Black had this been a true hitting drill ... Newton breaks contain and rolls out to complete a long bomb to Tate Casey who was wide open along the right hand side ... Lorenzo Edwards causes a bad pitch of an option and then reels in the loose ball…
TWO MINUTE DRILL (11-ON-11): Short pass from Tebow complete to Louis Murphy, but in the middle of the field, clock is running ... Everyone covered, Kestahn Moore gets a hot pass from Tebow that was almost tipped into the hands of two linebackers but incomplete ... Tebow and Ingram beat Dorian Munroe on a 25-yard corner pass and out of bounds to stop the clock ... Brandon Hicks breaks up a short pass to Murphy, but Coach Charlie Strong was still on him because he was slightly out of position and should have been able to make the catch ... Cornelius Ingram dropped a deep post route, but Dorian Munroe and Jamar Hornsby would have made him pay for catching that one ... Tebow throws just a tad deep for Justin Williams and Hornsby was a tad late getting there ... Caleb Sturgis steps up and kicks a 57 yard field goal.
Carl Moore makes a nice long post pattern catch for a first down ... Newton scrambles out of bounds and stops the clock ... Newton hits Butch Rowley on a 20-yard deep out route and out of bounds to stop the clock ... Newton on a quarterback keeper, doesn’t get much ... Jonathan Phillips misses a 45 yard FG.
Tebow was just off target throwing to Murphy but was hit as he threw ... Wondy blitzed from the back side and hit Tebow as he threw the next one. The ball John Brown, who was dropping into coverage, in the hands, a near interception ... Tebow scrambles and rushes a pitch that loses yardage ... Hornsby is there on a deep fly pattern to Justin Williams. Hornsby knocks the ball away. (End of series)
New set of downs ... Tebow gets a short out pass to James who gets out of bounds quick ... Tebow off balance, throws the ball 70 yards in the air, but Dorian Munroe is there to break up the pass ... Sturgis hits the top of the goal post from 55 yards and it bounces in for a FG. Then he follows it with a very short kick that wasn’t close. Then Jonathan Phillips tries from 57 yards and makes it, barely.
Newton in, first pass, short and incomplete ... Bryan Thomas breaks up a medium pass to Carl Moore along the left sideline ... Deonte Thompson on a deep pass, paused to fool the defense, took two steps in to catch the deep ball. He would have scored, but they called him down ... Jonathan Phillips then lines up for two 28-yard field goals and makes them both.
That was the end of practice and here is what I liked and disliked from each position at practice. The starters and backups were substituted all day, so no need to post a depth chart on any of the positions.
DEFENSIVE LINE:
What I Liked: For the most part the defensive line was making the quarterbacks scramble a lot during the passing drills. That means they were getting the pressure that has been wanted. Combine that with the elevated play of the secondary, and this is a welcome sight. Again, we see when the defensive line is not combined to tight spaces it performs well in conjunction with the other parts of the defense. John Brown seemed particularly active today.
What I Didn’t Like: With all the pressure the front was getting, they were not able to contain the quarterbacks in the pocket very much. This is something to work on, but the rush itself is so welcome, the other will come. Carlos Dunlap was not dressed out today and no Torrey Davis either. This may have contributed to the liberal substitution patterns. The defensive line is still getting pushed around in the interior running game. Cunningham got matched up bad on the one play that went for a touchdown, a smart quarterback is going to get that one every time.
LINEBACKERS (for the most part the starters were still Spikes, Doe, and Hicks):
What I Liked: Brandon Spikes is so good in the 15-yard tackling drill and you wouldn’t think a guy with his size would be so good against the smaller guys. Instead he is able to tattoo the running backs in the middle of their chest and has the best hits in the drill almost every time. His instincts at linebacker and tackling in general are superb. Brandon Hicks was making plays today and that was good. Lorenzo Edwards continues on his roll and playing well in my opinion. Also, I think Brendan Beal is heating up and going to start making a name for himself.
What I Didn’t Like: A.J. Jones and Ryan Stamper hardly practiced at all. That is a starter and a key backup missing a lot of action so far. In the running drills, the linebackers were covered up several times allowing outside runs to take it to the house. This happened on Wednesday as well. I couldn’t tell if it was Doe, Hicks or Spikes that was the issue, but it could have been all three. Honestly there is too much speed at linebacker for this to happen and they just need to get off blocks better or avoid them altogether.
SECONDARY (A lot of subs, but the constant was Munroe at safety and Wondy Pierre-Louis at corner):
What I Liked: This was exciting for him, but Jamar Hornsby was getting work in the 2-minute drill with the first unit. For most of the day though John Curtis was back out as the starter at safety along with Dorian Munroe with the absence of Major Wright due to the flu. There were a few more interceptions today. Wondy and Haden had one each that I remember. Hornsby and Bryan Thomas are starting to make more noise at safety. A little more quiet from Ahmad black, but he still made a couple of plays today. I thought Moses Jenkins was thrown into the fire and really played well at cornerback. He played with the first unit a bunch today and he has prototype size that they like to play the position.
What I Didn’t Like: Major Wright still out with the flu ... Markihe Anderson was not out there participating after being dinged up at practice on Wednesday. As good as it seemed the secondary played, the offense helped them a great deal. There were almost double digit dropped balls today and most were wide open receivers that normally would not have dropped the balls. If they make those catches, this was a horrible day for the defensive secondary.
ODDS AND ENDS: David Nelson, after being dinged and not playing near the end of practice, was helping Carl Moore with his patterns and everything before each play. He stood behind him during the play and would make sure he was lined up and knew what he was doing.
NOTABLE RECRUITS: DT Gary Brown (Gator commitment), OL Kyle Koehne, OL Jared Wheeler, and RB Ben Axon were all in attendance at practice.
QUOTABLE: After an offensive lineman was hit in the nose and under his face mask and came up a little hurt, offensive line coach Steve Addazio didn’t want to hear any of it when he yelled out, “If you broke your nose, it’s good for you!!”
