Vanderbilt held a lengthy scrimmage that spanned almost two hours and I was there for all of it.
Temp was probably around 85-90 with typical summer humidity.
One note: there’s now loge seating in the end zone; it looks like it’ll be a premium seating area perhaps something along the lines of what the Braves do in right field. I was told they’ll have waiters bringing food and those sorts of things.
HIGHLIGHTS
The story of the day was the defense. Performance slipped some in the second half (which coach Clark Lea notes in the video I’ll post soon) but the offense couldn’t do anything in the first half; in fact, it was LB De’Rickey Wright who had a pick-6 to account for the half’s only points (unless there was a field goal I forgot).
Up front, DL Daevion Davis was exceptionally disruptive, which hasn’t been the first time in August that I’ve seen that. To be fair, Davis is also lined up on or near center, which is the team’s biggest problem area right now, but there’s no denying he was outstanding today also.
The biggest offensive play came when WR Gemarion Carter made a double-move to fool a DB along the sideline and spring wide open to haul in a 50-yard TD on a well-thrown ball from QB Mike Wright, who also had a nice day.
QB Ken Seals also threw about a 30-yard TD to WR Devin Boddie in which Boddie took a short through and did most of the work, slipping by two defenders to get to the end zone.
OFFENSE
Offensive line
Everything really starts here. There really wasn’t any sugar-coating it, that bunch was awful today. And to be honest, the defense makes it tough—they throw so many looks at you that it’s probably hard to process what’s coming next and from where—but they need to make major strides in the next two weeks. Penalties, bad snaps, leaving defenders almost or nearly untouched to make plays in the backfield (and sometimes that’s not all on the line, it might be a RB who needs to make a blitz pickup or whatever) but even allowing for whatever, it wasn’t good.
What really illustrated how bad it got was one sequence in which a pass interference call gave the offense the ball on the half-yard line. About 6-7 plays later (again, another half-the-distance penalty gave the offense another first down), the offense was settling for a field goal because it seemed like there were 3-4 defenders in the backfield in in the blink of an eye every time they tried to run the ball.
And to that: on the first play with VU at the half-yard line, RB Re’Mahn Davis took a handoff and before he could take a second step, there were four guys (maybe more) right in his face as if the offensive line wasn’t even there.
Maybe the only consolation is that it seemed that LG Cole Clemens out there at times when things were really bad, but the problems seemed to go across the line and not just in one or two spots.
Quarterbacks
I don’t think Seals had a bad day—he was fairly accurate with his throws—but it wasn’t a particularly productive one either just because he had defenders in his face, pretty quickly, on just about every snap. Seals also had a fumble that was probably preventable but that was the only mistake I remember.
Wright got better as the day went on. Wright had issues with accuracy early (again, it wasn’t an easy day to be a passer) but I thought really settled in during the second half and made some nice throws. Obviously he’s the team’s best runner and had a nice dash or two, although the defense bottled him in much of the day.
QB Jeremy Moussa got a lot of reps and really didn't stand out either way under, again, tough conditions.
Running backs
Davis should be the main back and I don’t think anyone disputes that. It was just hard to evaluate his performance based on what happened today because he had almost zero chance of success.
Two freshmen, Patrick Smith and James Ziglor III, saw a lot of time today. Smith didn’t do a lot—again, I don’t hold that against him—but Ziglor actually took advantage of some of the few holes the line generated and scampered for first downs, the long run being maybe 12 yards.
RB Rocko Griffin made an appearance late. He’s been in a red jersey a lot and so I think they’re trying to keep him healthy. Griffin’s noticeably lighter and quicker than last year and I think that’s going to be needed. He’ll help.
Wide receivers and tight ends
It wasn’t a great day for the group because of drops and a lot of that was on the freshmen. Quincy Skinner, who’s been really good, had a freshman-like day. As noted, Carter had that long TD grab.
Cam Johnson did typical Cam Johnson things, catching everything in sight thrown his way, including a tough ball or two.
Boddie had several receptions today, including that TD.
Chris Pierce had a few targets and catches, but with the line being so poor, it was just hard for the team to do much downfield and so just about all of that was short-of-the-sticks throws.
TE Ben Bresnahan has to stay healthy, so we didn’t see much of him today. I think he made one nice catch and that was it.
TE Justin Ball caught a pass or two.
TE Gavin Schoenwald wasn’t dressed today.
DEFENSE
Defensive line
Probably no group played better today. Davis was just unstoppable and in the first half, it seemed as if he was in the backfield on every snap.
Freshman DL Marcus Bradley was maybe just as much or more productive as Davis, and the same things I said about Davis also apply here.
DL Malik Langham was really good and he also spent a lot of his day in the backfield.
I’m really intrigued by DE Alex Williams. Outside of Dayo Odeyingbo, they just haven’t had a lot of edge guys like him in recent years. Williams obviously was behind some elite guys at Ohio State and frankly, he looks like the kind of athlete who should get an offer from that type a place. Williams was really good in generating a pass rush today and was also in on some run stops. I think he could really pop for them this year as a pass rusher.
Freshman DL Terion Sugick also had a backfield stop late in the day, I think against mostly reserves.
Linebacker
DeRickey Wright may have been the day’s MVP. I’m just super impressed with what he can do; it helps that he played DB before and he’s great in coverage. The pick he had wasn’t an easy one, he just got underneath a throw (I think from Jeremy Moussa) and speared it out of the air and then beat an offensive player or two on about a 12-15 yard footrace to the front pylon where he simply out-ran the pursuit angle. Wright’s gonna be a player.
Brayden DeVault-Smith was really active today, and was on the field a lot more than Ethan Barr. I wouldn’t read anything into this yet, but, DeVault-Smith was in on a bunch of run stops and played better today than I’ve ever seen him play.
Anfernee Orji was also really good and active, particularly against the run.
Errington Truesdell had a tackle for loss late, I think against reserves.
Barr, who I suspect will start, wasn’t out there much today.
Defensive backs
This bunch was certainly aided by the front seven, but it did a terrific job (except for those two passing TDs) in terms of really sticking with receivers. Even a lot of the receptions came with defenders almost draped on the backs of receivers (which did lead to a few PI calls) but this bunch was really aggressive and physical today.
A ton of guys played but the two who probably stood out most were DB Alan “Taco” Wright, who made some good plays and covered pretty well, and S Deshaun Jerkins, who’s probably playing as well as I’ve seen him play. CB Jaylen Mahoney also had a nice play or two.
Special teams
P Harrison Smith is far and away their best. He was really consistent today and has been spectacular at times.
Alabama transfer K Joseph Bulovas seemed to get the most opportunities. He hit a few field goals but also missed a 30-something yarder with no defense.
Cam Johnson and Alan Wright got the bulk of punt return duties, and freshman DB John Howse also got a shot or two. These guys were just catching punts and there was no defense charging at them.
Temp was probably around 85-90 with typical summer humidity.
One note: there’s now loge seating in the end zone; it looks like it’ll be a premium seating area perhaps something along the lines of what the Braves do in right field. I was told they’ll have waiters bringing food and those sorts of things.
HIGHLIGHTS
The story of the day was the defense. Performance slipped some in the second half (which coach Clark Lea notes in the video I’ll post soon) but the offense couldn’t do anything in the first half; in fact, it was LB De’Rickey Wright who had a pick-6 to account for the half’s only points (unless there was a field goal I forgot).
Up front, DL Daevion Davis was exceptionally disruptive, which hasn’t been the first time in August that I’ve seen that. To be fair, Davis is also lined up on or near center, which is the team’s biggest problem area right now, but there’s no denying he was outstanding today also.
The biggest offensive play came when WR Gemarion Carter made a double-move to fool a DB along the sideline and spring wide open to haul in a 50-yard TD on a well-thrown ball from QB Mike Wright, who also had a nice day.
QB Ken Seals also threw about a 30-yard TD to WR Devin Boddie in which Boddie took a short through and did most of the work, slipping by two defenders to get to the end zone.
OFFENSE
Offensive line
Everything really starts here. There really wasn’t any sugar-coating it, that bunch was awful today. And to be honest, the defense makes it tough—they throw so many looks at you that it’s probably hard to process what’s coming next and from where—but they need to make major strides in the next two weeks. Penalties, bad snaps, leaving defenders almost or nearly untouched to make plays in the backfield (and sometimes that’s not all on the line, it might be a RB who needs to make a blitz pickup or whatever) but even allowing for whatever, it wasn’t good.
What really illustrated how bad it got was one sequence in which a pass interference call gave the offense the ball on the half-yard line. About 6-7 plays later (again, another half-the-distance penalty gave the offense another first down), the offense was settling for a field goal because it seemed like there were 3-4 defenders in the backfield in in the blink of an eye every time they tried to run the ball.
And to that: on the first play with VU at the half-yard line, RB Re’Mahn Davis took a handoff and before he could take a second step, there were four guys (maybe more) right in his face as if the offensive line wasn’t even there.
Maybe the only consolation is that it seemed that LG Cole Clemens out there at times when things were really bad, but the problems seemed to go across the line and not just in one or two spots.
Quarterbacks
I don’t think Seals had a bad day—he was fairly accurate with his throws—but it wasn’t a particularly productive one either just because he had defenders in his face, pretty quickly, on just about every snap. Seals also had a fumble that was probably preventable but that was the only mistake I remember.
Wright got better as the day went on. Wright had issues with accuracy early (again, it wasn’t an easy day to be a passer) but I thought really settled in during the second half and made some nice throws. Obviously he’s the team’s best runner and had a nice dash or two, although the defense bottled him in much of the day.
QB Jeremy Moussa got a lot of reps and really didn't stand out either way under, again, tough conditions.
Running backs
Davis should be the main back and I don’t think anyone disputes that. It was just hard to evaluate his performance based on what happened today because he had almost zero chance of success.
Two freshmen, Patrick Smith and James Ziglor III, saw a lot of time today. Smith didn’t do a lot—again, I don’t hold that against him—but Ziglor actually took advantage of some of the few holes the line generated and scampered for first downs, the long run being maybe 12 yards.
RB Rocko Griffin made an appearance late. He’s been in a red jersey a lot and so I think they’re trying to keep him healthy. Griffin’s noticeably lighter and quicker than last year and I think that’s going to be needed. He’ll help.
Wide receivers and tight ends
It wasn’t a great day for the group because of drops and a lot of that was on the freshmen. Quincy Skinner, who’s been really good, had a freshman-like day. As noted, Carter had that long TD grab.
Cam Johnson did typical Cam Johnson things, catching everything in sight thrown his way, including a tough ball or two.
Boddie had several receptions today, including that TD.
Chris Pierce had a few targets and catches, but with the line being so poor, it was just hard for the team to do much downfield and so just about all of that was short-of-the-sticks throws.
TE Ben Bresnahan has to stay healthy, so we didn’t see much of him today. I think he made one nice catch and that was it.
TE Justin Ball caught a pass or two.
TE Gavin Schoenwald wasn’t dressed today.
DEFENSE
Defensive line
Probably no group played better today. Davis was just unstoppable and in the first half, it seemed as if he was in the backfield on every snap.
Freshman DL Marcus Bradley was maybe just as much or more productive as Davis, and the same things I said about Davis also apply here.
DL Malik Langham was really good and he also spent a lot of his day in the backfield.
I’m really intrigued by DE Alex Williams. Outside of Dayo Odeyingbo, they just haven’t had a lot of edge guys like him in recent years. Williams obviously was behind some elite guys at Ohio State and frankly, he looks like the kind of athlete who should get an offer from that type a place. Williams was really good in generating a pass rush today and was also in on some run stops. I think he could really pop for them this year as a pass rusher.
Freshman DL Terion Sugick also had a backfield stop late in the day, I think against mostly reserves.
Linebacker
DeRickey Wright may have been the day’s MVP. I’m just super impressed with what he can do; it helps that he played DB before and he’s great in coverage. The pick he had wasn’t an easy one, he just got underneath a throw (I think from Jeremy Moussa) and speared it out of the air and then beat an offensive player or two on about a 12-15 yard footrace to the front pylon where he simply out-ran the pursuit angle. Wright’s gonna be a player.
Brayden DeVault-Smith was really active today, and was on the field a lot more than Ethan Barr. I wouldn’t read anything into this yet, but, DeVault-Smith was in on a bunch of run stops and played better today than I’ve ever seen him play.
Anfernee Orji was also really good and active, particularly against the run.
Errington Truesdell had a tackle for loss late, I think against reserves.
Barr, who I suspect will start, wasn’t out there much today.
Defensive backs
This bunch was certainly aided by the front seven, but it did a terrific job (except for those two passing TDs) in terms of really sticking with receivers. Even a lot of the receptions came with defenders almost draped on the backs of receivers (which did lead to a few PI calls) but this bunch was really aggressive and physical today.
A ton of guys played but the two who probably stood out most were DB Alan “Taco” Wright, who made some good plays and covered pretty well, and S Deshaun Jerkins, who’s probably playing as well as I’ve seen him play. CB Jaylen Mahoney also had a nice play or two.
Special teams
P Harrison Smith is far and away their best. He was really consistent today and has been spectacular at times.
Alabama transfer K Joseph Bulovas seemed to get the most opportunities. He hit a few field goals but also missed a 30-something yarder with no defense.
Cam Johnson and Alan Wright got the bulk of punt return duties, and freshman DB John Howse also got a shot or two. These guys were just catching punts and there was no defense charging at them.
