End of two-a-days is in sight

This is the final week of two-a-days as the Cougars prepare for the season opener against Northern Iowa.

What have we learned from two weeks of camp?

OFFENSE

The whole thing on this side of the ball can be narrowed down to three observations.

First, Bronco Mendenhall is being very conservative with his stars. With the exception of Max Hall, who cannot be touched, he has routinely limited the reps taken by TE Dennis Pitta, RB Harvey Unga and by design, Austin Collie has been put on the backburners to let his stress fracture heal. I remember this summer talking to Robert Anae and I asked him if, at that point, he though he’d protect Unga to prevent injury, and he said Unga still had a lot to learn and was a work on progress. Well, once camp started, whatever Unga brings to the table appears to be enough firepower in this offene that he needs protection, not an unusual move in spring or fall camp dating back to the LaVell Edwards era.

Second, Anae has evolved in his philosophy. Opponents will see some additions, tweaks and complementary plays in this offense – things opposing defenses will have to prepare for this time around that they did not a year ago. These are designed for a two-fold purpose. A. To take advantage of the talent, and B. To add a layer of flexibility, especially in the Blue Zone.

Third, Blocking, blocking, blocking and more blocking.

Summary: In what we’ve seen, the holding back of some of the stars has definitely enabled Luke Ashworth, O’Neil Chambers and J.J. DiLuigi to get significant reps, time to learn and show what they can do. All of the above are clearly more developed because of this than they would have been if the other bodies had hogged up playing time the past two weeks.

“What we need now is to be more consistent, ” said Max Hall. “I expect this week we’ll polish what we’re doing and then put in a game plan and script for Northern Iowa. Once we do that, and have the right people back in the lineup, I believe you’ll see what we can do and I believe we can move the ball on anybody in the country.”

DEFENSE:

This side of the ball can be summed up easily. It is better than expected. The linebackers are active and quick and the corners, Brandon Howard and Scott Johnson have held on to their spots and are serviceable if not equal to the corners of a year ago in terms of placement, coverage and tackling ability. G Pittman and Brandon Bradley have pushed, but they have not overtaken the first corners. David Tafuna (concussion) has struggled to keep healthy his entire career and now he won the starting job and is out once again, Andrew Rich has stepped in and it will be hard to keep him off the field because of his physical play.

Maybe the deepest quality depth on the front three in this 3-4 that we’ve seen in defensive linemen in about a decade. They are solid.

“These guys are young, but they are good. At times, they’ve given us every thing we could handle,” said Hall. “I think once they get in the game, make a few stops and get their confidence up, they’ll be on their way. I think they have the potential to be the best in the conference and rank high in the country.”

COMING UP

Beginning with today’s two practices, look for coachesto solidify the two-deep chart and name starters. The most heated battle might be for backup to Hall where Gaskins and McEuen have pulled even. There is also a positive tug of war going on with kickers Justin Sorensen and Mitch Payne. By the end of the week, we’ll see captains named, a scout team appointed and preparation for Northern Iowa. That will be the anthem on Friday and Saturday and all next week. We’ll also see Unga, Pitta and perhaps Collie start getting more reps when the pads go on to prepare them for game speed.