If memory serves Okruch worked very hard to keep the kid that flipped to PSU.
These things happen.
Open Practice Thoughts
- Thread starter Scoutnmayo
- Start date
These things happen.
Close is only good in horseshoes. Plus there has been no Plan B for 2 recruiting cycles now. If I'm Ash, and FG kicking is a mess again, I'm not firing myself, I'm getting a new Special Teams coach who just might be a more effective coach and recruiter. Being dead last two years in a row gets coaches fired. This ain't High School.
I believe Ash addressed the kicking problem very well this year. He brought in Anderson as a punter and chalk this up to Okruch and also has Davidowitz. What more do you want? Give the man a break. And yes while some feel was not too good of a showing at the scrimmage regarding FG efforts it will be corrected. Davidowitz has shown he has a strong leg.
That was a lot of negativity followed with a completely different closing sentence!
The silver lining I will take away from your description is that the secondary is indeed as good as advertised and therefore our receivers (though mostly 2nd team) were not able to get separation and also more challenging for the QBs and accuracy.
I would have to think that you agree with me that it would be much more concerning at this time of the summer if the OLine was blowing the DL away in the first scrimmage. To be honest, this is when I want Coach Kill to see where he may have some holes and weaknesses along with areas the OL excels. This will give him plenty of time to figure out the best way to call pays based on where these guys are.
If the DL couldnt get push, it would be very scary at this point
I agree. Our kickers last year were both pretty good in the short game but struggled with distance. He brought in bigger legs at both spots. Not sure what the other guy is talking about.
Maybe the kid is hitting long kicks in practice. Maybe he is more accurate inside 40 right now but they want to see who will kick the long distance FGs. Maybe the new kid handles kick offs and long FGs and the other guy handles PATs and everything inside of 40 yards. Maybe the new kid just needs more time to be consistent. This isn't the NFL where you just go out and sign FAs. You work with what you have in college.
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This is what I was going to ask. Are the WR's an issue, or are the DB's just good?
Of coarse that is always at the heart of the question in regards to intrasquad scrimmages.
You do realize this was the first scrimmage of the season, don't you?
We are so screwed.
My lower back hurts.....
And hand grenades. And nuclear weapons. And curling?
Especially in spelling.
My reply wasn't meant to be a negative one. As I said, it's really early and much too soon to expect anything different than what we saw yesterday. I think we'll all be pleasantly surprised with the progress we should see in the next three weeks.
While it doesn't pertain to yesterday's open practice, per se, anyone "not impressed" with Bolin yesterday or concerned about his accuracy should take note of the following:
In 2015 Bolin started for Louisville in their game against Syracuse. He had 241 yards passing -- in the 1st half! He finished with 362 yards and 3 TDs in a 41-17 win.
In his 1st game ever, in 2014 vs Kentucky, he completed 67% of his passes (21 of 31) for 381 yards and 3 TDs.
The point being that, regardless of whether anyone thinks he looked good or bad yesterday, this guy has gotten it done against P5 competition and might very well prove to be the best QB Rutgers has had in several years.
In 2015 Bolin started for Louisville in their game against Syracuse. He had 241 yards passing -- in the 1st half! He finished with 362 yards and 3 TDs in a 41-17 win.
In his 1st game ever, in 2014 vs Kentucky, he completed 67% of his passes (21 of 31) for 381 yards and 3 TDs.
The point being that, regardless of whether anyone thinks he looked good or bad yesterday, this guy has gotten it done against P5 competition and might very well prove to be the best QB Rutgers has had in several years.
How many fans approx?
I wanted to attend but was unable to
Any good conversations with the players afterwards?
I wanted to attend but was unable to
Any good conversations with the players afterwards?
Scarlet Lot was packed solid.
If I had to guess there were probably 3000 fans in attendance.
Believe me I want Bolin to light it up at RU ....it will be unfortunately be an uphill battle in the B1G.
He had dropped to third or fourth on the Louisville depth chart ( obviously behind Jackson and also behind Sophomore QB Jawon Pass) and hence he transferred.
If he gets the time to set up perhaps maybe his accuracy is better ( maybe the DL rush was too much yesterday as he was way off). Two games against Division bottom feeders Kentucky and Sara don't make a career......let's see how it plays out.
If the true freshman is close to advertised, I will hold judgement until the season starts...and maybe even wait for the first two weeks. His first time on the big field and in front of fans can make the young man nervous. Plus he wasn't getting all the reps.
Didn't RU get the top PK in the state last year? He is a true freshman, and many are judging him based on one scrimmage. Give him a chance.
Also of note, and someone mentioned it, were the snaps bad? My son and a friend were in attendance, and at some point, the ST coach, yelled to Billy Taylor (another true freshman) that he was taking all the snaps for the rest of the scrimmage. Seems to indicate a snap problem.
A good number of upper class receivers were on the sideline and may underclass and true freshman were lining up at WR. Experience vs. little/no experience ? I wasn't there, so not sure.
I think the DB's will be the best they've been since 2012, when we had all upperclassmen. It's nice not to start freshman every year. Even the backups can play. KJ Gray and Damon Hayes are players
They had plenty. They obviously didn't have enough at the tables before you entered the stadium, but they did have a table at center midfield with boxes of posters. I was missing a poster and saw them on my way out.
Just wish they gave another 15-20 minutes extra to meet the players. I know they just went through a practice, but after waiting in line for Janarion and others, getting all the way around was difficult. We heard Coach Ash was on the far end so we bolted over there to get his.
When we get to the second god damned scrimmage then it is game on for whining and the usual inexpert analysis. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:
DL can't get off blocks. LB's can't get east west fast enough or fill run gaps well. OL may have improved but may appear as such based on our weak DL. FG's will be an adventure. Playcalling was solid including many short passes. We're obviously stacked at RB. WR position is definitely improved from last season. QB is a huge question mark although not necessarily a deficiency.
Overall I can't see how we ever get off the field with this run defense. Can't see us improving much overall when our biggest weakness is so overwhelming that it may overshadow all other areas improvement.
Overall I can't see how we ever get off the field with this run defense. Can't see us improving much overall when our biggest weakness is so overwhelming that it may overshadow all other areas improvement.
Same thing happened at the dedication ceremony for the practice complex. Hoarders grabbed multiple t-shirts per person. Some people looked like they had 10 shirts in their hands. I had to fill out a voucher for a shirt I hope to get eventually.
This is how things get over-regulated. People can't be depended upon to exercise self-control.
So maybe they had enough but some people took too many... as you said yourself. Is there really a need to call out the program in this situation?
special teams sound like no improvement when you read that there is no FG kicker and nobody can field a Kick Off not named Grant. New Special teams coach needed and more athletes recruited.
Always comes down to recruiting and getting the Jimmie and Joes,not just the kids who'want to be here"
Always comes down to recruiting and getting the Jimmie and Joes,not just the kids who'want to be here"
yup 100%..Ash has to face that this is results bottom line ,now hes the HC. If his long time buddy Vinc O isnt getting the job done on ST two years in a row,hes gotta go,or re- assign him to an off field job.
at OSU this was his assignment.
Vince Okruch joined the Ohio State football staff in the spring of 2013. He assists with quality control for the kicking game and the defense, and he also provides administrative responsibilities.
You are clueless RU #1 , Louisville fan and ex Card baller here. Kyle did not drop to 3rd or 4th. If Lamar went down Kyle would have been our guy had he stayed, Lamar is gone after this season as was Kyle as a senior. Staff new Kyle was leaving before spring and asked him to not announce till after. Pass had to get snaps in case Lamar went down that's where the #2 came from.. Kyle told BP he didn't want any spring game snaps so it didn't take away from the other guys including his brother. BP even had him address the team after the game on the field . (BP doesn't do that, that was respect) Kyle is a helluva QB and bailed us out many times in tough situations for us, and him, but above that he is even a better guy. You watch one scrimmage with 3 freshman wide outs and draw a conclusion. You got a gamer. I think there was a stat that Kyle averaged over a 100 yds passing a quarter at Louisville. Ask Kentucky what kind of QB he is when he went for almost 400 in less than 3 quarters and brought us back from 14 down.(ACC Player of the week) Had a touchdown dropped and a 30 yrd field goal missed against Clemson or he would have beat them.Guy was on everytime we needed him behind a horrendous line. A Card forever with us. Relax and let it play out.
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Ash's long time buddy? Where do you get this misinformation from?
You do realize he has 40 years of coaching experience, including 12 years as defensive coordinator under Gary Barnett at Northwestern and Colorado?
How do you reconcile this post with the other one, or do you just babble on endlessly? DO you realize the lack of depth and talent for special teams last year? Maybe that has something to do with it.
Yep, Okruch has a ton of experience. I thought he needed to go at the end of last year, but everyone reminds me it's all about lack of depth. Yet game after game, guys set up to tackle an opposing returner would cluster up and leave 3/4 of the width of the field wide open. The punter - who had tons of reps - would never follow through his kick. He would kick up to the ball, rather than through...and we would see the ball travel less than 40 yards. ST is undermanned and undertalented. But they were also undercoached.
Hopefully, Lester Erb can help in this regard a bit as he has a fair amount of ST coaching experience.
Hopefully, Lester Erb can help in this regard a bit as he has a fair amount of ST coaching experience.
Talk about clueless. Bolin was not throwing balls continuously to the feet of freshman last Saturday but rather to Sr. Damon Mitchell , Sr. Edwards, etc. I hope I am way off base on his accuracy ... we will see this Saturday night at the next scrimmage.
Kicking looked awful when they used last years starter David Bonagura too any times. His kicks are slow end over end, no power, no distance. He is an average high school kicker at best
The ball explodes off the toes of Harte and Davidvovicz, meaning distance. Accuracy can come.
The punter will be Johnson, the DIII AA transfer... without doubt. Cintron is no different than the past.
The Haggerty kid may be brought back at the start of the season. We'll see if it's necessary or achievable.
The ball explodes off the toes of Harte and Davidvovicz, meaning distance. Accuracy can come.
The punter will be Johnson, the DIII AA transfer... without doubt. Cintron is no different than the past.
The Haggerty kid may be brought back at the start of the season. We'll see if it's necessary or achievable.
Thanks for chiming in. As a Card fan, you don't understand that we have a small contingent of fans who would question every move of this coaching staff. ESPECIALLY when it involves a player with ties from the previous regime getting passed over.
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