Football Josh Vardaman
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee took another step in the preparation for its opener against Army Friday with its second scrimmage of fall camp.
The Blue Raiders got in about 35 plays in their first scrimmage the weekend prior, but upped that to 65 plays on Friday.
While they still have plenty to work on over the next two weeks ahead of their opener on Sept. 5, head coach Rick Stockstill is pleased with where they're at midway through camp.
"I liked some of the things we did … and I've seen some improvement from last week to this week," he said. "I like where we are at the halfway point. Are we there yet? Not even close. But, we're getting there."
The scrimmage was highlighted by a few big plays from the offense. They were a welcomed sign for redshirt junior quarterback Asher O'Hara.
"We did a good job of watching the film from the first scrimmage and learning from what we didn't do so great, and we really put it together today," he said. "We had a lot of big plays … and we came out with high energy. The last scrimmage, we were kind of loafing and just not where we needed to be. Today, we had a little more pep in our step, and every big play kept us going. It was a lot of fun today."
O'Hara had several long passing plays, including a 39-yard touchdown strike to redshirt junior H-back Joeseph Sewell and a couple long connections with freshman Jaylin Lane, who displayed fancy footwork on two catches along either sideline.
Lane is one of several freshmen who's impressed in camp. Fellow rookie Demetric Hardin Jr. also caught a screen pass in the scrimmage and flashed his speed, taking it 83 yards for a touchdown.
"[Lane] is a really special talent," O'Hara said. "He's super smart and knows coverages already, and you can tell he's not thinking while he's playing. He seems like he's a natural."
While the offense was able to rattle off some big plays, some of that can be attributed to the defense not being able to tackle. Stockstill didn't want to risk injury with limited depth at this point in camp.
"Defensively, I think our older guys showed up," he said. "It's hard for the defense when you aren't tackling. You have to fly in there but then you have to stop … so the defense gave up some big plays, but I think some of those were because they couldn't tackle."
The defensive line in particular stood out despite not being able to tackle.
They caused the offensive line to move early a couple of times and applied quite a bit of pressure on O'Hara and the other quarterbacks. Redshirt junior defensive end Jordan Ferguson had one notable sack of O'Hara that backed the offense out of the red zone and forced a field goal.
"As a defense, we played well as a whole," redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Jordan Branch said. "We had a few big plays we gave up, but overall, I think it was good day for us. We just have to keep improving … and we have to make some adjustments."
With two weeks left until they travel to Army, the Blue Raiders will use their remaining practices to implement a game plan for slowing down the Black Knights and developing some depth.
"I think we're starting to find out a little more about our twos on both sides of the ball," Stockstill said. "When you get some freshmen out there and some redshirt guys who haven't played, you get to see how they respond. We're getting a pretty good idea of that."
The Blue Raiders got in about 35 plays in their first scrimmage the weekend prior, but upped that to 65 plays on Friday.
While they still have plenty to work on over the next two weeks ahead of their opener on Sept. 5, head coach Rick Stockstill is pleased with where they're at midway through camp.
"I liked some of the things we did … and I've seen some improvement from last week to this week," he said. "I like where we are at the halfway point. Are we there yet? Not even close. But, we're getting there."
The scrimmage was highlighted by a few big plays from the offense. They were a welcomed sign for redshirt junior quarterback Asher O'Hara.
"We did a good job of watching the film from the first scrimmage and learning from what we didn't do so great, and we really put it together today," he said. "We had a lot of big plays … and we came out with high energy. The last scrimmage, we were kind of loafing and just not where we needed to be. Today, we had a little more pep in our step, and every big play kept us going. It was a lot of fun today."
O'Hara had several long passing plays, including a 39-yard touchdown strike to redshirt junior H-back Joeseph Sewell and a couple long connections with freshman Jaylin Lane, who displayed fancy footwork on two catches along either sideline.
Lane is one of several freshmen who's impressed in camp. Fellow rookie Demetric Hardin Jr. also caught a screen pass in the scrimmage and flashed his speed, taking it 83 yards for a touchdown.
"[Lane] is a really special talent," O'Hara said. "He's super smart and knows coverages already, and you can tell he's not thinking while he's playing. He seems like he's a natural."
While the offense was able to rattle off some big plays, some of that can be attributed to the defense not being able to tackle. Stockstill didn't want to risk injury with limited depth at this point in camp.
"Defensively, I think our older guys showed up," he said. "It's hard for the defense when you aren't tackling. You have to fly in there but then you have to stop … so the defense gave up some big plays, but I think some of those were because they couldn't tackle."
The defensive line in particular stood out despite not being able to tackle.
They caused the offensive line to move early a couple of times and applied quite a bit of pressure on O'Hara and the other quarterbacks. Redshirt junior defensive end Jordan Ferguson had one notable sack of O'Hara that backed the offense out of the red zone and forced a field goal.
"As a defense, we played well as a whole," redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Jordan Branch said. "We had a few big plays we gave up, but overall, I think it was good day for us. We just have to keep improving … and we have to make some adjustments."
With two weeks left until they travel to Army, the Blue Raiders will use their remaining practices to implement a game plan for slowing down the Black Knights and developing some depth.
"I think we're starting to find out a little more about our twos on both sides of the ball," Stockstill said. "When you get some freshmen out there and some redshirt guys who haven't played, you get to see how they respond. We're getting a pretty good idea of that."
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