Report from today's football practice

by bruinmike88 on Apr 14, 2007 8:55 PM PDT

These observations come to me from a team source who saw today's practice and emailed me these thoughts:

"The QBs were very average, defensive line was superb, like an All-American level. Conversely the o line was shit, so maybe the d line looked good because of the o line being crap or vice versa, I dunno man. The running backs were all injured, but the new guy Ryan Carew looked impressive. Gavin Ketchum also looked awesome. I like our QB's, they can do everything except complete long 35+ yard passes, but in our system I guess that skill is a bonus.

Who's the new coach we got from Nebraska or something, Norvell? Anyway he's real impressive, easily moreso than Dorrell. He looks very smart and is very much in control of the offense.

Well, just thought you'd like a football update, take care man."

Good news about the D-line and Norvell. Bad news about the O-line, but I seriously can't imagine it being any worse than last year myself. Casper the friendly ghost would be an improvement on Robert Chai's ineptitude. Hopefully things improve before the season so we can have an actual viable running game this season. Think of what Markey could do with actual holes to run through.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

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carew...

can be a really good running back if he gets his head on straight. i would even go to say an improvement over markey in terms of speed, agility, and strength. how many times did markey get run down last year, he has no breakaway speed and bell is a cancer causing a lot of team grief, especially with his team issues.

by redsand514 on Apr 14, 2007 9:02 PM PDT reply actions

Your "team source"

is asking "Who's the new coach we got from Nebraska or something, Norvell?"

Nothing personal, but such questions/comments from a "source" doesn't exactly instill confidence or lend any credibility to the report.

by kdout on Apr 14, 2007 9:40 PM PDT reply actions

just cuz you don't know who norvell is

doesn't mean you can't tell who/how efficiently he is running the show.

by guttylittlebruins on Apr 15, 2007 2:36 AM PDT up reply actions

In response to your question

He was asking for clarification on where Norvell came from, it was just badly worded. He knows exactly who Norvell is.

by bruinmike88 on Apr 16, 2007 9:07 PM PDT up reply actions

some good news...

i was able to make it out to spaulding today and here's my thoughts:

1) aside from the 3s in which the OLine just completely dominated the defense which results in the high number of yards for ryan carew, the offense looked MUCH better with ben at the helm as opposed to pat. pat plays TOO conservative and wasnt afraid to throw the ball away or take a sack at the first sign of trouble. olson had a nice scramble within the pocket to hit ketchum for a big game and threw some nice balls on the crossing routes as well, while i can't remember cowan throwing ANY good balls.

2) aleksey lanis was with the 2nd time which probably had a lot to do with the fact that the DLine was eating the first team running game alive...

3) terrance austin had a few sweet diving catches today, although he still doesnt run his routes correctly at times.

4) khalil bell was running with the 3s, with chane with the 1s and carew with the 2s...i think its a sign that hes back in the doghouse...

5) the team was really hitting today as bell got completely lit up by christian taylor and chris horton during the defense's goal line stand...

6) E.J. Woods (committed) was there with his Crespi teammate Joseph Fauria (relation to Christian Fauria in the NFL) who he is in the process of recruiting...

thats all i can remember for now...but the biggest thing that jumped out at me was that Ben finally looked like he wanted to take over as the leader of this team...great to see

matsumoto class of '05

by matsumoto720 on Apr 14, 2007 10:35 PM PDT reply actions

I Saw Ben On During Friday's Practice

I watched the practice because my brain was about 3 seconds from exploding if I had to read any more constitutional law. I liked what I saw a lot. I'm very excited to see him next year.

That actually brings me to an interesting question that my dad asked me: Would you rather have UCLA win a championship or have a UCLA player win a heisman? He said Heisman. I said championship.

What do you say?

by BruinFan1 on Apr 14, 2007 10:45 PM PDT reply actions

hate to say it....

but you may be smarter than your dad.

by MOlson on Apr 14, 2007 11:38 PM PDT up reply actions

That is not even a question.

If you have to ask it out loud we have problems.

by rfirpo on Apr 15, 2007 10:05 AM PDT up reply actions

Thanks for the updates

Much appreciated.

by Nestor on Apr 15, 2007 8:40 AM PDT reply actions

Same Red Zone Problems and No Medlock -- YUK!

Jill Painter writes about a 4 down goal line stand the defense pulled off.

KD was pleased.

I'm not.

I'm happy for the D -- but the O has to learn how to score in the redzone -- especially on goal line stands, no matter how good a D is.

It's really hard to tell, in practice, whether we have a Monster D or a Wussy O.

To make matters a little more scary, Painter points out that the kickers are having trouble and that Dorrell is "concerned" about their performance.

If things don't get better -- we will have trouble scoring TD's in the RZ AND we won't have an automatic Medlock 3.

I know this is only spring practice -- but the signs are all there for a repeat of last year.

sjh

by Class of 66 on Apr 15, 2007 9:25 AM PDT reply actions

Catch 22?

Let's say our D is absolutely great. Does the O benefit from playing such a tough defense, or do they lose their confidence and are never really able to establish a rhythm?

By the same token, what if the O is just bad? It seems we are getting conflicting reports, some say we do not look sharp and others say we make great plays.

And if the kickers aren't reliable, I say GOOD! It will force KD to grow some cojones and come up with some better plays because he won't have his automatic 3. And the players will know it too, maybe the added pressure is exactly what we need.

by tasser10 on Apr 15, 2007 9:51 AM PDT reply actions

Better plays?

We don't need no stinkin' better plays! On 1st and 10, it is MANDATORY that you run it up the gut no matter what the defense shows, how much time is left on the clock, or the points on the scoreboard! That's what all the football textbooks teach.

If the playcalling does not get better this year, I will seriously lose my lunch in the stands.

by Barnes2JJ on Apr 15, 2007 2:22 PM PDT up reply actions