Eagles Conclude Fall Camp
8/15/2008 4:23:00 AM | Football
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern ended its fall football camp on Friday morning (Aug. 15), going through a two hour practice. Head coach Chris Hatcher and his Eagles spent most of the practice in various scrimmage situations.
Hatcher plans on giving his team the weekend off and Monday (the first day of classes) as well before resuming on Tuesday. The second year head coach was pleased on how Friday and all of camp finished.
“I thought it went well, we are mentally and physically tired and you can really see it in the younger players. We have been through 21 practices and we have really pushed everyone to the limit. We have a break over the weekend then we will come back and practice Tuesday and really begin to prepare for Georgia,” stated Hatcher. “This is the first year we have done this type of schedule. Too many years you get to game preparation, and instead of worrying about who you are playing you're worried about conserving your players and just getting them to the game. I think by giving them this little break we ought to come back physically and mentally fresh so that we can get two good weeks of preparation for Georgia.”
During Friday's practice, marking the 21st of 29 scheduled practices before the season-opener at preseason number one ranked Georgia, the offense started with the ball on 1st-and-10 situations from its own territory.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE SCRIMMAGE: Jarrell Crawford broke off a long run covering nearly 20 yards. Antonio Henton and Crawford connected for a first down. Henton found Demarcus Watts on fourth down to move the chains. On 1st-and-goal the defense got a sack from Marc Thomas. The defense held and forced the offense off the field.
Georgia Southern's offense drove down the field again to set up another 1st-and-goal but the defense held again.
Henton hit Steve Cundari on a long pass play then eventually on 3rd-and-goal they connected on a touchdown.
Lee Chapple found Marcus Russ for a 20-plus yard reception, however the defense would eventually keep the offense out of the endzone again.
On 1st-and-goal situations Adam Urbano and Samair Baker both recorded a rushing touchdown from the 10... Kyle Collins found Russ in the endzone for a 10-yard score.
Henton connected with Joe Haynie on a 5-yard TD reception.
On 3rd-and-goal from inside the five the defense held twice by making two impressive stops.
Henton and Russ connected on consecutive passes that covered more than 30 yards... Later Chapple again found Russ, who made an impressive catch but just came short of the goal line on a note-worthy second effort. On 4th-and-goal a bad snap helped lead to Charwel Brown recording a quarterback sack to end the scoring threat.
When asked about the depth chart, Hatcher said some positions are still playing out.
“I think so (playing out) at certain positions, but there are some too that are going to play out during the season. We have guys playing on the first and second teams which are very close, which could be good or bad depending on the level that they are playing at. The one thing that I am real positive about is our seniors understanding that in order to be successful they are going to have to rely on the freshmen to play right now,” admitted Hatcher. “Sometimes you look at freshmen a little differently because ?These guys really haven't earned their stripes when I have been here five years (from a senior's point of view)'. But they know because we had a scrimmage the other day and we had 11 true freshman playing defense, and eight redshirt or true freshman playing on the offensive side of the ball. However, it is fun coaching those guys. We have had to keep it real basic just so they could go out and show us some skills. If we had overcomplicated things they would have been out there playing slow. Slowly but surely we are getting a little bit closer to where we need to be.”
The Eagles open the 2008 campaign against preseason top-ranked Georgia on August 30th. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. in Athens.
POSITION BREAKDOWNS: Coach Hatcher gave his thoughts on how some positions have been playing out so far.
Offensive Line: “Right now you look at our offensive line and we have five guys who are really playing well together, and really there are six of them that have really been battling. William Maxwell will be our left tackle and Dio Herrera is playing really well at left guard. Dio came into camp in really the best shape that I have ever seen him, and really been a good leader. Trey Dunmon is really close to solidified (the center position). I say solidified but things could always change. At the right tackle position Cole Fountain, who we moved from guard, has been playing well. Right guard is Joe Behrman, a walk-on from out of a tryout, who has had a great camp. Jonathan Loving, who moved over from defense, has really pushed him and that is a big battle going on.”
Linebackers: “One position that has been solidified is our linebacker corps with Quentin Taylor, Terrione Benefield and E.J. Webb. They have really played well and we have some good young ones behind them.”
Defensive Backs: “Carson Hill, (Chris) Rogers, (Chris) Covington and (Darrel) Pasco have had a really good camp.”
Defensive Line: “I have been real pleased with the play of Damon Suggs and Dakota Walker. Both of those guys have played well. Probably the biggest surprise on defense is Brent Russell (the true freshman nose guard). He has had a really good camp. Larry Beard is right now backing up so we have some guys who have really stepped up.”
Quarterbacks: “Well right now, all three quarterbacks have been playing pretty well, and I really say this with all sincerity when I say it is going to be a tough decision. I could see all three of them getting in there, and being able to play some. As of today, I worked (Antonio) Henton and (Lee) Chapple more with the ones than I did with (Kyle) Collins. You know both of them have played well at times but made some poor decisions. The big thing with our quarterback is we have to have more consistent play, and also when we do have a shot of making a big play we have to convert. We missed a couple plays today, so that could have really turned the tide of the scrimmage.”
Running Backs: “They are a bunch of guys that you've never heard of. You've got Darell Norman and Jarrell Crawford, both of those guys are battling. In the other position you have the freshman Samair Baker and Adam Urbano while Terrence Hall is mixed in there as well.”
Wide Receivers: “Tim Camp has had a tremendous camp. We have limited Raja (Andrews) a little bit, just because we know what he can do. The biggest thing with him is what side we play him on. A couple of the freshmen have really looked good. Demarcus Watts is really starting to come along. He is a tremendous talent and maybe the most athletic receiver we've got, but he is a freshman that is worn out and doesn't know what to do all of the time. Nick Bass has had a great camp, and the guy that has really just kind of been steady and doesn't look like he has done a whole lot but makes big plays in scrimmages is Marcus Russ.”
With all the freshmen penciled into the 2-deep, Hatcher admitted there will likely not be many redshirts in the incoming freshman class.
“I can assure you, this there will not be a whole lot of redshirting going on. We are going to make that decision this weekend. But I think that out of the 25 new players that we brought in (including transfers and freshman), we are only looking at redshirting three of them. We are going to out there and let them learn under fire. A lot of these positions are close, and we're going to see how they play out on the field, make them go out there and earn it. Hopefully early in the season we can solidify some of these positions as we move toward conference and make a run at it.”
SPECIAL GUESTS AFTER PRACTICE: To celebrate the end of fall camp, head coach Chris Hatcher took the team to Mill Creek park for a lunch served by former Eagle football players. After lunch the Eagles spent some time beating the heat at Splash in the Boro.
SEASON TICKETS ON SALE: Season tickets for the six Georgia Southern football games at Paulson Stadium are currently on sale. To purchase the packages call the ticket office at 800-GSU-WINS.
STUDENT TICKETS FOR GEORGIA GAME ON SALE FRIDAY, AUG. 22: Georgia Southern student tickets for the August 30th Georgia Southern-Georgia football game will go on sale Friday, August 22nd at 4 p.m. Full-time Georgia Southern students will have the opportunity to purchase two tickets at $45 apiece at the ticket booth at Gate 4 of Paulson Stadium on Friday, August 22nd beginning at 4 p.m. Ticket purchasers will not be allowed to camp out and can line up no earlier than 2 p.m. Students must present a GSU student ID which will be scanned to verify current enrollment status. Tickets can be purchased with cash or Visa/Mastercard only.
