Scrimmage Shows Signs of Improvement, Areas Requiring More Work
8/15/2010 12:18:00 AM | Football
STATESBORO, Ga. - With 15 practice sessions of work behind them, there is still plenty of work ahead for the Eagles. Saturday's (August 14) two-hour scrimmage gave the offense and defense - and the coaching staff -- the closest thing to a game-like simulation so far this preseason.
"There was some good on both sides and that was what I was hoping we would get," said Eagles Head Coach Jeff Monken. "I was hoping we would get some more drives out of the offense, where we would sustain some drives down the field, we didn't get that, unfortunately. "We had some big plays or we got started on some drives and hurt ourselves with some penalties on offense. It's a work in progress, we have a way to go."
Junior kicker Adrian Mora (Dalton, Ga.) put the first points on the board for the offense with a field goal, but the defense would score the first touchdown with freshman defensive lineman Josh Gebhardt (Douglasville, Ga.) picking up a fumble and taking it 10 yards for a touchdown.
On the next series, senior slotback Jawaun Luckey (Augusta, Ga.) picked up freshman quarterback Jerick McKinnon's (Marietta, Ga.) pitch and ran it 57 yards for a touchdown. The final score came on junior quarterback Jaybo Shaw's (Flowery Branch, Ga.) six-yard pass to freshman Tray Butler (Stockbridge, Ga.). Both Mora and redshirt freshman Luke Cherry (Jacksonville, Fla.) had PATs. Freshman Robert Brown (Macon, Ga.) finished the day with over 80 yards rushing and 20 yards receiving.
"We are playing a lot of young kids, there were freshmen out there," Monken commented. "I looked out there, we had guys playing with the ones who hadn't even been here the whole camp. We had a guy we brought in midway through the first week and he was out there with the ones because we had guys banged up. We only had two quarterbacks to start the scrimmage who were healthy. We are continually improving and every day it's work. It's hard to evaluate just where we are at right now."
The information the coaching staff will glean from Saturday's scrimmage will go a long way in helping determine the areas that need improvement prior to the season opener.
"Defensively, the effort, intensity and enthusiasm have been really good the last three days for those guys. I've been pleased with it. They made some plays today and they made some stops. It was nice to see Josh Gebhardt make a nice play on the fumbled snap, he picked it up and scooped and scored. There are some good things over there."
Josh Rowe (Opelika, Ala.) and Carlos Cave (Macon, Ga.) each had six tackles with E.J. Webb (Roanoke, Va.), Derek Heyden (Atlanta, Ga.), Kyle Oehlbeck (Gainesville, Fla.) and Evan Mattingly (Marietta, Ga.) recording five each in the scrimmage.
Special teams action was limited with field goals, extra points and a couple of kickoffs and punts.
"I think we will get better," Monken said. "We'll improve. I would have loved to see our offense sustain more drives and score more points, but I hope that is a positive that our defense is pretty good. They'll be able to stop some folks, and that just give us as a chance for us as an offense to develop."
The Eagles will be off Sunday and Monday, returning to the practice fields on Tuesday.
UPDATES: Zeke Rozier suffered a knee injury that kept him out of the majority of the scrimmage. The injury will be evaluated by team physicians. J.J. Wilcox was held out for part of the scrimmage.
INDUCTION CEREMONY FOR HAM SATURDAY- Former Georgia Southern All-American quarterback Tracy Ham was inducted to the 2010 Canadian Football Hall of Fame on Saturday. Ham, with honorees Bob Cameron, Don Narcisse, Elfrid Payton and Joe Pistilli were honored for their contributions to the league. The ceremony and other events were held over the past few days in Regina and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. The events in Regina included a luncheon, the unveiling of the profile bust of the inductees and jacket presentation as well as the Hall of Fame game between the Saskatchewan Roughrigers and British Columbia Lions. The Hall of Fame induction dinner was held Saturday night in Saskatoon.
In his 13-year career in the CFL, Ham amassed 40,534 passing yards for seventh all-time in the league, completing 2670 of 4943 passes (54 percent) and accounting for 284 touchdowns. He added 62 rushing touchdowns to his career totals.
WALK-ON TRYOUTS: Students enrolled full time at Georgia Southern are invited to walk-on tryouts Monday, August 16th at 4:30 p.m. at the practice fields. Tryout participants must provide proof of a current physical (within six months of the date of the tryout), proof of insurance, and copy of class schedule with minimum of 12 hours coursework for Fall 2010 semester. Participants must be willing to comply with NCAA eligibility standards and must agree to and comply with the Georgia Southern drug testing policy.
MEET THE COACH: Georgia Southern Athletics sponsors Harvey's Supermarkets and Coca-Cola are teaming up to bring Head Football Coach Jeff Monken to the Statesboro Harvey's Fair Road location on Saturday, August 21st from 1-2:30 p.m. Coach Monken will be signing autographs, taking photos with Eagle fans and talking about the upcoming 2010 football season. GUS will also be present at the event, helping hand out promotional items courtesy of Coca-Cola, as well as schedule cards and posters.
Fans who have not yet purchased their 2010 Football season tickets can purchase them at this event. The Harvey's Supermarket near the Georgia Southern campus is located at 620 Fair Road. For more information about this event, please call Athletics Marketing at 912-478-5377.
