In previous seasons, Robert Morris' spring football practices featured multiple sessions in a row followed by a day off or two. Under John Banaszak, the sessions have been more staggered.
The Colonials had a built-in weekend off, but poor weather made it nearly a week long. So it wasn't a surprise that when the Colonials returned to the field on Tuesday, two things were equally evident: The rest did a few hobbled players some good, as Robert Morris enjoyed some added depth. And it also made things a little ragged at times.
But in a way, it may all work out for the best. Robert Morris will have four straight uninterrupted practices - barring a shift in the projected weather, of course - leading up to Saturday's spring game. In many respects, it may be a lot like the ramp up to a game in season. Robert Morris usually has contact practices Tuesday through Thursday during game weeks, with Friday serving as a walk-through, especially during travel days. I wouldn't be surprised for Robert Morris to use this Friday's practice in a similar fashion, as they'll likely not use pads then in preparation for Saturday's scrimmage.
Now that we're back in the saddle, here's what happened on Tuesday.
TWO-DEEP DEPTH CHART
QB - Paul Jones, Luke Brumbaugh
RB - Kenny Davis, Erich Maine
H-Back - Justin Kempka, Nick Sponyoe
WR - Luke Centofanti / Duane Mitchell, Chad Dawgiello
WR - Sean Gavin, Chaq Nettles
WR - Jordan Blackmon, Warren Fields
LT - Dylan Knight / Riley Feenan
LG - Max Robertson, Carlton Watson
C - Nick Faraci, Anthony Lucian
RG - Josh Thiel, Jonah Tyus
RT - Jon Hill, Chris O'Connor
DE - Ryan Lewis, Austin Trgovcich
DT - Zac Bennett, Max Onyenwe
DE - Forrest Mason, Zack Zamiska
OLB - Nic Lamica, Zach Cooper
MLB - Jake Tkach, T.J. Waters
MLB - Jimmy Masson, Nelson Lucas-Murphy
OLB - Luke Mueller, Zach Cooper
CB - David Taylor / Antwan Eddie, Jones Twenefor
S - Logan Kelleher, Davone Swain
S - Sam Woods, Codi Casper
CB - Andy Smigiera, Keith O'Kelly
DEPTH CHART NOTES
OL Drew Garbenis, DL Henry Jartu, RB Caleb Stennis, LB Mike Stojkovic, and HB Marty Thomas
OL Jonah Tyus, S Codi Casper, LB Nelson Lucas-Murphy, WR Uni Akpan, DB David Taylor, OL Carlton Watson, and WR Kyle Buss all returned to full participation.
DL Steve Fiadewornu, RB Ryan Thermil, and RB Forrest Barnes were limited participants in practice.
There were three positions that featured a rotation at the starting spot, with two of those due to players arriving from class midway through practice. Luke Centofanti took a number of snaps with the first group of receivers until Duane Mitchell stepped onto the field, while Antwan Eddie took some of David Taylor's reps. We'll get to that more in a moment. The other rotation was Dylan Knight and Riley Feenan. The two tackles have rotated quite a bit from practice to practice, but today was the first time that I noticed they split reps from drill to drill.
As far as Eddie and Taylor splitting reps late in practice, it seemed that was largely due to Andy Smigiera taking a number of snaps at corner. He took a few at times earlier in camp, but had stayed at safety much of the last few practices. Taylor was a little hobbled late last week, and though he appeared fine today, Smigiera may have helped the rotation stretch out more. RMU has more safeties than corners right now on the roster. There's also some thought that Smigiera could be an option at corner. He's certainly athletic enough to fill any position in the secondary.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Some additional items of note...
As has become custom during the beginning of the week, the day opened with a pretty intense tackle drill. In previous sessions it had been the one-on-one Oklahoma drill, with a running back, blocker and defender. This time it was a little different, with three blockers and three defenders to go along with the running back. The drill helps add an additional "in-game" feel. A running back often won't have to clear just one block to get into open space. And a second level defender can often stop a play in its tracks by getting off of his block quickly and cleanly even if a man in front of him is tied up.
Three plays in particular stood out on Tuesday, and two came at the expense of the normally excellent Jon Hill. First it was defensive end Ryan Lewis who beat Hill, as Lewis tossed the big lineman aside to wrap up the runner. Not to be outdone, Max Onyenwe followed it up by bursting into space and hammering Erich Maine. The offense had some measure of revenge, though. Several backs broke free through all three blocks, and receiver Uni Akpan had a perfect pancake block of Jones Twenefor.
As we've mentioned, many of the drills are quite different because of the new offense and the new mentality that Banaszak wants. The only returning staples are special teams work, 7-on-7 drills and 11-on-11 drills. But along with the introduction of the Oklahoma drill, the enhanced conditioning drills, and the overall change of pace, another element has changed that we haven't mentioned. Every football practice in every football program across the country features time for the receivers and quarterbacks to work together, usually in a passing skeleton. Each group of receivers runs the routes that the coaches are emphasizing that day. The previous method featured one QB taking a handful of snaps with the routes, then the next one rotating in. Hicks has brought in a different look. All five quarterbacks go at once, lining up in a line. Each quarterback is given a designated receiver. Five receivers run five different routes out of the formation, ranging from checkdown and safety routes to medium routes to deep routes. The quarterbacks throw only to their designated receiver, and by the time the period is done, they've rotated through and run a variety of plays and thrown a variety of passes. It gives everyone reps and also emphasizes the versatility of the offense.
The quarterbacks showed no signs of rust during 7-on-7 drills, as they eviscerated the pass defense. The QBs completed their first 16 passes in the drill. The streak finally broke on a deep ball ball from Joe Carroll to Luke Centofanti, and it was only because Logan Kelleher made an excellently timed jump to knock the ball away just as Centofanti was getting his hands on it. What made the string of completions a little more impressive was that only a couple were to checkdown receivers. While they're a part of the offense, they're often a sign of a defense winning the battle in 7-on-7 drills. Also impressive: All five QBs had at least one really above average throw in their set. Paul Jones squeezed a pass into a very tight window along the sideline for Matt Petrella; Luke Brumbaugh whipped one over the middle to Centofanti; Marcus Prather caught Chaq Nettles for a perfectly placed pass on the opposite sideline; Derik Abbott dropped one in over the coverage to Petrella; and Carroll made a perfectly touched deep pass to Jordan Blackmon just over the rapidly closing coverage.Finally, how's this for a little wrinkle: Forrest Mason worked a little bit at long snapper for the first time that I can recall. Robert Morris has to replace Luke Sweeney at the position and brought in Slippery Rock transfer Dalton Raab last year to handle those duties. Raab redshirted per NCAA transfer rules and is now working as the primary long snapper. But you never want to be without a back-up, and Mason took that challenge on. His snaps naturally weren't as crisp as Raab's, but they were all on target.
That's
all for now. We'll be back with more tomorrow.
The Colonials had a built-in weekend off, but poor weather made it nearly a week long. So it wasn't a surprise that when the Colonials returned to the field on Tuesday, two things were equally evident: The rest did a few hobbled players some good, as Robert Morris enjoyed some added depth. And it also made things a little ragged at times.
But in a way, it may all work out for the best. Robert Morris will have four straight uninterrupted practices - barring a shift in the projected weather, of course - leading up to Saturday's spring game. In many respects, it may be a lot like the ramp up to a game in season. Robert Morris usually has contact practices Tuesday through Thursday during game weeks, with Friday serving as a walk-through, especially during travel days. I wouldn't be surprised for Robert Morris to use this Friday's practice in a similar fashion, as they'll likely not use pads then in preparation for Saturday's scrimmage.
Now that we're back in the saddle, here's what happened on Tuesday.
TWO-DEEP DEPTH CHART
QB - Paul Jones, Luke Brumbaugh
RB - Kenny Davis, Erich Maine
H-Back - Justin Kempka, Nick Sponyoe
WR - Luke Centofanti / Duane Mitchell, Chad Dawgiello
WR - Sean Gavin, Chaq Nettles
WR - Jordan Blackmon, Warren Fields
LT - Dylan Knight / Riley Feenan
LG - Max Robertson, Carlton Watson
C - Nick Faraci, Anthony Lucian
RG - Josh Thiel, Jonah Tyus
RT - Jon Hill, Chris O'Connor
DE - Ryan Lewis, Austin Trgovcich
DT - Zac Bennett, Max Onyenwe
DE - Forrest Mason, Zack Zamiska
OLB - Nic Lamica, Zach Cooper
MLB - Jake Tkach, T.J. Waters
MLB - Jimmy Masson, Nelson Lucas-Murphy
OLB - Luke Mueller, Zach Cooper
CB - David Taylor / Antwan Eddie, Jones Twenefor
S - Logan Kelleher, Davone Swain
S - Sam Woods, Codi Casper
CB - Andy Smigiera, Keith O'Kelly
DEPTH CHART NOTES
OL Drew Garbenis, DL Henry Jartu, RB Caleb Stennis, LB Mike Stojkovic, and HB Marty Thomas
OL Jonah Tyus, S Codi Casper, LB Nelson Lucas-Murphy, WR Uni Akpan, DB David Taylor, OL Carlton Watson, and WR Kyle Buss all returned to full participation.
DL Steve Fiadewornu, RB Ryan Thermil, and RB Forrest Barnes were limited participants in practice.
There were three positions that featured a rotation at the starting spot, with two of those due to players arriving from class midway through practice. Luke Centofanti took a number of snaps with the first group of receivers until Duane Mitchell stepped onto the field, while Antwan Eddie took some of David Taylor's reps. We'll get to that more in a moment. The other rotation was Dylan Knight and Riley Feenan. The two tackles have rotated quite a bit from practice to practice, but today was the first time that I noticed they split reps from drill to drill.
As far as Eddie and Taylor splitting reps late in practice, it seemed that was largely due to Andy Smigiera taking a number of snaps at corner. He took a few at times earlier in camp, but had stayed at safety much of the last few practices. Taylor was a little hobbled late last week, and though he appeared fine today, Smigiera may have helped the rotation stretch out more. RMU has more safeties than corners right now on the roster. There's also some thought that Smigiera could be an option at corner. He's certainly athletic enough to fill any position in the secondary.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Some additional items of note...
As has become custom during the beginning of the week, the day opened with a pretty intense tackle drill. In previous sessions it had been the one-on-one Oklahoma drill, with a running back, blocker and defender. This time it was a little different, with three blockers and three defenders to go along with the running back. The drill helps add an additional "in-game" feel. A running back often won't have to clear just one block to get into open space. And a second level defender can often stop a play in its tracks by getting off of his block quickly and cleanly even if a man in front of him is tied up.
Three plays in particular stood out on Tuesday, and two came at the expense of the normally excellent Jon Hill. First it was defensive end Ryan Lewis who beat Hill, as Lewis tossed the big lineman aside to wrap up the runner. Not to be outdone, Max Onyenwe followed it up by bursting into space and hammering Erich Maine. The offense had some measure of revenge, though. Several backs broke free through all three blocks, and receiver Uni Akpan had a perfect pancake block of Jones Twenefor.
As we've mentioned, many of the drills are quite different because of the new offense and the new mentality that Banaszak wants. The only returning staples are special teams work, 7-on-7 drills and 11-on-11 drills. But along with the introduction of the Oklahoma drill, the enhanced conditioning drills, and the overall change of pace, another element has changed that we haven't mentioned. Every football practice in every football program across the country features time for the receivers and quarterbacks to work together, usually in a passing skeleton. Each group of receivers runs the routes that the coaches are emphasizing that day. The previous method featured one QB taking a handful of snaps with the routes, then the next one rotating in. Hicks has brought in a different look. All five quarterbacks go at once, lining up in a line. Each quarterback is given a designated receiver. Five receivers run five different routes out of the formation, ranging from checkdown and safety routes to medium routes to deep routes. The quarterbacks throw only to their designated receiver, and by the time the period is done, they've rotated through and run a variety of plays and thrown a variety of passes. It gives everyone reps and also emphasizes the versatility of the offense.
The quarterbacks showed no signs of rust during 7-on-7 drills, as they eviscerated the pass defense. The QBs completed their first 16 passes in the drill. The streak finally broke on a deep ball ball from Joe Carroll to Luke Centofanti, and it was only because Logan Kelleher made an excellently timed jump to knock the ball away just as Centofanti was getting his hands on it. What made the string of completions a little more impressive was that only a couple were to checkdown receivers. While they're a part of the offense, they're often a sign of a defense winning the battle in 7-on-7 drills. Also impressive: All five QBs had at least one really above average throw in their set. Paul Jones squeezed a pass into a very tight window along the sideline for Matt Petrella; Luke Brumbaugh whipped one over the middle to Centofanti; Marcus Prather caught Chaq Nettles for a perfectly placed pass on the opposite sideline; Derik Abbott dropped one in over the coverage to Petrella; and Carroll made a perfectly touched deep pass to Jordan Blackmon just over the rapidly closing coverage.Finally, how's this for a little wrinkle: Forrest Mason worked a little bit at long snapper for the first time that I can recall. Robert Morris has to replace Luke Sweeney at the position and brought in Slippery Rock transfer Dalton Raab last year to handle those duties. Raab redshirted per NCAA transfer rules and is now working as the primary long snapper. But you never want to be without a back-up, and Mason took that challenge on. His snaps naturally weren't as crisp as Raab's, but they were all on target.
That's
all for now. We'll be back with more tomorrow.
