Aug. 17, 2012

Preseason Practice Update #11

CORRECTIONS MADE:
One thing that head coach Bobby Wilder and staff were looking to correct in Friday night's scrimmage were penalties. The Monarchs had 17 penalties total in Monday night's scrimmage and on Friday night that number was reduced to seven.

However, Wilder expected to have a number of penalties called on the team, not only due in part to the 25 new players in the mix of things, but also because he had asked the officiating crews to call the scrimmages tight.

"Much improved from an execution stand point," Wilder said of the flags being thrown.

DEFENSE IN DISGUISE:
The Monarchs also worked on disguise on defense, showing blitz, and not looking like playing a base defense and then bringing the blitz.

"That was outstanding tonight. I was talking to (quarterback) Taylor Heinicke and he said there were a number of times of where he was confused with what the defense was doing," Wilder pointed out. "He felt like they were baiting him on more than occasion. We need to be able to do that, we need to be able to show different looks on defense."

BALL SECURITY:
The CAA leaders in turnover margin have showed little signs of relinquishing that claim in preseason thus far.

"I continue to be impressed with the ball security," said Wilder. "We led the league and near the were top-10 in the nation in turnover ratio and we've carried that into this camp."

Last season the Monarchs defense captured 15 interceptions and recovered 13 fumbles while the offense committed eight fumbles and gave up seven interceptions.

PLAY OF THE NIGHT:
A fumble bounced off the shoulder pads of one of the Monarchs and landed in the hands of 305-pound freshman defensive lineman Galen Evans. Evans then tore down the middle of the field for a 55-yard touchdown.

Quarterback David Washington trailed Evans but didn't' manage to catch his fellow freshman until they reached the end zone.

"That's saying something," said Wilder, "because David is a really fast guy. David's probably a 4.6 40-guy."

The play had Wilder calling him "Freight Train" at the end of the night.

"Those are the types of plays in scrimmage situations when you try to make it as much as a game as you can so you can evaluate new players like Galen Evans. He's one of those guys that has brought himself to the forefront. I can see him right now being in the rotation and one of those guys I'm fairly confident will play this year."

WHERE THE NEWCOMERS STACK UP:
Along with Galen Evans, the coaching staff is getting a good sense of the new players on the team and Wilder feels like they have about a dozen new Monarchs who will have an opportunity to play this season.

"That doesn't mean we're going to play all 12 of them, but we feel like there's about are 12 guys of the new guys that are going to help us and have an opportunity to play," Wilder noted.

Want to know who those potential new Monarchs are? You can check out ODU's next scrimmage on Wednesday at Foreman Field at S.B. Ballard Stadium at 6 p.m. which will be open to the public.

"We'll have one more time to really evaluate them in game-like situations. We'll have a really good idea after next Wednesday night how many of those new Monarchs will be playing against Duquesne."

STRETCHING IN 360:
Check out another Foreman Field at S.B. Ballard Stadium in 360 while the Monarchs were stretching post-scrimmage here.

FROM THE PROS:
Ronnie Cameron helped the Cleveland Browns to a 35-10 win over Green Bay on Thursday night as he and fellow Brown lineman Auston English collapsed the pocket on Packers quarterback Graham Harrell as he was flagged for intentional grounding in the end zone resulted in a safety for the Brown's defense with 14:55 remaining in regulation. After the safety, the Browns held a 32-7 lead over the Packers.

Next up for Cameron and Cleveland will be hosting Philadelphia Eagles next Friday night in the Brown's fourth preseason scrimmage.

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UP NEXT:
The Monarchs will practice in uppers on Saturday afternoon.

67th Annual Portsmouth Sports Club Jamboree 

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