Hurricanes Football: Day 3 Practice Notes

With lightning delaying yet another Canes practice, players were anxious to get on the field for day 3 of work. Speculation surrounded Joe Yearby as to why he missed day 2 of practice.

"He wasn't feeling well, so we held him out." said Head Coach Al Golden. "He's fine now."

Yearby hit the field with the rest of the players, and practice began.

1) Joe Yearby first, Trayone Gray second

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Over the last few days the main topic of conversation has been how the offense looks, whether it'd be the QB competition, Trayone Gray and the running backs, or wide receiver depth.

What's been talked about briefly is the defense.

Yes, talking about a Mark D'Onofrio defense may not be the most enjoyable thing to do, but things seem different this year. With players like Chad Thomas, Michael Wyche and Dallas Crawford being added to the mix, excitement has suddenly been added to what's been a lackluster side of the ball throughout the last couple of years.

Beginning with Michael Wyche.

2) Wyche is a big boy

At 6'4" 330 lbs. Wyche has a Marcell Dareus sized body. He's big, strong, and exactly what the Canes need to penetrate offensive lines.

3) Wyche throwing down Shane McDermott

What makes Wyche special is his attitude. Dropping down from 350 lbs. speaks volumes of what he wants to do at UM. On top of that, his interviews are hilarious.

"I'm more about that action than talking."-Michael Wyche

Two other players that haven't been talked about as much are Demetrius Jackson and Chad Thomas.

4) Jackson and Thomas being coached by Golden

For the first two practices, Thomas ran with the 1's, while Jackson ran with the 2's. During Wednesday's practice they both put in work with the 1's.

Although most of the hype around the two former Booker T Washington teammates surrounds Thomas, Jackson has been getting bigger under the radar.

Jackson is up to 240 lbs. from 225. from just few months ago.

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Back to QB talk.

Unfortunately for Kevin Olsen, today wasn't his best day. Slow passes, over throws, mistiming receivers; for him to get back into the QB competition with Jake Heaps and Brad Kaaya, he'll needs to focus, learn and forget the bad.

The following vines are comparisons between Kevin Olsen and Brad Kaaya throws. Same route.

5) Olsen

6) Kaaya

Comparing the times between throw and catch, you will notice that Kaaya's ball takes about two seconds to get to the hands of his receiver while it takes Olsen about a second slower to get to his receiver.

Unfortunately, that one second can be the difference between a nice sideline pass and a pick six.

***

Aside from Kaaya who once again had a great day, Jake Heaps excelled as well.

Heaps has had trouble hitting the deep ball, but he was able to connect with his receivers with ease throughout the day.

Towards the end of practice, Heaps connected with Malcolm Lewis on a perfectly accurate deep 30-yard post route. Heaps' deep ball has been in question by many; however, he has the right mentality to work on any flaws he may have.

Players and coaches really seem to like what they've seen out of him.

7) Coley on Heaps

***SIDE NOTES***

- Malolm Lewis has been impressive during camp. When asked about his health, Lewis said he feels 100% healthy and he's faster than last year. Lewis said he's running a 4.43 forty.

"Malcolm looks like Malcolm again," said Coach Golden on Lewis

-TE Standish Dobard spoke about how Rapahel Akpejiori texted him all summer to work on his game (VIDEO BELOW)

-Darrell Langham is expected to be in camp tomorrow according to Al Golden