Hurricanes Football: Day 5 Practice Notes

On a beautiful Saturday morning in Coral Gables, players put on their pads and got ready for the first morning practice at camp.

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The most talked about topic early out of Saturday's practice was freshman WR Darrell Langham reporting to camp. News of Langham means every player has officially qualified and reported to camp.

Due to school regulations, Langham wasn't able to be in full pads like the rest of his teammates. However, Langham did work on some QB drills with Jake Heaps and more specifically, Ryan Williams. (Background music makes it awesome.)

1) Ryan Williams and Darrell Langham

Williams worked with Langham for about 20-25 minutes nearing the end of practice. Although he dropped a few balls, Langham was complimented by the veteran QB.

2) Ryan Williams commenting on Langham

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Because it was the first practice in full pads, players started getting a little chippy. Before the famous Oklahoma drill began,  Courtel Jenkins and Corey King got into a scuffle. King laughed it off while Jenkins was clearly upset walking away.

Rashawn Scott also got into a heated exchange with Marques Gayot after Jenkins blocked Gayot below the belt. The situation was handled and Jenkins won the battle.

3) Rashawn Scott blocking

The best DB rusher in the Oklahoma drill was Ladarius Gunter. He beat Phillip Dorsett and Tyre Brady with ease.

4) Gunter beating Dorsett

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Once more, the QB competition is what was focused on throughout Saturday. At this point Brad Kaaya and Jake Heaps are miles ahead of Kevin Olsen and Malik Rosier in the race. After practice, Olsen had an awkward encounter with the press.

When asked about his first week of camp, Olsen said

"I can only control what I can control. I think I'm making the reps that I get count."

After two short answers from Olsen, media members walked away from him and headed towards Anthony Chickillo.

As for the frontrunners (Kaaya and Heaps,) they both, like the last couple of practices, had great days.

Jake Heaps seems to have a nice on-field relationship with Clive Walford and Malcolm Lewis. Heaps connected with Lewis on a 98-yd TD in 11-on-11. This is what he had to say about Lewis and the entire receiving corps after practice.

5) Heaps on receivers

As for Kaaya, he's impressed his coaches almost about the same as most fans. On Friday, Head Coach Al Golden said he'd like to see him be more vocal. I asked Golden if he saw the freshman be more vocal during Saturday's practice, and this is what he had to say. (Don't mind the raspy voice)

6) Golden on Kaaya being more vocal

After practice, Offensive Coordinator James Coley had some genuinely good things to say about Kaaya.

"I have no idea if he's a freshman or not, acts like a senior...he's been extremely accurate...(laughing) I think he's 30."

Kaaya was impressing a few UM beneficiaries as he hit receivers in the endzone.

7) Kaaya to Herb Waters

8) Kaaya to Dorsett

Heaps was also part of the action, darting balls to the outside. Although it's literally the tiniest of sample sizes, Heaps seemed to throw the ball a little behind his receivers.

9) Heaps to Berrios (Langham trailing)

10) Heaps to Coley

***SIDE NOTES***

- Al Golden had extremely high praise for Anthony Chickillo. He mentioned how since February, the senior defensive lineman made a commitment to get in the right mindset and spirit to be a force on the denense.