Miami had another Spring Practice on Tuesday morning. After the session, Mark Richt addressed the assembled media. Here is the transcript of his comments:
Miami Hurricanes Football: Mark Richt transcript 4/11. Here’s what CMR said today #Canes https://t.co/FWAubw5WvK pic.twitter.com/gSvQOWcC1d
— StateOfTheU.com (@TheStateOfTheU) April 11, 2017
And the video of those comments is right here:
Richt’s comments were largely focused on Saturday’s scrimmage. Here is the recap of what happened on Tuesday, courtesy of UM Athletics:
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – With five more practices and two scrimmages to go until spring ball concludes, head coach Mark Richt has been encouraged by the returns in his second spring at the helm of the Miami Hurricanes football program.
Having reviewed the game tape from the April 8 scrimmage, Richt said that, while the defense certainly made its fair share of plays Saturday on Greentree, the offense showed glimpses of serious potential.
“Very few times did we have a situation where the play didn’t have a good chance of success,” Richt said. “A lot of times, if you get a minus two yards on a run, you might think that’s the worst thing that has ever happened. Then you watch tape, and you see everybody did their job, but you got a little double team up to a linebacker, and both guys go to the linebacker and the let the guy go.
“Everything else blocked beautifully, and if they just stayed on the double team a half a second longer, we’re ripping through there for a good 15- or 20-yard gain. That’s promising, when you see that on tape.”
Several early enrollees took part in their first official scrimmage, and Miami’s returners were impressed by their contributions.
Rising sophomore linebacker Shaq Quarterman, expected to take on more of a leadership role in his second year as the team’s middle linebacker, said there were a number of defensive standouts among the team’s rookies.
“I think we did well as a unit,” Quarterman said. “We have some new guys out there - B.J. [linebacker Bradley Jennings, Jr.] for example, who may not know all the material right now in the playbook. We just told him to go out there and play confident and run around and make plays. And he did that. [Defensive lineman Jonathan] Garvin had a nice sack, real technical with the hands. We did well for the first scrimmage.”
Veteran offensive lineman Kc McDermott singled out two early enrollees who impressed him on the offensive side of the ball: offensive lineman Navaughn Donaldson and wide receiver Deejay Dallas.
“Navaughn Donaldson had one heck of a play during a power [run],” McDermott said. “And DeeJay Dallas, you know, if you put a ball up there he will go and grab it. So everyone did well. Obviously, like I said we have got some stuff to improve on.”
Donaldson also caught the eye of Tyler Gauthier, another veteran lineman.
“Just his size and his strength and his physicality for being a freshman,” Gauthier said. “He is not scared to go out there and hit you. There was a play where he drove him all the way to the sideline and it was pretty incredible to watch, for a freshman.”
Richt said that Dallas is willing to take on any role for the Hurricanes, but will start out at receiver. He played running back, quarterback, defensive back and wide receiver in high school.
“We’re trying to let [Deejay] learn something,” Richt said. “We felt like, if we’re going to let him learn a position, receiver is one that is going to take more to refine. The running back position, you tend to be able to teach that a little bit faster. There’s a little bit less of a learning curve. So if we absolutely had to, by the first summer session, training him as a running back, we can. We’ve talked. All along, he’s been like, ‘Whatever you ask me to do, coach, I’ll do it.’ But our goal is not to do that.”
As always, however, the returners who gained experience from the 2016 season - which culminated in a Russell Athletic Bowl victory over a ranked West Virginia team - will be relied on heavily throughout the remainder of spring, starting with Saturday’s second closed scrimmage.
“I would say everywhere,” Quarterman responded about areas of potential improvement. “Like coach [Richt] has said, he just said it right now, ‘When we are really urgent, we are really good.’ So everybody has to focus on coming out, getting the crust out of their eyes and getting ready to be better every day. Because being great is being good every day. So we can’t take any days off, because you don’t feel like getting out of bed, this and that. We have to come prepared to work.”
Injury update
RB Robert Burns is still out. Mark Richt said the staff expects Burns to be ready for fall camp and the season.
The NEW update is about QB Jack Allison. Already known to have sustained an injury to his throwing shoulder during Saturday’s scrimmage, a report by the Palm Beach Post (later supported by the Miami Herald) indicates that Allison sustained a concussion to go along with that shoulder injury.
During his post-practice comments, Miami Head Coach Mark Richt indicated that Allison has a bruised — not separated — shoulder. Add in the concussion element and suffice it to say that Allison took a very punishing hit during Saturday’s scrimmage.
Neither Allison nor Burns were at practice on Tuesday. Both players should make full recoveries from their injuries.
Interviews
Several UM players spoke to the media after practice. Here are the videos of these interviews:
OL Kc McDermott
OL Tyler Gauthier
LB Shaq Quarterman
LB Darrion Owens
Extras
What is Miami’s depth chart on offense going to look like after Spring Practice is over? Our Mike Grunewald takes a look
Post Spring Game Position Review - Offense #Canes #TheU #2017 https://t.co/jNhpGbbjar
— StateOfTheU.com (@TheStateOfTheU) April 11, 2017
A couple daily recaps by Matt Porter of The Palm Beach Post
Video: Players and coaches continue to praise freshman OL Navaughn Donaldson. Kc McDermott on the 6-6, 350-pounder: https://t.co/qMTra15qin pic.twitter.com/kMracMKLeR
— Matt Porter (@mattyports) April 11, 2017
Shaq Quarterman talked scrimmage standouts and the rising leaders on Miami's D. Also: Jon Garvin. https://t.co/2Rdxjdh7hc pic.twitter.com/ttdrGUoyXK
— Matt Porter (@mattyports) April 11, 2017
Daily practice nuggets by Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald
New: UM’s issues at running back continue, plus quarterbacks, latest on Donaldson and more: https://t.co/gtPMuGryfh
— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) April 11, 2017
Football insider by Christopher Stock of InsideTheU.com (FREE)
*FREE* Football Insider: 4/11 https://t.co/INzkDUJXIg
— InsideTheU.com (@InsideTheU) April 11, 2017
A daily report by Christy Cabrera Chirinos of The South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Will the QBs be live in UM's next scrimmage? That's TBD, but this weekend was a good test for those guys, Richt said https://t.co/VHVAXI7Xs2
— Christy Chirinos (@ChristyChirinos) April 11, 2017
A daily report by Susan Miller Degnan of The Miami Herald
NEW: @CanesFootball practice notes, news from Tuesday media viewing. https://t.co/ko9kfnmg13 @HeraldSports pic.twitter.com/rNkESbIdIV
— Susan Miller Degnan (@smillerdegnan) April 11, 2017
That’s it for today.