By Paul Letlow, ULMWarhawks.com Online Columnist
MONROE, La. – It paid off to have a roster handy as ULM held its first preseason scrimmage Saturday at Malone Stadium.
"The intent was to get a lot of guys in," ULM head coach
Matt Viator said. "Our first four or five wideouts, Caleb (Evans) and Derrick (Gore), we got out after 12 plays to try get those guys some reps, especially the quarterbacks. You really have to get first- and second-team reps a lot of times to get good evaluations of them. We wanted to give them a shot because the key for us long term for us is to have some depth at these positions."
The quarterback Evans hooked up with
Xavier Brown over the top for 54 yards on the first play of the day, but the defense rallied, and the drive stalled with a missed 47-yard field-goal attempt by
Craig Ford.
"I thought the ones did well," offensive coordinator
Matt Kubik said. "It's a little bit hotter out here today, and the amount of reps the (first-team) O-line got are more than you'd normally get in practice. Plus, you're kind of going back-to-back (series). I was proud of the way everybody competed."
The defense made its share of plays throughout the scrimmage, including sacks by Donald Louis Jr. and
Brandon Nettles (two).
Tyler Glass grabbed a pair of interceptions.
"I like what we did defensively," Viator said. "I thought we moved around pretty good.
"Offensively, we played a bunch of guys, but it seemed like the timing was off a little bit."
Defensive coordinator
Mike Collins was particularly pleased to see his unit stop the first-team offense after the big passing play. Louis had a sack and linebackers
Rashaad Harding and
David Griffith made tackles for losses in response.
"That's a change for our team from the past," Collins said. "In the past, I'm not sure we would have held them to a field-goal attempt right there. That was huge in that aspect. But the other thing we've got to get corrected is, why is the guy on top of us to begin with?"
The defense was flagged for six penalties, which can be a teaching point going forward.
"We want our kids to be aggressive," Collins said. "The only way to get that done is to practice it and practice it hard. But you've got to use the right technique. Every coach in America is coaching those things to be able to get done without a 15-yard penalty."
New kid on the block: Late roster addition Josh Johnson impressed with 44 yards on six carries. The 5-foot-9, 216-pound running back from Coahoma Community College was committed to Ole Miss at one time before landing at ULM right before training camp.
'He's a tough guy," Viator said. "You can tell that since he's come in here. He's a pro now. He's on time and does everything the right way. You can tell he's a physical blocker. He stepped up right there at the end and picked up a linebacker (in pass protection). That was probably the best lick of the day.
"I think the more he becomes comfortable in what we're doing, you could see that. He literally got here and moved into the dorm the day before camp. He got no summer (work), he got no spring (practice). He got none of that. All the offense is new to him. Really if you look it, this is day 12 and he looks pretty comfortable with what we're doing, which surprises me. We'll have to see, but I like what I see so far."
Lots of QBs: After Evans, four other quarterbacks took the field with
Brennen Wooten,
Matt Gardner,
JT Jackson and
Colby Suits all getting their shots in a steady rotation.
"All four guys got reps with the ones and the twos and the threes," Viator said. "They got a bunch of reps. We wanted to see how they'd do in a contact setting and see how they handled things."
Said Kubik: "J.T. is a guy who has had a really good camp. Brennen is a guy who is behind the other two from a learning standpoint, but he's picked up a lot more since the spring. Matt is doing some good things and I think Colby is a stud really. Big kid and throws the ball really well. Obviously, the learning curve is the biggest issue right now."
Neville High School's Jackson led the first touchdown drive of the morning. He scrambled 16 yards as part of a six-play, 40-yard series finished off by
Kayin White's 5-yard score.
The freshman Suits saw plenty of action and delivered a 29-yard touchdown strike to walk-on Bobby Newton, another Neville product. Suits completed 6-of-14 passes for 46 yards.
"We've got to watch the tape," Kubik said. "I saw some good things and some not so good things. We just have to keep evaluating these guys because they're competing their butts off. We just have to find that number two guy."
Kubik said it's too early to sort out the depth chart behind Evans.
"To be honest, this is about as even a quarterback race as I've been a part of," Kubik said, "Everybody is coming out and doing some really good things at times and then taking a step back at times. It's all about consistency."
Punter watch: With
Mark Deaves still out after rolling his ankle early in camp, punting chores fell to Jared Porter and
Craig Walker.
"We're just kind of playing it out here," Viator said. ". …
Craig Walker, (Devin) Parker has been hitting some. That's definitely, definitely still up in the air. We'll have to see where Deaves is. Hopefully, he can come back soon. But there are definitely question marks there."
Injury watch: Freshman receiver
Malik Jackson left the field with a lower leg injury. Kubik said receiver
Perry Carter also made an early exit … Viator noted that linebacker
Chase Day and safety
Nick Ingram were held out and offensive guard Devin Jackson missed the scrimmage to attend a funeral.
