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Explosive Running Plays Highlight First ULM Preseason Scrimmage

Explosive Running Plays Highlight First ULM Preseason Scrimmage

Football Aug 13
MONROE, La. – Under mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the low 80s, second-year ULM head coach Terry Bowden sent his football team through a 90-minute scrimmage Saturday, Aug. 13 in Malone Stadium as the Warhawks completed their ninth preseason practice.
 
The Warhawks ran more than 100 plays from scrimmage and mixed in 10 plays from special teams.
 
"We saw really good effort," Bowden said. "We've got some things to clean up, but that's to be expected because we have just enough newcomers who haven't worked together enough. When you talk about a scrimmage, it takes 11 guys doing things together in unison, and depending on each other's assignments on a given play, it can look a little ragged at times.
 
"The offense made some big plays. I told the defense most of those happened because they stuffed the hole, but the running back bounced the play out to somebody else's position. That's why 11 players have to get to the ball.
 
"Overall, it was a good first scrimmage," Bowden continued. "I wouldn't want to play a football game tomorrow, but that's the great thing about a scrimmage. We'll study the film, make corrections and the players will respond to those changes. So, it was a productive day. We didn't have any injuries, and that's the most important thing."
 
The running game produced five explosive plays of 20 or more yards.
 
"Offensively, we had a mistake here or there that stalled a good drive," Bowden said. "We missed some deep ball opportunities. When you get a receiver open, you can't over throw him because you don't get those opportunities very often. You've got to hit those every time.
 
"We saw some huge gains from Andrew Henry and Malik Jackson in the running the game. Zack Martin broke a long run, and Isaiah Phillips ran well and picked up a number of yards after contact. Those types of runs make us a better offensive team. Having running backs that can make explosive plays make us a better offense right off the bat."
 
The scrimmage format, which featured five series each for the first and second teams and three series for the third team, concluded with 4-minute and 2-minute drills.
 
"We had a set rotation to work those first three groups, then mixed in the kicking game," Bowden said. "The scrimmage tempo was good because everyone knew their place in the rotation and we had substitutions lined up. The coordinators spent a lot of time organizing and preparing for this first scrimmage, so it ran smoothly.
 
"We'll have some difficult decisions to make in the next few days. We'll take another look at the depth chart and make the proper adjustments after evaluating the film from today's scrimmage. We'll also determine the scout team members. So, we'll be trying to increase the repetitions for those players we expect to be getting snaps in the season-opening game at Texas. It's always a tough process because some of those kids will have a hard time dealing with not being in the playing rotation, but we'll work through it. By next Tuesday or Wednesday, we'll get those numbers down to who will be playing against Texas.
 
"I'm an optimist, so after nine preseason practices, I see a glass half full as opposed to half empty," Bowden continued. "I also understand we have to take care of the half empty part of the glass, so we have plenty of space in the glass to fill up."
 
After a scheduled day off, ULM returns to the practice field Monday and Tuesday in shells, Wednesday in full pads, Thursday in shells and Friday in helmets before conducting its second preseason scrimmage next Saturday.
 
"Every week, you strive to get better, but you've only got one first game," Bowden said. "That's why you might need somewhere between nine-to-12 days to get ready for the season opener because you need to be firing on all cylinders, especially in regards to the kicking game and all the little details."
 
Three weeks from today, ULM opens the 2022 season on Saturday, Sept. 3 at 7 p.m. The season opener will be televised nationally by the Longhorn Network. It marks the Warhawks' second-ever trip to Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium and their first since 2009.
 
Anthony Campbell_Cooper Webb celebrate a sack in first preseason scrimmage

 
 
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