With Time Before the Opener Waning, Bobcats Ramp Up Preparations
8/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Rob Ash can read the calendar and he knows what looms ahead for his Bobcat football team. The dog days of training camp are gone, ushered out by the palpable urgency of the impending season.
"It's under two weeks (until MSU's season opener), and the reality is starting to set in," Ash said Monday. "We have three days this week - Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday - when we can go pretty hard, then we have to taper physically down to the game. It will just be polish from that point on. Really, camp has about three days left, five practices, and we have to get things accomplished right now."
Among the list of things to accomplish, the Bobcats' ground game, particularly in the absence of starting center Jim Verlanic, remains near the top. "Offensively I thought we threw the ball well (in Saturday's scrimmage), but we really have to work on running the ball," Ash said. "That will be our focus in the next couple of days."
Mistakes emerged while watching video of the weekend's scrimmage that Ash calls "uncharacteristic," particularly on the defensive side of the ball. Ash said the coaching staff spent Sunday and Monday turning those mistakes into a positive. "There were just some critical errors made in terms of alignment and assignments that have to be cleaned up. Coach Marshall went over those with the team (Sunday) and we think it was a good wake-up call for the defense," he said.
Another item near the top of Ash's checklist, the quarterback situation remains an attention-grabber both outside and inside the program. "The quarterback battle has got to clarify itself fairly soon so we can start to get some rhythm and consistency out there."
While Mark Desin's return to part-time duty at receiver has taken one body out of consideration for full-time duty as the starting quarterback, it muddied the situation at receiver. "Our receiver situation is fairly unsettled because DeAndre Green hasn't been out there, and we're trying to find out who's going to be in the mix," Ash said. "Adding Desin in there Saturday confused it, but in a good way because he looked good running around at receiver."
Still, Ash said the sessions spent viewing video of Saturday's scrimmage remained largely positive. "I was pretty happy watching the film, actually," Ash said. "They're playing fine, they're playing well, they're hustling. It was a positive performance, and we'll build on it going forward."
"It's under two weeks (until MSU's season opener), and the reality is starting to set in," Ash said Monday. "We have three days this week - Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday - when we can go pretty hard, then we have to taper physically down to the game. It will just be polish from that point on. Really, camp has about three days left, five practices, and we have to get things accomplished right now."
Among the list of things to accomplish, the Bobcats' ground game, particularly in the absence of starting center Jim Verlanic, remains near the top. "Offensively I thought we threw the ball well (in Saturday's scrimmage), but we really have to work on running the ball," Ash said. "That will be our focus in the next couple of days."
Mistakes emerged while watching video of the weekend's scrimmage that Ash calls "uncharacteristic," particularly on the defensive side of the ball. Ash said the coaching staff spent Sunday and Monday turning those mistakes into a positive. "There were just some critical errors made in terms of alignment and assignments that have to be cleaned up. Coach Marshall went over those with the team (Sunday) and we think it was a good wake-up call for the defense," he said.
Another item near the top of Ash's checklist, the quarterback situation remains an attention-grabber both outside and inside the program. "The quarterback battle has got to clarify itself fairly soon so we can start to get some rhythm and consistency out there."
While Mark Desin's return to part-time duty at receiver has taken one body out of consideration for full-time duty as the starting quarterback, it muddied the situation at receiver. "Our receiver situation is fairly unsettled because DeAndre Green hasn't been out there, and we're trying to find out who's going to be in the mix," Ash said. "Adding Desin in there Saturday confused it, but in a good way because he looked good running around at receiver."
Still, Ash said the sessions spent viewing video of Saturday's scrimmage remained largely positive. "I was pretty happy watching the film, actually," Ash said. "They're playing fine, they're playing well, they're hustling. It was a positive performance, and we'll build on it going forward."
Monday, August 24
Monday, August 24
Wednesday, August 19
Wednesday, June 10
