Everett Gilbert will take turns at running back in Saturday's scrimmage
Photo by: R. Dean Hendrickson
Ash Likes Bobcat Progress Through Five Practices
4/1/2010 6:47:14 PM | Football
MSU coach lauds team, looks for more as team heads into weekend
Progress is in the eye of the beholder, and Rob Ash has beheld solid progress during Montana State's first five practices of spring football.
“We're making progress,” Ash said on Thursday, the day after his team's first limited scrimmage of the spring. “I was happy with the effort. I saw some really good examples of guys away from the play of guys hustling, of guys working for the team on every play instead of just working hard when they have the ball in their hands. That's been a point of emphasis, and that's been good.”
While Ash lauded his team's effort, he said he'll ask his players and coaches to make strides in football fundamentals. “We still have to work on assignments,” Ash said, “we had a lot of assignment mistakes. I think part of that was because we did installation (of the offensive scheme) on the same day we scrimmaged, and it's hard to put new plays in then scrimmage that first day. But it has to be fixed, and the coaches are going to work really hard to fix the assignment errors on both sides of the ball.”
Technical work comes to the fore as the team passes into its second week of drills, Ash said. “Technique-wise we're making progress, but now is the time when we have to really make an effort as coaches to improve footwork and reads and throwing and catching. I don't want to worry so much about outcomes as about teaching the game.”
Ash looks for his offense to operate smoothly on Saturday, when the team scrimmages at 1:30 pm in Bobcat Stadium. “I want to see if we can get into a flow,” said MSU's fourth-year head coach. “I want to see what the offense can create against a good defense. As a head coach you want to see the offense get into a rhythm, but you want to see the defense upset that rhythm, so it can be tough to evaluate.”
After Blayde Becksted suffered what Ash called a “bad ankle sprain” on Wednesday, reducing the team to just a pair of healthy running backs, Ash and the Bobcat staff plan to evaluate a new face at that position Saturday. “We're going to work Everett Gilbert at running backs some for now. We have to. He's going to get some snaps there.”
Saturday's scrimmage will resemble “real football,” Ash said. “We're going to let it fly. It's not going to be a game format, we won't punt or track points, but we want to move the ball and make the situations we face more results-based than scripted. It will be the rehearsal of what we have in after five practices.”
Thursday, July 31
Monday, May 19
Wednesday, May 03
Wednesday, May 03
