Dustin O'Connell (right) led MSU's pass rush in practice Thursay.
Photo by: R. Dean Hendrickson
Pads Pop in Bobcat Camp on Day Four
8/12/2010 4:31:19 PM | Football
MSU's offense and defense each had good moments on Thursday
The inevitable nexus of preseason college football camp arrived in Bozeman Thursday, when Rob Ash delved fully into the give-and-take between the offense and defense.
“The defense had a great day today,” Bobcat coach Rob Ash said after Thursday morning's practice. “They were very fired up, they started bringing blitzes, which they really love, especially on third down situations. They got after it today. I think the first six third down situations we had today with the number ones the defense won all six of them, so the defense had a tremendous day.”
MSU's fourth-year head coach was quick to point the positives on the other side of the ball, as well. “What happened, though, was we got into the red zone (drills) later one and the offense rallied and was able to come up with some touchdowns in the red zone,” Ash said. “I was very encouraged that the offense was able to come back, and I was also very encouraged that the offense didn't turn the ball over one single time today after having a couple yesterday.
“So, (there were) good things on both sides.”
That give-and-take emerged in MSU's running game, as well. “On offense right now we're doing really well on run blocking and we're struggling on pass blocking,” Ash said. “On the defensive front we're pass rushing very well, we're really quick, but we're not as firm against the run. So it's kind of that battle right now, and we have to improve both those weak spots in the next few days.”
The Bobcats will practice in full pads for the first time on Friday, then take the show into Bobcat Stadium for a 4:30 pm scrimmage on Saturday, so a sense of urgency creeps into preparations daily. “We've been pretty physical even without pads, so I'm curious to see how we can take it another notch up with full pads. But that'll be Saturday. On Friday what I do the first day in pads is not go right away to a full scrimmage. We'll go to a live tackling drill, maybe a special teams tackling drill. The team period we'll still stay high because we're just getting used to tackling live. Then Saturday afternoon we'll tackle to the ground.”
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