Lightning almost went a perfect 3-0 against USF this week after claiming two soccer exhibitions before the Bulls were able to get a result. But after an almost two hour weather delay yesterday, Coach Holtz and the Bulls were able to get in their first scrimmage of the fall yesterday in Vero Beach.
- I'd say there was a good crowd of at least 200 fans there, which isn't bad considering the heat, the bad weather, and a lot of people making that horrible drive across the state on State Road 60. The storm did drive away a lot of fans, which is a shame because they saw only a handful of plays before the they stopped everything to take cover.
- The best thing I saw today wasn't anything on the field, but backup OL Tony Kibler's mullet is a work of art. It's up there with Bobby Eveld and Evan Landi in terms of the best hair on the team. Hopefully someone gets a picture of it soon.
- I'd agree with both Greg Auman and Michael Manganello that Elkino Watson stood out when the reserves hit the field today. I wouldn't be surprised if he is playing this season. Todd Chandler and Luke Sager also had some quality moments out there today. Those three plus Marquis White played a majority of the snaps with Demi Moore Thompson and Cory Grissom held out due to injuries.
- In regards to true freshmen working with the second team, I saw DE Antoine Pozniak and CB Kenneth Durden working with the second team defense with Watson mixed in at tackle. Tye Turner and Andre Davis were working with the second team offense. Did see Turner get some snaps in at FB. That might be an option if Armando Sanchez's injury takes a little longer than normal.
- Hope that the injuries to Mark Popek and Ernie Tabuteau weren't anything serious. Anytime you hear someone complaining about headaches like Popek, it makes you assume that some sort of concussion happened. Hopefully both will be back on Monday.
- If you were wondering who laid the biggest hit yesterday, it was without a doubt LB Mike Jeune's hit on walk-on FB Chris Breit. Matt Floyd checked down to Chris in the flat and Mike had a full head of steam to make the hit. I felt bad for Chris because they ran the same checkdown the next play and Jeune gave him another solid shot.
- Speaking of Floyd, he throws a really nice ball. Stephen Bravo-Brown was able to get a hold of a couple deep passes for some nice gains. The number of quality options we have this year is much higher compared to this point last season.
- It looks like Marcus Shaw is pretty locked in as the third back behind Darrell Scott and Demetris Murray. He has a ton of carries, and broke a couple runs during the scrimmage. His speed was a definite change of pace compared to Bradley Battles, Scott, and Murray.
- In the middle of the scrimmage the offense broke out the Pistol formation with Shaw and Eveld. Voodoo reminded me that Holtz and Fitch ran the Pistol at ECU with Patrick Pinkney and Dominique Lindsay, so it should be a nice wrinkle in the offense this year.
- I don't care if it was a scrimmage, hearing Jim Louk call a game was great to hear. Just another small reminder that football is right around the corner.
Did you guys make it out to Vero? Let us know in the comments what you thought of the scrimmage and who stood out to you.