He’s especially pleased with the
leadership of players like safety Erik Coleman and linebacker Al
Genatone and the closeness of last year’s recruits.
“(Genatone)
doesn’t talk much but when he gets in the huddle he just gives me this look like
he is ready to go,” Akey said. “When he talks, people listen.”
As for last year’s recruiting class
that includes guys like Mkristo Bruce, Scott Davis and Brian Hall
- - who are all redshirt freshmen now - - Akey said they were a very close group
off the field and they held their own every day in practice last year going up
against a Pac-10 champion offense.
Akey also spread plenty of praise to
the new crop of guys coming in, such as defensive end Reyshawn Bobo,
defensive back Husain Abdullah, defensive back Christian Bass and
linebacker Paul Stevens.
“I’ve liked what I have seen in
terms of pass rushing with Reyshawn Bobo. Husain Abdullah has been moving well.
Christian Bass is a great looking kid; I’m excited for his future. Paul Stevens
has done a good job.”
He cautioned not to worry about the
smaller size of some of the players right now because standouts like
Isaac Brown and D.D. Acholonu were just as small when they
joined the team four years ago.
“You want to look at the kind of
work ethic and courage a kid shows right now,” Akey said.
The general consensus about JC transfer
corner Omowale Dada currently is that he is a wait and see player.
Neither head coach Bill Doba nor Akey were ready to make a definite
statement on how he will be used during the season, but it is certain that the
Cougs need to shore up some depth at that position. Said Akey: “I’m anxious to
see what he will do in pads.”
Doba said the same thing but also
mentioned that he hopes Dada can step in soon to be a backup for Jason
David or Karl Paymah. The head coach said he hopes to get Dada up to
speed by the third or fourth game of the season.
“We recruited
him because he had good burst and break on the ball,” Doba said. “But we’ll wait
and see how he responds when the bullets start flying.”
EXTRA
POINTS
The team
worked on most of the same material today as they did Friday, practicing with
shoulder pads and helmets. After the injuries from yesterday it appeared they
might have been taking it a bit easier on the hits. Doba did mention that they
probably were too aggressive yesterday.
With the addition of Aaron
Wagner and Hall to compete for the middle linebacker position with Don
Jackson, one of the Cougars’ former weak spots looks to become a strength
for them this year.
All three quarterbacks performed
exceptionally better today. Chris Hurd looked the sharpest of the three
today hitting Scott Lunde and a sliding Troy Bienemann while on
the run. The offensive line had a better day protecting the signal-callers and
Matt Kegel was able to use his height as an advantage on several passes.
As for Josh Swogger, he was congratulated a few times by QB coach Timm
Rosenbach after completing some well-executed passes, however Swogger’s
biggest enemy seemed to be mental mistakes.
Running back Chris Bruhn
continues his crash course on the Cougar playbook, especially learning how to
run routes. Running backs coach Kelly Skipper had to correct him a few
times.
People we’re still talking about the
highlight film catch by Don Turner on Thursday. The Spokane native made a
one-handed, behind-the-back, no-look, oh-my-God-I-can’t-believe-it, grab during
coverage drills.
With receivers Thomas
Ostrander (out for the season) and Robert Franklin (out 4 weeks) on
the injury shelf, the late pick-up of JC transfer Tramaine Murray is
looking to be more and more a God-send for offensive coordinator Mike
Levenseller.
• Sammy Moore and fellow
receiver Chris Jordan have changed their numbers to 3 and 2,
respectively.
• When asked if practicing in pads
made the team a little more light winded, offensive lineman Calvin
Armstrong said it was not a burden because of the conditioning the team did
in the summer. Armstrong noted that they used weight vests to improve speed.
• Monday is the first day for
two-a-day practices, but new NCAA rules do not allow teams to hold them on
consecutive days. Wednesday will be the first scrimmage at 7:30 p.m. in Martin
Stadium.
• Kicker Drew Dunning has
been named to the 2003 Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award Preseason
Watch List.
INJURY
REPORT
• Freshman defensive lineman, Jon Conlin could be out for
the entire season after injuring his knee. He’ll have an MRI on Tuesday to determine the
injury and severity of it.
• Moore
sat out practice with a hamstring injury and will be evaluated Monday.
•
Running back Blair Hawkins suffered a broken scapula and will miss
four-to-six weeks.