Monday quick hits
September 03, 2007
In Troy doing some work. Usually for Tuesday I’ve got a big notebook, and tomorrow nothing will change. It will lead with special teams.
Larry Blakeney on the new offensive line, which gave up only one sack and that was very early in the game.
“It’s an 11-man deal when it comes to protecting the quarterback. As far as the load of the offensive line, I thought they did an admirable job for the first time out.“
I talked to Tony Franklin just a second ago and he said right tackle Dion Small played the best. Right guard Steven Merkel should be available Saturday (ankle), and I guess he’ll split snaps with Wes Potter.
Blakeney on punter Adrian Vera, who struggled with a 25-yarder and a 7-yarder in his first appearance.
“We think this guy can be even a great college punter if he continues to work. He’s got to block out all that noise. We’ve got other avenues to take, but we’re not interested in those. He’s our punter.“
Of the defensive line, Blakeney said defensive tackle Chris Bradwell was probably the best (I’ve got a feature on him later this week), with Steve McClendon close behind. Dion Gales “played a number of snaps, not error-free, but he played hard.“
Kickoff coverage was the worst thing of the night. Special teams coach Shayne Wasden said a lot of young guys with speed and tackling ability were on the kick cover team when Felix Jones ran one back 90 yards, and there will be some replacements there. The last time Troy had a kickoff return for a TD against them was in 2003, when Laurence Maroney of Minnesota did it. Maroney was my first-round pick in my fantasy NFL Draft a couple of weeks ago.
The linebackers didn’t play very well - maybe I overrated them in my team rankings this morning. Shows how much I know about football.
“Marcus (Richardson) played well. The Legend (Boris Lee) played well in the middle. Some of those other young men have got to get better. One guy can ruin the efforts of 10 others. That’s why we call this the ultimate team sport.“
On Florida’s environment at “The Swamp”
“It’s full, No. 1. No. 2, it’s loud. It’s right on top of you. You don’t start a fight unless you want a fight. There’s going to be one if you start one. They have great football fans who try to be the 12th man. When they want to be loud, they’ll make your ears hurt. I’ve coached in games there that even if you wore a headset, your ears hurt for 24 hours.“
That’s it for now. Once I empty out the quote book later this week, I’ll share what I don’t use in stories.
