By Mike Marzelli, Pine Bluff Commercial
Saturday’s first scrimmage of preseason camp produced a number of positives for Arkansas-Pine Bluff but also served as a reminder to head coach Mo Forte that his new offensive line is still a work in progress.
The Golden Lions practiced for two hours under game-like conditions in the afternoon heat and saw a fast, aggressive defense claim an edge over the offense, which looked strong at times despite inconsistent play up front.
There were enough good things from both sides of the ball to leave Forte pleased with the scrimmage and a with number of individual performances but the offensive line clearly remains his focus going forward.
“Getting ready for the opener is all about us being able to get that offensive line together and see how that goes,” Forte said. “I thought our defense was very aggressive heading to the ball and the offense did some good things, the offensive line just needs to come along and they will.
“[Offensive coordinator and offensive line coach] Jonathan Cannon does a great job and I trust him to have them ready. Today was just the first step in getting them ready.”
The group of center Patrick Kapuniai, guards Terrance Billings and Bobby Torres and tackles Jordan Lowe and Courtney Shaw took the majority of the reps together with the first team, with Kapuniai and Billings being the only holdovers from a year ago.
The line held its own at times in allowing quarterbacks Chris Wallace and Johnathan Moore to look crisp in directing and executing the offense. There were also multiple breakdowns on certain plays, both in pass protection and in the run game.
“I think if you had to put a grade on them it would be somewhere in the middle to below middle,” Forte said. “There is a bunch of room for improvement.”
The line seemed to hold up better while run blocking, as junior tailback Mickey Dean was able to find holes on numerous snaps and showed flashes of the form that helped him earn 2005 Southwestern Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Year honors.
Dean appears to be fully recovered from the high ankle sprain that ended his 2006 season and has been moving around freely in camp despite still being 10 pounds over his playing weight.
“Mickey Dean looks great carrying the football,” Forte said. “When he gets in shape he’s going to be really something.”
Newcomers Bruce Peters and Myron Aldridge both stood out in the scrimmage and appear to be ready to contribute as wide receivers. With All-SWAC wideout Jason Jones not in camp while he regains his academic eligibility, Peters has been working with the first team while also returning punts and kicks and Aldridge has made his presence felt in taking reps with the first and second teams.
Both are junior college transfers, with Peters hailing from Los Angeles and Aldridge from Texas.
“Both of those guys are showing that they want to play and will take advantage of the opportunity to play,” Forte said.
UAPB will take today off to attend church and have an afternoon meeting and will be back on the practice field for a single session Monday afternoon. The Lions will return to two-a-days on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
No comments:
Post a Comment