The defense forced three-and-outs on four of the first six possessions at Bridgeforth Stadium and returned a fumble for a touchdown on another.
“They’re very experienced,” redshirt freshman quarterback Billy Cosh said. “They have a lot of great players coming back. Offensively, We’re trying to find our groove, trying to find what we’re best at – running the ball, throwing the ball. We’re just trying to find it and we will find it.”
It didn’t happen Wednesday. With a crew of officials calling penalties and quarterbacks uncharacteristically out of the protective red jerseys and allowed to be hit, the defense controlled the scrimmage.
“You’re always better on defense early in camp than you are on offense,” JMU coach Mickey Matthews said. “That was the case today. Our defensive kids got after us.”
Junior quarterback Justin Thorpe – considered the front-runner to win the starting position – sat out Wednesday’s scrimmage after tweaking his left knee in Tuesday’s workout. Matthews said Thorpe – who missed most of last season after bruising his left knee in the season opener – is “day-to-day.”
The offense was also without preseason all-conference center Roane Babington, who is still nursing a bruised right ankle.
“He’s a leader out there on the field,” redshirt freshman quarterback Jace Edwards said. “We definitely miss Roane.”
Redshirt freshman Matt Williams filled in and – after having a pair of bad snaps to open practice – settled in adequately.
Freshman Andre Coble gave the offense a spark. Coble, recruited as a quarterback but moved to wide receiver quickly in the spring, turned in the day’s longest run, bursting 25 yards up the middle for a first-down before being dragged down.
“Andre Coble really gave us a shot in the arm when he came in there and played,” Matthews said. “Of course, that was against the 2s. Andre, since Justin was hurt, that was just his second day at quarterback and I thought he did a lot of good things. That was probably the most encouraging thing we did on offense.”
Catch of the day: Is it getting old yet? Freshman Amir Waller reached back to haul in a pass from freshman walk-on Mackenzie Spees that was thrown high and behind Waller. The catch on the post route went for a 28-yard gain.
Hit of the day: There was actually more quality tackling than big hits during Wednesday’s scrimmage, a good sign for the defense. But there were still plenty of violent collisions, including linebacker Chase Williams’ lick on running back Dejor Simmons that sent Simmons’ helmet flying off and stuffed Simmons for no gain.
Quote of the day: After cornerback Daniel Allen thought he was held by a wide receiver on a screen pass to his side, Allen pleaded his case to assistant coach Mark Hendricks. Hendricks asked the linesmen, who said the play was clean.
“Talk to that man,” Hendricks told Allen.
For updates from practice on Twitter, follow @MikeABarber
Love the blog, Mike, keep it up!
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