Fresno State Athletics
A Good Work Day
4/2/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
April 2, 2011
FRESNO, Calif. - The Bulldogs have battled the elements during spring drills, spending nearly half of their practice sessions off campus on an artificial turf field because heavy rains flooded their fields. But Saturday afternoon was a splendid spring day at the Bulldog practice facility that saw the Dogs run nearly 100 scrimmage plays under sunny skies and temperatures approaching 80 degrees.
"It was a good day," said veteran head coach Pat Hill, who is on his 15th season. "We got a lot of work in. We have a lot more to do and we have a big week coming up. It's our last week and next Saturday we will have our spring scrimmage, so we are looking forward to that."
The Dogs will hold the final practice - a scrimmage - next Saturday, April 9, at 6 p.m. at Bulldog Stadium. The scrimmage will be open to the public and free of charge.
During the most recent scrimmage, Hill was pleased that first unit players got more than 50 plays in three live scrimmage situations. The Dogs held an over-the-field scrimmage, a 1-minute drill and a "compete zone", or red zone scrimmage.
The offense and defense had shining moments in each of the scrimmage sessions. Fresno State's defense worked primarily on its man coverage packages, which helped generate four quarterback sacks and one interception, by redshirt freshman cornerback Davon Dunn. That was the only turnover on the day.
Leading the way for the defense were senior linebacker Kyle Knox and All-WAC tackle Logan Harrell, who had one of the Dogs' sacks in the scrimmage. Harrell is a strong All-America candidate and one of the nation's top returning sack producers.
On offense, sophomore quarterback Derek Carr had another good day running the Bulldog offense. Carr completed 14 of 22 passes for 148 yards with a 33- yard touchdown pass to sophomore Jalen Saunders. Carr led an impressive drive in the 1-minute drill, in which the goal was to take the ball from midfield and get a field goal with 1 minute on the clock and no timeouts. He threw a perfect rainbow to a streaking Saunders in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown. He also directed the team to a field goal in the "compete zone" segment.
While Carr is getting used to the offense and a young group of receivers, he is facing a talented but young secondary every day. The Dogs are led by junior safety Phillip Thomas, the only returning starter in the defensive backfield.
Joining Thomas at safety has been sophomore safety Deron Smith and cornerbacks Isaiah Green, the second-fastest player on the team, and L.J. Jones, all of whom have been performing well.
Jermaine Thomas, who started eight games at cornerback last season, along with senior safety Zak Hill, are experienced players coming off injuries and not expected be at full strength until fall camp in August.
Fresno State's linebacking corps has had a new look this fall as well, with senior Kyle Knox and sophomores Patrick Su'a and Jeremiah Toma getting the lion's share of the snaps with the first unit.
Travis Brown, a second-team All-WAC pick as a sophomore in 2010, and senior Shawn Plummer, have missed much the spring due to various injuries. Because of the injuries, Hill moved promising redshirt freshman Edward Dillihunt from safety to linebacker.
Knox is the most experienced linebacker from a unit that lost inspirational leader Ben Jacobs, a two-time All-WAC player who started 52 consecutive games. Knox played well in Saturday's scrimmage with some big hit, a couple tackles for losses and put pressure on the Bulldog quarterbacks.
"We have some young guys on defense who are stepping up," said Hill. "Overall they have done a very good job. We don't have a lot of experience in some positions and not a lot of depth beyond the two-deep, but they have been working hard and we are getting better on that side of the ball."
Scrimmage Highlights
- All-WAC kicker Kevin Goessling connected on three of four field goal attempts. His only miss was from 42 yards when a gusty wind blew the ball wide right.
- 2010 WAC Defensive Player of the Year Chris Carter and former cornerback Desia Dunn, a second-team All-WAC pick last season, were among the former Dogs in attendance.
- Redshirt freshman quarterback Greg Watson connected with Taylor Stewart on a 70-yard touchdown pass play.
- Sophomore quarterback Kelly O'Brien completed a 45-yard touchdown pass to J.J. Stallworth. O'Brien's father, Ken, a former New York Jet's Pro Bowl quarterback, was at the scrimmage. Stallworth finished with three receptions for 66 yards.
- Junior running back Robbie Rouse, who had more than 1,100 yards last season, finished with 25 yards on six attempts.
- Sophomore receiver Isaiah Burse had four receptions for 38 yards and three rushing attempts 18 yards.
- Senior end Donnie Pritchett and sophomore end Nat Harrison had quarterback sacks.
- Sophomore running back Milton Knox had five receptions for 18 yards, with a long rush of 10 yards.
"We Are Your Team!" The 2011 Bulldog football season opens on Sept. 3 when Fresno State plays Cal at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Tickets for the Cal game are available by clicking on the tickets icon at the top of this page. The Bulldogs will hold their annual spring scrimmage at Bulldog Stadium on April 9 at 6 p.m. Admission is free.
