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Middle Tennessee State Football News
8-23-06
Blue Raiders go through scripted scrimmage
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - With the season opener against Florida International
rapidly approaching, Middle Tennessee first-year head football coach Rick
Stockstill put his team through a dress rehearsal of sorts at Floyd Stadium
Wednesday afternoon.
Middle Tennessee will kick off the Stockstill era when it entertains Sun
Belt Conference foe Florida International Aug. 31 at 6 p.m., and the Blue
Raiders were put through every situation possibly imagined during Wednesday
scripted scrimmage.
"It was a scripted practice where we went through 18 different kicking plays
that can occur in a game from onsides to hands teams to kick after a safety,
a return after a safety, a regular kickoff, kickoff return punt safe and
punt block," said Stockstill. "Then we put the first team offense against
the second team defense in certain situations during a 10-play drive."
Attention to detail was prevalent throughout the scrimmage, from prior to
kickoff when Stockstill addressed where players would be on the sideline, to
the flip of the coin and other various situations throughout the two-hour
workout. Coaches wore headsets and relayed the plays onto the field. Sun
Belt officials were working the field and replay officials were in the
booth.
As important as the run-through is for the players, Stockstill says it is
equally important for the coaches and everyone who is involved with the
program during the course of game.
"A lot of times people think this is just for the players but this is a very
valuable practice for our coaches as well," said Stockstill. "We work on
everything from the pregame warmup to the coin toss. It's all very important
and we want to make sure everybody knows what to do during any type of
situation."
Plays went according to a pre-determined script regardless of what the
outcome of a particular play may have been. For example, quarterback Clint
Marks connected with receiver Taron Henry for a 17-yard pickup on a
second-and-7 play from the opponent's 25. Instead of first-and-10 on the 8,
Middle Tennessee's offense faced third-and-4 from the 22.
"No matter what happened on the play, whether it was a 50-yard gain or a
10-yard sack, we moved the ball on the next play to a different situation,"
said Stockstill. "We did this so our coaches can call a game with 2nd-and-6,
3rd-and-1 or whatever, while also working in various kicking situations.
Everybody had to be alert and attentive on the sidelines with our
substitutions."
Some scripted plays were fake, but seemed way too real for a few onlookers.
"We scripted in a fake injury by our center and told him how we want him to
stay on the field and wait for the medical staff to come attend to him,"
added Stockstill. "We do this so the quarterback will have time to come over
to the sidelines and work with the backup center for a few snaps. I told
Paul Cantrell, our center, that he was too good of an actor because his
girlfriend started coming out of the stands to check on him."
As far as big plays actually recorded in the workout when the ball was
snapped, there were several registered in all three facets of the game.
For example, linebacker J.K. Sabb hauled in an interception and raced 50
yards for a touchdown. Sabb also had two tackles for loss, while Chris McCoy
had a pass deflection and a sack. Trevor Jenkins added a couple tackles for
loss, while Roy Polite came up big with a break-up on third-and-2 at the 42.
Marcus Brandon came away with a fumble recovery. Some of the big plays were
scripted, others were not.
Middle Tennessee's running game continued to impress with Eugene Gross and
DeMarco McNair consistently gaining yards and moving the chains.
Special team's performers had their shining moments, too. Colby Smith nailed
a 38-yard field goal and added a 57-yard punt, while also sending the
opening kickoff into the end zone for a touchback. There also was Jonathan
Harris' 72-yard return of a blocked field goal to send a charge up and down
the sideline.
These are just a sampling of the plays turned in by Blue Raider players
during the situational scrimmage. More important than the plays, Middle
Tennessee took another huge step forward in preparation for its anticipated
opener.
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