Gophers Football Scrimmage Highlights: A Little Bit of Everything

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Gophers Football Scrimmage Highlights: A Little Bit of Everything
By Luke Gildemeister

http://www.gopherhole.com/news_article/show/544090?referrer_id=

If you weren’t able to make it to Saturday’s scrimmage at Concordia University in St. Paul (hopefully you were located in an air-conditioned building), here are some highlights and observations:

-Arguably the most impressive play of the day came when redshirt sophomore quarterback Conor Rhoda found freshman receiver Rashad Still on a 45-yard fly route. Still demonstrated his vertical, hauled in the football despite solid secondary coverage, and dragged one foot in the back of the endzone for a touchdown.

-Quarterback Mitch Leidner played fairly well today. In four scrimmage drives, he went 6 for 8 passing and added a touchdown run on a five-yard, read-option keeper. Leidner’s most impressive play surely came when he connected with redshirt freshman receiver Melvin Holland Jr. on a mid-range pass. Holland then escaped an oncoming defender and ran for a large gain.

-Redshirt sophomore linebacker Cody Poock picked off backup quarterback Chris Streveler by jumping an inside slant route. The speedy Poock went untouched as he ran over 30 yards to the endzone.

-Freshman quarterback Demry Croft continued to show flashes of athletic brilliance, as well as his youth. In two scrimmage drives, he threw numerous accurate short-range balls and added a touchdown on a five-yard touchdown run. Although very few people doubt his athleticism, he did mishandle one high snap and one handoff. There is no doubt he is a raw athlete, and his future on this football team looks bright.

-There was a very respectable turnout for the scrimmage. As it began around 10:30 a.m., roughly two-thirds of the Sea Foam Stadium bleachers were filled with Gopher fans. According to the Concordia website, Sea Foam’s capacity is 3,500+ people. At the very least, it was nice to see Gopher fans of all ages enjoy the action despite very high temperatures outside.

To summarize, there was just about everything you would expect in a typical collegiate football game: a few highlight-reel plays, the occasional big hit, some interceptions, offside penalties and much more. The scrimmage served as primer for young players and coaches alike. While the Gophers certainly need to polish up some things prior to their game versus TCU on September 3rd, there was plenty of talent showcased on Saturday.
 

per Joe:

ABOUT THE SCRIMMAGE

I've been covering this team since the start of spring practice in 2013, and this is the best I've seen the offense look in a scrimmage. Kill noted that the defense wasn't running all its blitz packages, etc., but there was still plenty to like.

Mitch Leidner hit Melvin Holland on a slant pass that went for 56 yards against the first-team defense. Leidner also had a nine-yard touchdown run.

True freshman QB Demry Croft had a five-yard touchdown run, capping a drive against the second-team defense. Later, against the third-team defense, Croft hit EJ Sardinha for a 35-yard TD pass.

Conor Rhoda hit true freshman Rashad Still for a 35-yard touchdown pass, with Still going up to make a great catch.

Linebacker Cody Poock intercepted Chris Streveler's first pass and returned it for a touchdown. Streveler later traded his gold QB jersey for a white No. 5 and lined up for several plays at quarterback.

Jalen Myrick had one interception and almost had another one.

Ryan Santoso hit field goals from 40, 44 and 38 yards.

Shannon Brooks broke free on a 35-yard run against the third-team defense and also got a good look against the 2's.

http://www.startribune.com/gophers-...icks-nebraska-scrimmage-highlights/321959441/

Go Gophers!!
 



injuries~ i left shortly after Kill had a water break (1.5 hours into)

Berkley was the only player that had gone to the table and he got taped and went back out with out a limp
 


Julien Kafo hurt his arm/shoulder in the middle half of the second half of the scrimmage. He got a lot of attention on the sideline with taping etc. but seemed to be okay after that. The way he was acting right after it happened I was wondering if it was a stinger or a dislocated shoulder.
 

Killjoy said:
Julien Kafo hurt his arm/shoulder in the middle half of the second half of the scrimmage. He got a lot of attention on the sideline with taping etc. but seemed to be okay after that. The way he was acting right after it happened I was wondering if it was a stinger or a dislocated shoulder.
Click to expand...

Did not see other injuries. Thought Berkley had a few good runs and Jack Lynn put a big hit on KJ Maye. I sat next to Jeff Jones family and they were screaming for him to get the ball. Beth Goetz was there talking to staff and boosters.
 

per Greder:

MYRICK STANDS OUT: A substantial portion of the scrimmage was spent on specific situations such as fourth down and short and the two-minute drill.

Junior nickelback and cornerback Jalen Myrick had a tackle for loss on a fourth-and-1 and intercepted Leidner in a two-minute drill.

"It felt good," Myrick said. "I'm just playing my assignment and the defense plays a lot of man-to-man. That's what we are going to play here."

http://www.winonadailynews.com/spor...cle_da7cbf33-06e5-50e9-86a6-4a43e09bfcb6.html

Go Gophers!!
 

per the STrib:

Mitch Leidner and the Gophers’ first-team offense had good moments Saturday. So did Jalen Myrick and the first-team defense.

But several highlights from the Gophers’ intrasquad scrimmage at Concordia (St. Paul) came from lower on the depth chart, where some freshmen look determined to rise quickly.

Shannon Brooks, a true freshman from Jasper, Ga., had 16 carries for 91 yards. Coach Jerry Kill gave him a long look with the second-team offense. Brooks often found zero daylight but kept his legs churning to move a pile, and he broke off a 35-yarder, too.

“He’s pretty tough isn’t he?” Kill said. “He runs pretty hard. I’ve got to go watch the film to see if he’ll block anybody or not, but he’s hard to tackle. And we figured that when we recruited him. You don’t rush for all those yards he did and not be a good back.”

http://www.startribune.com/several-...well-in-parts-of-gophers-scrimmage/321971191/

Go Gophers!!
 



per GopherSports:

The Golden Gopher football team took part in an open-practice scrimmage at Sea Form Stadium, hosted by Concordia University on Saturday. The event was the first time Minnesota practiced away from campus this fall.

Mitch Leidner quarterbacked the first-team offense and got the ball moving from the start. Leidner hit sophomore wideout Eric Carter, who made a spectacular play on the ball, to extend the drive on third and long. The first-team defense then buckled down and held the offense without a point on the drive.

The Gopher defense caused its first turnover of the day when linebacker Cody Poock picked off the first pass thrown by backup signal caller Chris Streveler and returned it for a touchdown.

Leidner then came out for his second series and hit redshirt freshman Melvin Holland Jr. across the middle for a 56-yard play in which Holland juked out of a tackle and was brought down by his shoestrings by defensive back Antonio Johnson. The defense was stout yet again as linebacker Everett Williams made a goal-line stand on fourth down to keep the offense off the board.

http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/081515aaa.html

Go Gophers!!
 

I don't see a mention of Jeff Jones.
 







I also thought the lack of a Jeff Jones highlight was puzzling but i too think why show a weapon at its fullest until it counts. JJ had a very good Spring and I doubt we wanted to get him hurt or show wrinkles that will tip off anyone viewing

thie plays were very vanilla and yet most were the basis of our offense so yeah we will see all these plays again but hopefully we can move the ball and throw in more options so that TCU and others have a harder time preparing for us
 

DoubleB said:
I also thought the lack of a Jeff Jones highlight was puzzling but i too think why show a weapon at its fullest until it counts. JJ had a very good Spring and I doubt we wanted to get him hurt or show wrinkles that will tip off anyone viewing

thie plays were very vanilla and yet most were the basis of our offense so yeah we will see all these plays again but hopefully we can move the ball and throw in more options so that TCU and others have a harder time preparing for us
Click to expand...

It's a well-known fact on GopherHole that Limegrover doesn't open the playbook past page two until at least game 8.
I kid. I kid.
 

Kuato Lives! said:
what?
Click to expand...

Every time we hear news about Jeff Jones, it isn't anything we expected. Switch to WR and now no mention of him out of scrimmage. Not saying these things are bad. Like others said, it could be intentional to keep his skills off the radar for now. But still somewhat stressful when you wonder if one of our "top" recruits isn't working out =/.
 

J
BleedGopher said:
per Greder:

MYRICK STANDS OUT: A substantial portion of the scrimmage was spent on specific situations such as fourth down and short and the two-minute drill.
We struggled on the goal line offense ! We tried to run on 3rd and 6. And that didn't work
Junior nickelback and cornerback Jalen Myrick had a tackle for loss on a fourth-and-1 and intercepted Leidner in a two-minute drill.

"It felt good," Myrick said. "I'm just playing my assignment and the defense plays a lot of man-to-man. That's what we are going to play here."

http://www.winonadailynews.com/spor...cle_da7cbf33-06e5-50e9-86a6-4a43e09bfcb6.html

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...
 

We had lots of trouble on goal line series ! Tried to run 3rd and 6
 


BarnBoy said:
It's a well-known fact on GopherHole that Limegrover doesn't open the playbook past page two until at least game 8.
I kid. I kid.
Click to expand...

I thought it was year 8?
 


Nax91 said:
Every time we hear news about Jeff Jones, it isn't anything we expected. Switch to WR and now no mention of him out of scrimmage. Not saying these things are bad. Like others said, it could be intentional to keep his skills off the radar for now. But still somewhat stressful when you wonder if one of our "top" recruits isn't working out =/.
Click to expand...

BarnBoy said:
I've had the same thoughts. But we have to remember that he's a freshman.
Click to expand...

I'll start by saying I'm not worried about JJ. However, moving a national/top 2014 RB to WR then declaring a 2015 true Freshman RB will burn his RS is indeed odd.
 

outter space

Spoofin said:
I'll start by saying I'm not worried about JJ. However, moving a national/top 2014 RB to WR then declaring a 2015 true Freshman RB will burn his RS is indeed odd.
Click to expand...

I agree it seems puzzling. But one possibllity is if the true freshman will indeed be 21 this week and if he is really good...he won't be here beyond 3 years...so then it would make sense to add him to the mix now. Jones is puzzling all by himself. Was there info he has chronic issues with headaches and can't always practice? I was not aware of that if true...more pieces to the puzzle.
 

60's Guy said:
I agree it seems puzzling. But one possibllity is if the true freshman will indeed be 21 this week and if he is really good...he won't be here beyond 3 years...so then it would make sense to add him to the mix now. Jones is puzzling all by himself. Was there info he has chronic issues with headaches and can't always practice? I was not aware of that if true...more pieces to the puzzle.
Click to expand...
A better possibility is that someone misread a 7 as a 2 when inputting the data. In most states players can't play high school football if they've had their nineteenth birthday. It varies a bit, for some it's 19 before the start of school, some it's up to their 19th birthday, others it's as of the first practice or game. The bottom line is he wouldn't have been playing last year at 20.
 

nsmike said:
A better possibility is that someone misread a 7 as a 2 when inputting the data. In most states players can't play high school football if they've had their nineteenth birthday. It varies a bit, for some it's 19 before the start of school, some it's up to their 19th birthday, others it's as of the first practice or game. The bottom line is he wouldn't have been playing last year at 20.
Click to expand...

The birthdate listed on the GopherSports website for Shannon Brooks is incorrect. He was born in 1996.
 

I assume you are just living up to your name because I think he will be a lt better than we thought.
 

look up past UnderArmour game MVPs. you'll be at ease regarding JJ.
 


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