Today's synopsis of coach Kill's responses to Sid and Dave's questions on 'CCOs the Sports Huddle:
1) Sid opened the show by asking Kill what they have left to accomplish in preparation for Thursday's game at UNLV: Just finished up with a meeting before the Sports Huddle. "We have a lot of work to do today . . . last day in pads . . . building on what we've done the past 2 1/2 weeks . . . working on what we struggled with . . . trying to eliminate the mistakes we've made and working on timing."
2) Young team: Kill said this is the youngest team that he has been associated with in his 30 years of coaching. (Similar to the second year team at Southern Illinois that he coached.) They're taking only 12 seniors to Las Vegas. He also said, "The young players are hungry and the future looks good." He finished the question saying the team had an excellent practice yesterday. (There's no doubt he's excited about this year's team and getting the season started.)
3) Sid asked who the seniors are that will be starting against UNLV: He gave only one name - Marquies Gray. Marquies is the only senior starting on offense. On defense, Kill said one senior will start on the defensive line ((DL Wilhite?), two linebackers (Mike Rallis and Keanon Cooper (that's my guess)), and a couple cornerbacks (Troy Stoudermire and Michael Carter (again, my guess)).
4) Sid asked about Marquies Gray improvement: Kill said, "He's done well! He's improved since the Illinois game . . . experience under his belt." He went on to say that Gray has looked good in the two-a-days; hasn't turned the ball over much in practice. "He understands what he's doing." Kill said the tailbacks will have to play well and the receivers have to catch the ball in order to help Gray have a good year. (Again, he sounded positive about Gray's development at quarterback . . . compared him to Chandler Harnish's development at NIU.) He also mentioned the two years he played receiver . . .I'm sure he wished he had practiced more at the QB position. He closed the question by saying: "We're pleased with the team."
5) Sid asked who the starting runningback is: Kill answered, "We play a lot of player groupings . . . sometimes we will have 2 or 3 runningbacks on the field at the same time . . . 5 or 6 players capable of playing." Names mentioned in passing: James Gillum, KJ Maye, Donnell Kirkwood, and Devon Wright.
6) Sid said an assistant coach, linebacker coach Bill Miller, is high on Brendan Beal: Kill responded saying everyone wants to see Beal succeed, especially because of the injuries he has had to overcome. He didn't know too much about Brendan Beal when to arrived at Minnesota because of his injuries, which have prevented Beal from showing what he can do. Nevertheless, he sounded positive about Beal . . . he said he's had an excellent camp even with a broken hand . . . "Got to keep him healthy."
7) Dave Mona asked about the difficulty in reducing the team to 65 players on the traveling team from 105 that have practiced in the two-a-days: Kill said it is hard and difficult because "A lot of guys are close." It's difficult to tell the players, "They've all worked very hard." He's an advocate of playing at home for the first game: it's a reward to the players that have worked hard in fall practices. By playing on the road for the first game, a lot of players will be very disappointed in not making the trip.
8) Sid asked about the team's health going into Thursday's game: Kill said the team's health after two-a-days is very good. The exception is Brandon Green who has a nagging knee injury.
9) Sid asked about the scouting report on UNLV: It's their third year under coach Hauck, "He's doing it the right way - building the team with redshirts and JUCO players . . . this is their time to turn the corner." He said a redshirted freshman will start at QB (no name given) . . . they'll give you 2 TE looks and run the pistol, too. Kill said they'll have to be ready for a lot of different looks on offense.
10) Dave asked about playing in 90 degree heat: Kill said you can't control the weather . . . and they haven't practiced in the heat (Kill also said the Rebels left Las Vegas for some practices and haven't practiced in the heat either). He said they'll take the necessary precautions before and during the game: make sure the players are hydrated with electrolytes, gatorade during the game and there will be a lot of shuttling in of players - "Two deeps will have to play."
11) Dave asked about the kicking/punting game: The decision on who will do the punting may be made at game time. "We're punting better than last year . . . not game conditions." Kill sounded pleased with the competition. Coach Kill was enthused and very positive about the team's place kicking, "We have two good ones." A decision related to the starting kicker could be made Tuesday.
Go Gophers!!
1) Sid opened the show by asking Kill what they have left to accomplish in preparation for Thursday's game at UNLV: Just finished up with a meeting before the Sports Huddle. "We have a lot of work to do today . . . last day in pads . . . building on what we've done the past 2 1/2 weeks . . . working on what we struggled with . . . trying to eliminate the mistakes we've made and working on timing."
2) Young team: Kill said this is the youngest team that he has been associated with in his 30 years of coaching. (Similar to the second year team at Southern Illinois that he coached.) They're taking only 12 seniors to Las Vegas. He also said, "The young players are hungry and the future looks good." He finished the question saying the team had an excellent practice yesterday. (There's no doubt he's excited about this year's team and getting the season started.)
3) Sid asked who the seniors are that will be starting against UNLV: He gave only one name - Marquies Gray. Marquies is the only senior starting on offense. On defense, Kill said one senior will start on the defensive line ((DL Wilhite?), two linebackers (Mike Rallis and Keanon Cooper (that's my guess)), and a couple cornerbacks (Troy Stoudermire and Michael Carter (again, my guess)).
4) Sid asked about Marquies Gray improvement: Kill said, "He's done well! He's improved since the Illinois game . . . experience under his belt." He went on to say that Gray has looked good in the two-a-days; hasn't turned the ball over much in practice. "He understands what he's doing." Kill said the tailbacks will have to play well and the receivers have to catch the ball in order to help Gray have a good year. (Again, he sounded positive about Gray's development at quarterback . . . compared him to Chandler Harnish's development at NIU.) He also mentioned the two years he played receiver . . .I'm sure he wished he had practiced more at the QB position. He closed the question by saying: "We're pleased with the team."
5) Sid asked who the starting runningback is: Kill answered, "We play a lot of player groupings . . . sometimes we will have 2 or 3 runningbacks on the field at the same time . . . 5 or 6 players capable of playing." Names mentioned in passing: James Gillum, KJ Maye, Donnell Kirkwood, and Devon Wright.
6) Sid said an assistant coach, linebacker coach Bill Miller, is high on Brendan Beal: Kill responded saying everyone wants to see Beal succeed, especially because of the injuries he has had to overcome. He didn't know too much about Brendan Beal when to arrived at Minnesota because of his injuries, which have prevented Beal from showing what he can do. Nevertheless, he sounded positive about Beal . . . he said he's had an excellent camp even with a broken hand . . . "Got to keep him healthy."
7) Dave Mona asked about the difficulty in reducing the team to 65 players on the traveling team from 105 that have practiced in the two-a-days: Kill said it is hard and difficult because "A lot of guys are close." It's difficult to tell the players, "They've all worked very hard." He's an advocate of playing at home for the first game: it's a reward to the players that have worked hard in fall practices. By playing on the road for the first game, a lot of players will be very disappointed in not making the trip.
8) Sid asked about the team's health going into Thursday's game: Kill said the team's health after two-a-days is very good. The exception is Brandon Green who has a nagging knee injury.
9) Sid asked about the scouting report on UNLV: It's their third year under coach Hauck, "He's doing it the right way - building the team with redshirts and JUCO players . . . this is their time to turn the corner." He said a redshirted freshman will start at QB (no name given) . . . they'll give you 2 TE looks and run the pistol, too. Kill said they'll have to be ready for a lot of different looks on offense.
10) Dave asked about playing in 90 degree heat: Kill said you can't control the weather . . . and they haven't practiced in the heat (Kill also said the Rebels left Las Vegas for some practices and haven't practiced in the heat either). He said they'll take the necessary precautions before and during the game: make sure the players are hydrated with electrolytes, gatorade during the game and there will be a lot of shuttling in of players - "Two deeps will have to play."
11) Dave asked about the kicking/punting game: The decision on who will do the punting may be made at game time. "We're punting better than last year . . . not game conditions." Kill sounded pleased with the competition. Coach Kill was enthused and very positive about the team's place kicking, "We have two good ones." A decision related to the starting kicker could be made Tuesday.
Go Gophers!!
