Five spring football practices down, head coach Bob Davie said he is seeing improvement in his team.
The players no longer seem as nervous as they did during the first few practices, he said.
“You know the first day we were out here, I wondered if we would ever be able to complete a ball (pass),” he said. “I think the big part of it was just the jitters, early on. They are learning a complete new terminology both offensively and defensively.”
Davie is teaching a different style of play to both the offense and defense, and said it’s going to take time get the team up to speed on what he wants.
He said right now, the offense is looking much better than the defense.
“I think the offense, if anybody was keeping score right now, which we’re not, is ahead of the defense,” he said. “The defense, I think, schematically, is at a disadvantage. As the offense puts a lot of that stuff in, the defense really has a hard time keeping up with that.”
Senior quarterback B.R. Holbrook said a majority of the offensive players have played together already.
“We have been with these guys for four years now,” he said. “It’s exciting to go into this fifth year and have that chemistry and know where they are going to be and the type of routes they are going to run.”
Senior tight end Lucas Reed is one of those returning members to the offense. Last season he struggled, with just 22 catches for 241 yards.
Reed said he has already seen a major improvement from where the offense was last season, though.
“It feels like we are getting a lot of work done,” he said. “I saw it definitely today. We had about 20 plays today where it was perfect, no self-inflicted mistakes, and you can definitely tell we are improving.”
Davie was adamant at the beginning spring practice that he had no definite starters already picked, but said if the season started tomorrow, Holbrook would be the starting quarterback.
“I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, but it’s pretty obvious to me right now if we … played today, B.R. Holbrook is ahead of the other quarterbacks,” he said.
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Holbrook was the starting quarterback last season and played in 11 games. He finished last season 141-236, for 1490 yards and four touchdowns. He also threw seven interceptions.
Holbrook has been working with new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Bob DeBesse this spring and he said he has enjoyed what DeBesse has taught him so far.
“It’s been a good experience,” Holbrook said. “He (DeBesse) is bringing a new set of ideas and techniques to the table and it’s good to learn from him and see what he has to offer.”
