Leone's Long Run Highlights Defense-Dominated Scrimmage
Mar 25, 2005 | Football
March 25, 2005
The Texas A&M football team went through a scrimmage of 105 plays on Friday morning at Kyle Field, plus a live kicking game involving 27 plays - the first full scrimmage of the spring - and Head Coach Dennis Franchione came away relatively pleased.
"Overall, it wasn't too bad," Franchione said after the conclusion of the team's eighth practice of the spring. "I've certainly felt worse after a first scrimmage." Seven practices remain - four next week, and two more leading up to the annual Maroon & White spring intrasquad game on April 9 at 2 p.m. in Kyle Field.
Although six touchdowns were scored, Franchione observed that the offense bogged down with numerous penalties and that "...the defensive line controlled the line of scrimmage just like they have in our previous seven practices." In a charge led by linemen Johnny Jolly, Jason Jack and Red Bryant the defense registered eight sacks for minus-49 yards.
Franchione also pointed out the play of redshirt freshman Jordan Chambless, who lined up at safety and made some noticeable stops before leaving immediately after practice to join the baseball team in Norman, Okla. (see Notes below).
Brandon Leone, a junior from Houston who converted this spring from safety to tailback, gained 107 yards on nine carries including a 79-yard touchdown run on the biggest offensive play of the day. "Brandon made a nice run, which was encouraging to see," Franchione said.
Starting senior quarterback Reggie McNeal threw a touchdown pass to senior receiver DeQawn Mobley covering 26 yards, redshirt freshman QB Stephen McGee ran for a 10-yard TD, junior QB Ty Branyon ran for a 5-yard TD, junior walk-on quarterback Michael Corey connected with freshman walk-on receiver Daniel Mach for a 34-yard score.
Other players who stood out in the head coach's view included quarterbacks McGee and Branyon, who shared time with the second-team offense and each scored a rushing touchdown. "They both executed fairly well," Franchione said.
On the second drive of the day, with the No. 2 offense against the No. 2 defense, McGee hit five consecutive passes, rushed for 24 yards, converted twice on fourth down and scored a TD on a 10-yard bootleg run.
He hit receiver Chad Schroeder on third-and-nine, fourth-and-one, and fourth-and-five during the drive, offsetting a holding penalty. McGee's line for the day showed 7-for-11 passing for 44 yards and five carries for 40 yards.
"The kicking game is still in need of work, obviously, but we got a lot of live work on it today and that was good," Franchione said. The defense scored on a blocked punt by redshirt freshman Jay Lucas, and Todd Pegram missed a field goal attempt of 37 yards that hit the right goal post. Twice, roughing the kicker penalties occurred.
Every player on the Texas A&M roster saw action. Coach Fran said, "All of our redshirt freshmen have shown improvement. A lot of those guys have gotten significantly better than they were when we started." He specifically mentioned defensive end Cyril Obiozor, offensive tackles Yemi Babalola and Travis Schneider, and running back Samson Taylor.
"They are redshirt freshmen and they've got a ways to go," he said. "but they've also got room for tremendous improvement. They are taking steps and that's good to see."
The Aggies have the Easter weekend off and they resume practice Monday afternoon. Practices next week include Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and the next full scrimmage on Saturday, April 2.
Practice Notes:
* Recently enrolled freshman Kellen Heard wore No. 91 and played defensive tackle. He had spent the first five practices of the spring in No. 79 while playing on the offensive line.
* Redshirt freshmen Yemi Babalola lined up at offensive tackle with the first team offense in place of the injured Jami Hightower. "Yemi's got great promise and does a lot of very good things," Franchione said. "Today was his first scrimmage at tackle and he made some first-scrimmage mistakes. He's doing a lot of good things and he's got a bright future. He can compete for a starting position as a redshirt freshman if he can continue to get better every day."
* Redshirt freshman defensive back Jordan Chambless from Corpus Christi Calallen, who moved to safety from quarterback, departed quickly after the scrimmage for a flight to Norman. He was cleared by the NCAA to be eligible to participate in either of Friday night's baseball games for the Aggies against Oklahoma. Chambless is a closing relief pitcher.---Contributed by Lee De Le?n
Partial statistics from the scrimmage:
Passing: Reggie McNeal 5-11, 53 yards, 1 TD; Stephen McGee 7-11, 44 yards; Ty Branyon 3-4, 16 yards; Michael Corey, 34 yards, 1 TD.
Rushing: Brandon Leone 9-106, 1 TD; Stephen McGee 5-40, 1 TD; Samson Taylor 5-34; Ty Branyon 7-22, 1 TD; Courtney Lewis 3-6.
Receiving: Joey Thomas 3-26; Jay Lucas 3-8; Jason Carter 2-6; Daniel Mach 1-34, 1 TD; DeQawn Mobley 1-26, 1 TD; Samson Taylor 1-9; Courtney Lewis 1-8; Kerry Franks 1-6.
