By ROBERT CESSNATexas A&M head football coach Mike Sherman reminded his team Monday there needs to be a sense of urgency with the opener against Arkansas State less than two weeks away.
Sherman cut the morning practice short after 100 minutes. That came on the heels of no practice Sunday after 17 workouts in 13 days. The Aggies did watch film of Saturday's scrimmage on Sunday.
"I just thought it was real sloppy this morning," Sherman said. "I didn't see any urgency or the desire to do the things we need to do and the way we need to do them, so we just kicked them off the field and said we'll start over in the afternoon.
"It wasn't worth keeping 'em out there doing the same things poorly."
The players solemnly jogged toward the locker room after hearing the news, much to the surprise of the handful of fans.
"Coach, are ya' all takin' a break or are ya' through?" said Bill Cunningham, Class of '61, to offensive line coach Jim Turner.
"We're done," Turner said.
The team, which remained in full pads, showed more life in the afternoon session, which lasted about 2 1/2 hours.
"I thought it was much better, [but] there's still some areas for improvement," Sherman said. "The intensity was better, but there are still some things to work on."
Johnson has some fun: Sophomore quarterback Jerrod Johnson, the backup to senior Stephen McGee, split out as a tight end in a spread formation a couple of times, but he didn't have a pass thrown to him.
"I want to play as many guys as possible whether that's going to happen or not remains to be seen," Sherman said. "I just wanted to see what he could do and give him a chance to enjoy practice a little bit."
McGee was named the starting quarterback Thursday for the Aug. 30 opener, but nothing was set in stone at quarterback thereafter, Sherman said at the time.
Sherman seems to have found a second home for third-string quarterback Ryan Tannehill. The 6-foot-4, 204-pounder made at least three catches during team scrimmage action Monday.
Sherman has said several times that Tannehill is one of the team's most athletic players. The 6-5, 229-pound Johnson was heavily recruited for his dual ability at quarterback, but he also caught 31 passes for 385 yards with seven touchdowns at receiver as a junior at Humble High School.
"We may use him in that capacity if we need to," Sherman said.
Crowded for now: A&M continues to work three or four players at punt returner and kick returner. "We'll probably give it until Wednesday, and then kind of lock it in to a couple of guys," Sherman said. "You can't get great quality work with that many players. We are still evaluating those positions, they are important positions for us. We'll just kind of see who's more of the natural player back there, that has great hands, makes good decisions and can get us a first down on that team."
Kicking away: Senior Richie Bean and freshman walk-on Randy Bullock continue to battle at place-kicker. Bullock ended the afternoon practice by hitting a 48-yarder. Bean had his attempt blocked by sophomore Von Miller. Bean was good from 42 yards, while Bullock hit one of two. Tannehill pulled down a high snap on Bullock's good effort. Sherman said the two will have a kickoff the week of the opener "and we'll see what's up."
Bullock was 1 of 2 from 37, while Bean missed his two attempts.
"We've got to have consistency from that position," Sherman said. "We did for awhile, [but] lately, they both missed a couple today that I think they should have made. Now there was pretty good distance on both of them, but we'll come back and see how it works out tomorrow."
Injury update: Junior offensive lineman Vincent Williams and senior fullback Jorvorskie Lane didn't participate in any contact drills. Senior offensive tackle Lee Grimes, redshirt freshman linebacker Garrick Williams and senior cornerback Danny Gorrer didn't have pads on in the afternoon.
Senior fullback Nick LaMantia returned after missing contact for more than week. The 232-pounder had a couple nice blocks, but dropped a swing pass that Sherman said he's got to catch.
"He didn't seem to miss a beat there [blocking] for as long as he's been off," Sherman said.
Sophomore running back Cornell Tarrant and senior safety Johnathan Batson also returned to contract drills.
Grimes' absence shuffled A&M's first offensive line unit for scrimmaging. The first group had junior Kevin Matthews at center, redshirt freshman Evan Eike and freshman Brian Thomas at guards and junior Michael Shumard and senior Travis Schneider at tackles. A&M, however, has been shuffling its line for the past week. Some of the morning drills had redshirt freshman Danny Baker at center and Matthews at left guard.
ADO, ADO, ADO: That's what the defenders shout to each other during scrimmage time.
"That just means to stay onside," Sherman said. "Then they jump after they say that."
Veteran defensive coordinator Joe Kines typically makes his defenders drop to the ground, bounce back up, and repeat it several times as fast as possible for failing to ADO.
Junior defensive tackle David Tufuga earned Kines' wrath for jumping offside during goal-line work, earning him a short break.
Goal-line efforts: Sophomore fullback Anthony Vela had a strong clearing block for junior tailback Mike Goodson. ... Senior defensive end Michael Bennett had a tackle for a loss, while senior linebacker Johnathan Haynes and junior linebacker Will Harris had solid tackles. Haynes also earlier had an interception.
Seeking advice: Former A&M head football coach Dennis Franchione has been hired by ESPN as an analyst for radio broadcasts. He talked to veteran A&M announcer Dave South last week about what to expect. He'll also seek help from former A&M All-American Dave Elmendorf, who works with South.
Franchione will work with Dave Barnett on ESPN.
Next up: A&M will practice at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday on the grass fields.
Tidbits: Oakland Raiders scout Calvin Branch watched the morning practice. Branch was a defensive back last season, but suffered torn knee ligaments. ... Junior cornerback Jordan Pugh caused a fumble while tackling junior walk-on receiver Jeremy Brown.
Tickets: Discounted season tickets for seven games are $250. For more information call 888-99-AGGIE or visit aggieathletics.com.
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Posted by: On: 8/20/2008
Comment Title:
Who gives a damn about what Franchione thinks or says. Quit waisting ink on this guy learn to spell! wasting
Posted by: #22 On: 8/20/2008
Comment Title: Enough Already
Who gives a damn about what Franchione thinks or says. Quit waisting ink on this guy
Posted by: miller58 On: 8/19/2008
Comment Title: Look at me!
I'm a dumbass!
Posted by: Aggie11 On: 8/19/2008
Comment Title: Aggie11
I own texags staff
Posted by: SiValleyAg68 On: 8/19/2008
Comment Title: Double Dave's
So did Fran meet Dave South & Dave Elmendorf at Double Dave's Pizzaworks? And so Fran will work with Dave Barnett on ESPN? I thought he would be working with Bob Davies.
Posted by: On: 8/19/2008
Comment Title:
I want what Miller is drinking...
Posted by: On: 8/19/2008
Comment Title:
that a way to reward a bad practice....you guys go ahead and go in for the morning. I hope he ran the crud out of them later in the afternoon!!
Posted by: miler58 On: 8/19/2008
Comment Title: More predictions.
Write it down: tu will drum Florida Atlantic by 50 and UTEP by 45. Tech will fly by take Eastern Washington, Nevada, and U of Mass more than 75 each.
Posted by: miller58 On: 8/19/2008
Comment Title: New Mexico
Expect A&M to beat New Mexico by more than 35! miller58
