One of the first words out of both coordinators' mouths following Saturday's first scrimmage of fall camp was "healthy." Both defensive coordinator Mike Mannausau and offensive coordinator Greg Breitbach were generally pleased with what they saw in what turned out to be a physical 60-play scrimmage with several special teams plays intertwined.
Four quarterbacks took their turn orchestrating 12 drives during the first real live action of fall camp. The defense held them to zero points on nine of those drives, but did yield a pair of field goals and a 15-yard touchdown pass from senior Braden Hanson (Charlotte, N.C.) to redshirt freshman Jameer Jackson (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) on a drive that started at the 50-yard line.
"I liked how we got ourselves off the field, especially on a couple of a long drives that ended up in field goals," Mannausau said. "Our guys came out healthy and we got a lot of reps for some of the younger players that are trying to make their mark."
The secondary, which is has been pegged as one of the bigger question marks for the defense early in fall camp, had a solid day. The longest play from the scrimmage was a 23-yard reception by Zach Adler (Omaha, Neb.).
"I was happy with the secondary and the way they covered today," Mannausau added. "We are allowing guys to be more aggressive and we are starting to see progress. Both Coach Boyd and Coach Nurse have been doing a great job with those guys."
Hanson led the offense to its only touchdown of the day on his fourth drive from scrimmage. This one started at the 50. He was 3-for-3 on the drive and added a 15-yard rush before finding Jackson on a fade route that the 6-foot-3 receiver went up to get in the corner of the end zone.
The passing game was the clearly the emphasis in the first scrimmage with more than two-thirds of the 60 play calls starting out with the quarterback dropping back.
"It was a good day, but most importantly we came out healthy," Breitbach said. "We worked a lot on the passing game because that is what we needed to do.
"I wasn't disappointed and I wasn't wowed. And, we also found out what we need to work on, which is consistency and cleaning up some communication, so we can finish drives. It was real physical on both sides of the ball, so again I'm just glad we came out healthy."
Freshman Ryan Bartels (Sycamore, Ill.) led the offense to its first points on his first drive of the scrimmage. He converted a pair of third downs on the drive that ended with a 44-yard field goal by junior Zeb Miller (Ankeny, Iowa).
Senior Marcus Hendrickson (Perham, Minn.) also led a field-goal drive. He completed his first five passes on the 12-play drive, including that 23-yard completion to Adler that saw the big redshirt freshman break several tackles along the way.
Quarterbacks were not live, but the defensive front posted six touch sacks as E.J. Welch (Biwabik, Minn.) had 1.5 of those to pace the group. Junior safety Clordion Kennedy (Antioch, Calif.) had three tackles, including one for a loss and a pass breakup (pictured above) as he played well in his debut scrimmage.
Four quarterbacks took their turn orchestrating 12 drives during the first real live action of fall camp. The defense held them to zero points on nine of those drives, but did yield a pair of field goals and a 15-yard touchdown pass from senior Braden Hanson (Charlotte, N.C.) to redshirt freshman Jameer Jackson (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) on a drive that started at the 50-yard line.
"I liked how we got ourselves off the field, especially on a couple of a long drives that ended up in field goals," Mannausau said. "Our guys came out healthy and we got a lot of reps for some of the younger players that are trying to make their mark."
The secondary, which is has been pegged as one of the bigger question marks for the defense early in fall camp, had a solid day. The longest play from the scrimmage was a 23-yard reception by Zach Adler (Omaha, Neb.).
"I was happy with the secondary and the way they covered today," Mannausau added. "We are allowing guys to be more aggressive and we are starting to see progress. Both Coach Boyd and Coach Nurse have been doing a great job with those guys."
Hanson led the offense to its only touchdown of the day on his fourth drive from scrimmage. This one started at the 50. He was 3-for-3 on the drive and added a 15-yard rush before finding Jackson on a fade route that the 6-foot-3 receiver went up to get in the corner of the end zone.
The passing game was the clearly the emphasis in the first scrimmage with more than two-thirds of the 60 play calls starting out with the quarterback dropping back.
"It was a good day, but most importantly we came out healthy," Breitbach said. "We worked a lot on the passing game because that is what we needed to do.
"I wasn't disappointed and I wasn't wowed. And, we also found out what we need to work on, which is consistency and cleaning up some communication, so we can finish drives. It was real physical on both sides of the ball, so again I'm just glad we came out healthy."
Freshman Ryan Bartels (Sycamore, Ill.) led the offense to its first points on his first drive of the scrimmage. He converted a pair of third downs on the drive that ended with a 44-yard field goal by junior Zeb Miller (Ankeny, Iowa).
Senior Marcus Hendrickson (Perham, Minn.) also led a field-goal drive. He completed his first five passes on the 12-play drive, including that 23-yard completion to Adler that saw the big redshirt freshman break several tackles along the way.
Quarterbacks were not live, but the defensive front posted six touch sacks as E.J. Welch (Biwabik, Minn.) had 1.5 of those to pace the group. Junior safety Clordion Kennedy (Antioch, Calif.) had three tackles, including one for a loss and a pass breakup (pictured above) as he played well in his debut scrimmage.
