Venue: SprinTurf, outside the Kibbie Dome
Format:
Full pads, live for a few parts of practice, wrap-up but don’t take down against the scout team, don’t hit the quarterbacks.
Practice rundown:
Position drills, 7-on-7 skelton drill, first team offense and defense vs. scout team, punt/kickoff return drills, special teams drills.
Highlights:
Senior Taylor Davis is now the backup quarterback after junior Josh McCain was hurt at the end of the Fresno State game. Davis looked really good during practice Wednesday, taking about half of the first team snaps. It is expected that Chad Chalich is still the starting quarterback.
Defensive end Quinton Bradley returned to practice this week. It yet to be seen if he is fully 100 percent, but if he is, that strengthens the defensive line unit. Still expect junior Anthony Rice to see action on the field and get in on the line rotations.
Speaking of the defense, they showed flashes of consistency Wednesday. They didn’t allow the scout team to get many yards and showed some good defense against the first team, when they were allowed to go full contact.
Austin Rehkow is continuing to show his improvement this week in practice. The freshman kicker helped end practice early Wednesday by kicking four straight field goals from PAT range to 45 yards out. Expect him to not miss many more field goals during the season.
Other observations:
The Vandal injury report keeps piling up. Sophomore offensive lineman Dallas Sandberg and senior safety Trey Williams continue to sit out while senior safety D’Mario Carter, sophomore tight end Jared Klingenberg and McCain are expected to miss the game with an assortment of injuries.
Safety Russell Siavii played in Williams’ place. Siavii is a redshirt freshman that came to the Vandals after his brother, Robert Siavii, graduated. Expect Siavii to get in the rotation in the defensive backfield.
After Richard Montgomery seemed a little slow at practice last week, he picked up the pace this week. He ran hard when given the ball and broke a few tackles. His hands have become an issue. After dropping a few balls during the game on Saturday, he continues to drop balls in open space. Petrino got on him a few times about it but this shouldn’t affect how much he is used in the game in Saturday.
What they said:
“Matlock’s playing a bunch, I think he’s been through it already. Now he’s just getting used to the reps and going against college, 22-year old defensive linemen, which can be an over-whelming deal. He’s doing a good job of fighting and hanging in there. He’s tough and he’s scrappy so he’ll be okay.” — Kris Cinkovich, offensive coordinator
“Taylor (Davis) has been great. He’s done a great job this whole season of staying mentally prepared. He hasn’t gotten a ton of reps in practice up until Sunday night, he’s done a great job staying locked in, studying the playbook, coming in and watching film. I had a talk with him at the beginning of the season and obviously it’s not the best situation that he probably hoped for, but he’s been very professional, he’s been a great team player and I’m very confident that he’ll come in and there will be no drop off. His preparation is very good.” — Bryce Erickson, quarterbacks coach
“There might be (a wall), there is. And he’s done a lot of good things, but he’s got a lot to learn. He’s got to learn to get rid of the ball and not take sacks, he’s got to learn to not turn the ball over and do those things. And throughout the season he’s gotten better at those things. Obviously one thing that he’s shown through spring football and fall camp is his toughness, his physical toughness and his mental toughness. So I’m very proud of him for that, he’s a gym rat, he wants to get better. He’s very coachable. My opinion, the difference between good players and great players are those who are coachable. Those that take the coaching and apply it to their technique and what we’re trying to do schematically and improve it, he’ll learn from the mistakes he’s made against Fresno State and hopefully he won’t repeat those mistakes.” — Bryce Erickson, quarterbacks coach, on Chalich’s freshman wall