Back to the real world again ... I saw a lot of good things at Kent State football practice today.
The way this team is running the football is pretty impressive considering the turnover on the offensive line and the recent injury to guard Pat McShane.
The passing game is still a bit of a work in progress, though. I'll be posting a blog entry by offensive coordinator Brian Rock that goes into that topic in the next day or two over on the Kent State Football Blog.
Even with some of the issues in the passing game, I still like what I see from both of the top guys who are competing for the starting quarterback job. Senior David Fisher continues to shine as a leader on the field. He looks like he is having a whole lot of fun on every snap. Today, Fisher fired a few strikes in red-zone and two-point work. He hit William Woods for a touchdown after rolling to the right to buy some time. A few minutes later, he hit Woods with a fastball again for a two-point conversion, then showed some touch on the very next play by lobbing a ball over the linebackers to tight end Brice Fackler.
Sophomore Colin Reardon also looked good, scrambling for one touchdown, then drilling the ball to Tyshon Goode for a 2-point conversion on a roll to the right that was similar to Fisher's earlier connection.
Reardon came up short on one scramble for the goal line, though, thanks to a nice chase-down by Nate Terhune and read by defensive back Dylan Farrington.
Dropped passes continued to be a problem on Tuesday, but most of those came from younger receivers. The veterans all made some nice catches – and none was better than Brice Fackler's one-handed grab of a Nathan Strock check-down throw.
One of the morning's lighter moments came after a Strock-to-Charles Chandler pass connection. Rock was so thrilled by the timing of the true freshman quarterback that he screamed "that's it, that's it" as he raced at Strock to a celebratory flying hip bump.
The players are looking a bit tired, and that was acknowledged by their coaches after practice.
"You are exhausted, right?" defensive coordinator Brian George asked. "Well that's good. These are the dog days of camp. You have to fight through."
Here's a look at what's being said about Kent State Athletics around the internet:
- The Plain Dealer's Elton Alexander looks at men's basketball and Kent State and Akron showing up again on ESPN's Tip-Off Marathon.
- Elton also has a story about the men's basketball teams from Kent State and Cleveland State upcoming overseas trips. Rob Senderoff's Golden Flashes will play in the Bahamas next week.
- Allen Moff of the Record-Courier has an update on Taylor Pendrith and Corey Conners of Kent State and their progress at the Canadian Amateur. The notebook also includes some updates from Kent State's men's basketball, women's soccer and volleyball teams.
- Some very sad news in the Record-Courier about the death of former Kent State graduate assistant Aaron Alford. Alford, who was an assistant coach at Utah, worked at Kent State in 1998. He was a Kent Roosevelt High School alum.
- Dri Archer comes in at No. 2 on Hustle Belt's list of the best players in the Mid-American Conference. You can find Parker Perry's story on Dri here.
- GolfWeek is doing its countdown of the top team's in men's golf. Kent State comes in at No. 22.
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