WEST POINT, N.Y. - While many college football teams across the nation are just beginning to gear up for the outset of spring practice, Army's gridders are heading for the homestretch following the Black Knights' 12th practice of the year on Monday.
Just three sessions remain for head coach Rich Ellerson's troops this spring - one this Wednesday, one on the Wednesday following spring break (March 24) and the final one being the Black/Gold Game on Saturday, March 27.
"Today was probably our last real physical, fundamental combatives day," expressed Ellerson. "We had a day-and-a-half to get fresh and come out here and relatively get after each other safely. By Wednesday, I will have chickened out (for fear of sustaining injuries). Wednesday we're rehearsing. We're making sure that all these things we're gonna be visualizing ourselves do between now and August, we're visualizing the right thing. We'll be doing a lot of error correction, a little less running into each other. A lot more of that fine-tuning of footwork and path."
Having had a couple of days to reflect on Saturday's scrimmage Ellerson stated he was pleased with how things went overall on both sides of the ball as his coaches continue to place players at their proper positions.
"It went well. It was a chance for guys that are getting comfortable at new positions to see how right we are; how we might need to move some more guys around or how successful an experiment is. It's all good information. You don't have a lot of turns. You go out there and maybe you're going to get six to 10 plays in a scrimmage and based on that six to 10 plays we have to look in that mirror and decide what your future looks like. Is it this position or that position? So we've had to make some of those calls based on that limited information, but we have and feel good about it. There's no doubt that there's a lot of growth that's taken place, certainly from last fall to this spring and throughout the spring."
And several players have made major impacts at new surroundings during the past few weeks. None have been more eye-catching than bruising fullback Jared Hassin, who ripped off a two long runs on Saturday, including a 70-yard burst to the 1-yard line on the first unit's initial play from scrimmage.
"Jared continues to impress," Ellerson praised. "We're not spending a lot of time running against our defense. We're running against composite defenses, so you take everything with a little bit of a grain of salt. But he continues to impress.
"I also like Malcom (Brown) out on the edge. Just like we've seen, Malcom showed that he has extraordinary ball skills. He's a natural ball-catcher. He's got a great learning curve. With a guy like Malcom, he can do a lot of things physically, but he can also learn it and manage it. He's only been there a few days and son-of-a-gun, he's not lost. He's a natural competitor, so I like that move. But I also know that he'd be able to compete for at least two other positions on that side of the ball. Malcom's exciting from that respect. That's exciting.
"Another guy that's been very impressive on offense this spring is Frank Allen at offensive tackle. Defensively, Nate Combs is a guy that we've moved around. Nate's got a chance to play a couple of different positions. That's been a real positive addition. You add Jared to the picture, you add Frank Allen to the picture, you add Nate Combs to the picture ... those things are real positives."
Army will close out the pre-spring break portion of spring drills on Wednesday before returning with a "helmets-only" workout on Wednesday, March 24 in advance of the annual Black/Gold game three days later. The Black/Gold game will be held on March 27 at Michie Stadium, beginning at 1 p.m.
Sounds of Spring
Sophomore QB Trent Steelman
(ref. Saturday's scrimmage)
"Things went good. As an offense, things are a lot more fluid out there. Just being able to get a lot of reps during spring ball is really bringing us together. It's like second nature. We've done this now for a full season."
(ref. the play of sophomore FB Jared Hassin)
"He changes the dynamic of this offense totally. When you have the presence of a fullback that can just assert himself like that and take that pounding, it's going to take a lot of the pressure off me and the slotbacks to get a lot more yards. He's learning and developing, and we're getting a lot more comfortable in the mesh."
Junior DB Antuan Aaron
"It's been going good. I'm really excited about next year. It seems like the guys are really excited about next year based on what we did last season. They're just ready to go at it again to see what this season has in store for us.
"I feel really comfortable. Learning the new things last year, we found ourselves thinking too much. But now that we know the defense and we're familiar with it, we go out on the field and know what to do. We're just flowing, we're not thinking. It's like a second instinct."
(ref. Saturday's scrimmage
"It was a chance to see how far we've come and give the coaches a chance to evaluate things and see different guys at different spots. I thought it went real well."
Sophomore FB Jared Hassin
"Things are going really well. We're working on just the fundamentals every day in practice. Today was a real simple day. We were working really basic stuff and trying to fine-tune some things.
"I've got arguably one of the easiest jobs on the field. It's really basic things for the most part. You either go right or you go left. It's kind of hard to mess up. But being able to compete physically, yeah, I think I'm ready to go."
(ref.: Saturday's scrimmage)
"It was fantastic. The offensive line has really stepped up this spring. They opened some big holes for me and it was easy to run through them."
(ref.: development of Army's offense this spring)
"I think we're happy with our progression so far, but we're certainly not satisfied. I think the number one defense got the better of (the number one offense) a little bit on Saturday. It's all going to be about how we respond to that. I think our offense has made big strides in spring ball, but we have a fantastic defense, too, so we've got to find a way to come out on top of that one."
Courtesy: Army Athletic Communications
