University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Panthers Hold First Scrimmage of Training Camp
8/12/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 12, 2008
Training Camp Day 8 Quotes
August 12, 2008
General scrimmage impressions:
“It was solid work. I thought there were enough game-changing plays on both sides of the ball. I was hoping for a little bit more. From the veteran standpoint, we decided to hold LaRod Stephens-Howling and Bill Stull. They both could have gone. If we would have played a game today, they both would have played. We limited LeSean McCoy. He had 11 carries, averaged six yards a carry. I was very pleased with him, except his one turnover. I’d like to say it was an outstanding day of football, but we turned the ball over. He ran good, he made guys miss. Chris Burns looked good, the returners looked good, and all the running backs. Jonathan Baldwin made three great plays. He made two by the sideline. Unfortunately, both of them were out of bounds. It’s pretty evident that we need to find a way to get him ready to go. He has a chance to help us. Andrew Taglianetti keeps showing up from a defensive standpoint. We’re going to start working him on special teams. He can really help us in that area. Overall, solid scrimmage. We didn’t get anyone really hurt today, but we have a lot of work to do.”
On the defensive line:
“From the limited time that they went, they were okay. They didn’t come up with any big plays. That’s kind of what we’ve been doing in practice. That was missing today.”
On quarterbacks Kevan Smith and Greg Cross
“He (Kevan) played solid, he didn’t make any mistakes. With Billy being down it gave him more opportunities. I liked the way Greg Cross went, too. He had limited reps. He made a couple plays throwing the ball.”
On Chas Alecxih
“Chas Alecxih is a guy to keep an eye on. He’s had as good a camp as any backup defensive lineman. We’ve got four guys to beat and the guy that made the most plays was Chas.”
On Dom DeCicco and Elijah Fields being on the field simultaneously:
“There are some scenarios we’re talking about. They are all getting playing time and we’re trying to take it one day at a time. I’m very satisfied with both guys, they’re both making progress. Eric Thatcher is playing very good football right now, so we really have three guys I’m confident with that could be starters.”
On the offensive line:
“It’s unfortunate. We go out there and Robb Houser — it’s his first live scrimmage, we’ve got officials, we’ve got fans — and he snaps the ball early his first time, snaps the ball late the two times. He was so excited — because we’ve had no problems the whole training camp. This has been the fewest quarterback-center exchange problems since I’ve been here. We haven’t had them and the first three plays of offense, that kind took the wind out of everyone’s sails, including me.”
