Aug. 17, 2009
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Following Sunday afternoon’s practice, Coach Rich Brooks seemed relatively pleased with the evaluation of the film from the team’s first major scrimmage held Saturday.
“The first-string defense and the first-string offense actually executed pretty well, maybe ahead of my expectations,” Brooks said. “The very good thing is that we’re throwing and catching and actually running the ball halfway decent. That part’s encouraging and now we have to get to playing with better tempo on defense. The defense did not perform up to the standard I expect.”
Brooks said that one of the positive elements of the evaluation was the performance of junior-college transfer DeQuin Evans at defensive end.
“DeQuin Evans has made a real serious move,” Brooks said. “He’s still not 100 percent on that hamstring (injury) but it’s very obvious what he brings to the table and it’s pretty impressive – quickness, speed and effort. I think three guys, Evans, (Collins) Ukwu and (Chandler) Burden, on an every-down situation we can count on (at defensive end). Taylor Wyndham is good on pass rush but is still a little light on the run game. (Greg) Meisner is doing some decent things but he’s a little light on the run game, too. I feel pretty good about three of them right now and (we’re) continuing to see how it all shakes out. We have three weeks left, a lot of things could change.”
On the injury front, Brooks noted that several players are dealing with various sprains and strains. The coach said that wide receiver Randall Cobb has a sore back and hip and did not finish Sunday’s practice. Wide receiver Michael Harper continues to be evaluated after injuring his back, hip and knee while twisting awkwardly during a tackle in the scrimmage.
Brooks said that the team followed up Saturday’s scrimmage with a good effort on Sunday.
“It was a pretty good practice,” Brooks said. “They were moving at a good tempo. That’s a very good thing from today.”
The Wildcats return to the practice field on Monday. They are preparing for the season opener on Sept. 5 vs. Miami University.
