Monday's Post Scrimmage Words and Views

Welcome back football fans, to the football zone. The basketball players that are coming back will be coming back soon, but who cares now? For the fan of the Bluegrass state’s flagship program, football is now the sport that will be in the forefront until some sort of large, color-based insanity perks ears from Henderson to Leslie County and the waiting for a class that will take us to the promised land will arrive. But for now, it’s time to talk football.
I didn’t get much feedback on the running blog for the scrimmage, so that means I can assume that you all didn’t like it…you LOVED IT. But no matter how you felt about my hastily composed prose, if you were reading that then you’ll know my opinions differed from other writers that were there. People are praising Newton’s vast improvement, I only saw marginal improvement and lots of support from a select few playmakers. They saw Raymond Sanders working his way to premier back status; I saw one Jonathan George create more yards with less to work with. As a man who can appreciate the behind the scenes work, I wanted to see who was going to step up and help their teammates make plays, and there was plenty of that on Saturday. A (rumored to be)much-maligned offensive line opened up gaps that you could have shuttled a group of senior citizens through, and I saw a defensive line that was forcing more protection and freeing up others to make plays all over the field.
With all those thoughts in mind, I went into the interview room and decided to ask the players who aren’t in front of the camera as soon as they walk off the field, and a few that probably will have a spotlight on them by the end of the season. So here it is, as fresh and original as Biz Markie, interviews from the media room.

Maxwell Smith, who impressed me if no one else this scrimmage:
On if he’s glad that he got his first scrimmage behind him:
“Yeah, definitely. Being able to get here do this, this is crucial because I know all the plays now and now it’s just a matter of protections and making sure I know my checks”
On if he thinks he can challenge for the starting job next season:
“I’m just gonna go out there, work as hard as I can, do everything I can do to try and (do) that but I’m just going to get the receivers out there in the summer and work hard, as well as get the DB’s out there and see if we can improve.”
Raymond Sanders:
On how he feels on his knowledge of the playbook:
“I feel like I pretty much know it well. I know everyone’s responsibility except for the wideout routes but that’s something that me and my roommate Ronnie Shields have been studying over the summer so we can figure it out what everyone’s supposed to do on each play so we can play faster.
On whether to depth at RB worries him:
“If I work hard I feel I can play a lot, but I want to win. If I come out the game I know I got guys that can fill in so that’s not going to affect me, but if I come out and they come in, we still need to be producing.
His excitement of coming in as the #1 RB
“I’m very excited but I can’t get comfortable, I gotta keep working and keep working on getting the right footwork in my blitz pickups and just get better every day.”
On what he thinks he needs to do before the season
“Basically work out with Coach Rock, get a little more weight and muscle on, and basically work on my speed and footwork, and when we get in pads I can hopefully work on my pass blitzing and getting my hands inside and stuff like that.”
On his mindset of becoming a major SEC back:
“I’m just focusing on being the man here, everyone says I’m the man but I gotta focus on my teammates and help them get better and if my production on the field makes me a big SEC running back then (great)”.
On whether he needs a selfish edge to be a great back
“I definitely have that mindset, I definitely want the ball in my hands every play and the coaches know that. You gotta come out there and play like that, and if you don’t play that way then you shouldn’t be on the field, that’s at every position.“
On if he thinks he can take the wear and tear of SEC play
“Yeah, I’ve talked to coach Rock and right now I’m at 195 but by the season I want to be 205 or 208 of pure muscle, so that’s going to show itself. Last scrimmage I did 47 plays, I don’t know how many I did this week but it’s just making sure I’m doing the right things and protecting my body.”
On if this season will be a another 6-7 team
“Everyone has this mindset of we’re trying to prove something, and I feel like every day we come out and improve and everyone wants to learn, and everyone’s being coachable and doing the extra work that’s needed. It’s going to be a better year this year but we gotta just keep working”
Jonathan George:
On how he felt after getting the chance to be a feature back on the White team:
“It felt pretty good, I feel today was a very productive day for me, had a couple of good runs and good catches too but there’s always things I did wrong, I need to go in the film room and correct them. I feel like it was a pretty productive day and a good time for me to learn from the mistakes I made”
On feeding off Raymond Sanders:
“Me and Raymond, every time we come off the field we both encourage each other, even if there was a bust we both still encourage each other to come out, do good, and play hard every play. There’s a good chemistry between us and we both understand and keep each other on top.
On his concerns at the depth at RB:
“It’s helping me by pushing me more, I just want to come out every play and go hard, I want to get as many carries as possible to try and get myself better every play.”
On possible roles going into the fall:
“We’re all taking reps and spring is a competition to get yourself up the depth chart so he (Joker) is really encouraging everybody to come out every day and work hard and try to earn your position.”
On making a name on the team:
“This is my first year, I mean, I played last spring too but I got hurt again so I didn’t play that much but I feel like now I got a good chance to come out this spring and do some good things, and get a chance to get noticed and get some some exposure.”
On his feelings after the scrimmage:
“It feels good to come out and play hard and actually have a chance to make some good plays and hear some oohs and aahs, it’s always good. I had fun today and it’s even better I got the chance to make some big plays.”
On if he feels the O-line is having problems:
“I don’t want to say it’s trouble, it’s spring so this is a chance for us to come out and get a lot film to
try and work on things that we need to work on as far as the fall so we can get ourselves to a championship caliber team so the mistakes we make now, it’s good that we’re making them now so we can correct them before the fall comes.”

On Wednesday I will be bringing you exclusive (and some non-exclusive) interview material where we hear from a senior lineman about possible issues and where Danny Trevathan would like to end up for his 4th bowl game.

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