I'm a little delayed here, Aaron had a conflict yesterday and I didn't break free as early as I expected, but here's everything Lanning said about the scrimmage -- which as you'll see wasn't much beyond broad generalities.
Opening comments ...
"A lot of back and forth today. I think offense came out early and really had a lot of success early with the defense. Today we did some live tackling, to the ground, I think that's a shocker to people at first and our guys were running really hard early and had some early scores. I'd say in the second half of the scrimmage, the defense really came back situationally and performed a lot better in 2-minute and third down, red area. So it was a little bit back and forth, plenty of stuff to clean up. We got to see a lot of reps, got to go back and watch the film to see really what we have as far as the guys that participated today."
You wanted to see the offense play fast and efficiently, did they live up to that?
"I don't know if it was consistent enough at the level that we want. We have really high expectations for what we want. At times, we're really, really good, and at times we weren't. So we've got to be more consistent."
Did you see what you wanted to see pre-snap, operationally?
"Well, at times on both sides of the ball, yes, and then at times definitely not. There were times we weren't lined up properly. There were times we didn't execute properly. It has a little bit to do with who's in on both sides of the ball, but also has a little bit to do with us having a sense of urgency in the way we prepare."
Takeaways, turnovers?
"Yeah, there were some takeaways today. There were three interceptions overall, had a fumble down in the red area that was critical, so we've got to do a better job taking care of the ball on offense. Certainly attacked it at times on defense."
Did the offense have some explosive plays, though?
"They did early on. Yeah, they did early on. Like I said, they came out and they scored pretty much with ease. We didn't punt early on in the scrimmage. We were trying to actually have some punts, and we didn't punt because we didn't stop them. But then on the back end, like I said, defense kind of came back."
How was the punting overall?
"I have to go look at it. It looked like it was good at the time, but I have to go look. I know we had one sky punt situation that we didn't get it inside the 10 so we'll go back and revisit those."
Did you do live returns?
"Tag on the returner."
How were the center-QB exchanges?
"Yeah, no issues. A couple errant snaps, but nothing crazy."
Temperatures are projected in the triple digits this week, how do you balance wanting to get your players used to that but also being smart?
"There's rules and regulations about what we can practice in. The reality is we're going to play in hot games really early so it's probably good for us to get that experience."
How do you see the battles at the two offensive guard spots?
"I've got to go watch this film and see how it looked -- you can't just watch the guards all scrimmage. So I have to go back and see how it looked today. Today is a really good example of what it's going to look like in the future. If you want to do it on Saturdays, you have to do it in practice, so we'll see what it looks like and evaluate it from there."
How did you feel about the freshmen?
"Good and bad. It is generalities, but that's really what it was. You had some positive and some negative, so there's room to improve."
Did Popo and Keyon play today?
"Popo was out there, Keyon was not."
Justius?
"Justius was not."
Are you expecting some positive news the next couple days recruiting-wise?
"We'll see."
How much was red zone today?
"Each group had a series in the red zone. One of our groups actually ended up having two series in the red zone."
Any individuals stand out?
"I don't know if there's anybody that absolutely stuck out one side of the ball or the other. If there was somebody who absolutely just tore it up, I would tell you, but I don't think there was any of that."
How about the physicality?
"It needs to be better at times. I thought we, again, started slow. We operated like we were going to be in thud mode today and then those guys didn't go down -- you've got to tackle them. The only way you get good at it is practicing. Now, it came on and some physicality showed up throughout practice, but we have to continue to take that to another level."
Was that a product of the ball-carriers playing really well?
"Um, yeah, and then this is the first time we've gone tackle to the ground. It was more of a product of that. It takes a little bit more to get a man down with force than just a thud."
How much progress has been made on determining a depth chart?
"Probably know better once I watch the film."
What are you looking to improve on?
"I have to watch the film probably before I can tell you what I need to improve on. We have to take care of the ball better, right? That's an easy one. We've got to tackle better. That's an easy one for defense. We've got to communicate and just operate more efficiently, but beyond that I need to watch the film to be able to tell you guys what you want to hear."
How did the new coaches operate?
"Yeah, that dynamic was good. We've done it this spring as well so it's not brand new."
Opening comments ...
"A lot of back and forth today. I think offense came out early and really had a lot of success early with the defense. Today we did some live tackling, to the ground, I think that's a shocker to people at first and our guys were running really hard early and had some early scores. I'd say in the second half of the scrimmage, the defense really came back situationally and performed a lot better in 2-minute and third down, red area. So it was a little bit back and forth, plenty of stuff to clean up. We got to see a lot of reps, got to go back and watch the film to see really what we have as far as the guys that participated today."
You wanted to see the offense play fast and efficiently, did they live up to that?
"I don't know if it was consistent enough at the level that we want. We have really high expectations for what we want. At times, we're really, really good, and at times we weren't. So we've got to be more consistent."
Did you see what you wanted to see pre-snap, operationally?
"Well, at times on both sides of the ball, yes, and then at times definitely not. There were times we weren't lined up properly. There were times we didn't execute properly. It has a little bit to do with who's in on both sides of the ball, but also has a little bit to do with us having a sense of urgency in the way we prepare."
Takeaways, turnovers?
"Yeah, there were some takeaways today. There were three interceptions overall, had a fumble down in the red area that was critical, so we've got to do a better job taking care of the ball on offense. Certainly attacked it at times on defense."
Did the offense have some explosive plays, though?
"They did early on. Yeah, they did early on. Like I said, they came out and they scored pretty much with ease. We didn't punt early on in the scrimmage. We were trying to actually have some punts, and we didn't punt because we didn't stop them. But then on the back end, like I said, defense kind of came back."
How was the punting overall?
"I have to go look at it. It looked like it was good at the time, but I have to go look. I know we had one sky punt situation that we didn't get it inside the 10 so we'll go back and revisit those."
Did you do live returns?
"Tag on the returner."
How were the center-QB exchanges?
"Yeah, no issues. A couple errant snaps, but nothing crazy."
Temperatures are projected in the triple digits this week, how do you balance wanting to get your players used to that but also being smart?
"There's rules and regulations about what we can practice in. The reality is we're going to play in hot games really early so it's probably good for us to get that experience."
How do you see the battles at the two offensive guard spots?
"I've got to go watch this film and see how it looked -- you can't just watch the guards all scrimmage. So I have to go back and see how it looked today. Today is a really good example of what it's going to look like in the future. If you want to do it on Saturdays, you have to do it in practice, so we'll see what it looks like and evaluate it from there."
How did you feel about the freshmen?
"Good and bad. It is generalities, but that's really what it was. You had some positive and some negative, so there's room to improve."
Did Popo and Keyon play today?
"Popo was out there, Keyon was not."
Justius?
"Justius was not."
Are you expecting some positive news the next couple days recruiting-wise?
"We'll see."
How much was red zone today?
"Each group had a series in the red zone. One of our groups actually ended up having two series in the red zone."
Any individuals stand out?
"I don't know if there's anybody that absolutely stuck out one side of the ball or the other. If there was somebody who absolutely just tore it up, I would tell you, but I don't think there was any of that."
How about the physicality?
"It needs to be better at times. I thought we, again, started slow. We operated like we were going to be in thud mode today and then those guys didn't go down -- you've got to tackle them. The only way you get good at it is practicing. Now, it came on and some physicality showed up throughout practice, but we have to continue to take that to another level."
Was that a product of the ball-carriers playing really well?
"Um, yeah, and then this is the first time we've gone tackle to the ground. It was more of a product of that. It takes a little bit more to get a man down with force than just a thud."
How much progress has been made on determining a depth chart?
"Probably know better once I watch the film."
What are you looking to improve on?
"I have to watch the film probably before I can tell you what I need to improve on. We have to take care of the ball better, right? That's an easy one. We've got to tackle better. That's an easy one for defense. We've got to communicate and just operate more efficiently, but beyond that I need to watch the film to be able to tell you guys what you want to hear."
How did the new coaches operate?
"Yeah, that dynamic was good. We've done it this spring as well so it's not brand new."
