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Patterson
pleased with spring workouts so far Head coach Gary Patterson said he is impressed with the physicality and togetherness his team has displayed so far during spring football practice.
“This is a lot more physical team than a year ago, and the team chemistry is as good as I’ve seen in five years here,” Patterson said. They’re
as good a group of kids I’ve seen since I’ve been here,
too.” Patterson said the practices give the coaching staff the opportunity to evaluate players. He said he is also happy that the team is beginning to play with more discipline. “This team has more fury than last year, but they’re also starting to get more control, too,” he said. “They’re starting to play to the end of the whistle and not past it. We’re working on playing with controlled fury every day.” Patterson said he’s trying to bring officiating crews to as many practices as possible to help them eliminate penalties and to help keep their “fury” in check. Patterson said the next thing the team has to do is get healthy, especially on defense. Offensive coordinator Mike Schultz said the offense is coming along slowly, but he’s still seen a lot of positives. “The offense isn’t going to be very different from last year,” Schultz said. “We’ll run the option some and use the short passing game. But we also want to go vertical more than we have in the past.” Schultz said the offensive line is shuffling around a lot with seven or eight players fighting to make the Top 5. He also said the battle for second-string quarterback is heating up. There will be a light pads workout today followed by a intra-squad scrimmage Saturday morning. News and Notes Quarterback Sean Stilley looks comfortable in the starting role and Tye Gunn and Brandon Hassell are in a tight battle for second string, with Gunn appearing to have a slight advantage heading into Saturday’s scrimmage. The offensive line is seeing a lot of shuffling. Center Jamal Powell is working as the starting left guard making way for Chase Johnson to start at center. Also, left guard Josh Harbuck is working on the right side, where he’s competing with J.T. Aughinbaugh. Middle linebackers Josh Goolsby and Martin Patterson are in a tight battle, with Patterson getting a little more time with the first unit in Thursday’s scrimmage. Injury update: Defensive tackle Chad Pugh, linebacker LaMarcus McDonald, and defensive backs Marvin Godbolt, Flander Malone and Jason Goss all sat out parts or all of practice this week. However, defensive end Bo Schobel returned to practice and reclaimed his starting position. On offense, wide receiver Reggie Harrell and offensive tackle Jonathan Morgan sat out Thursday with minor ailments. Also, tailback Corey Connally has yet to participate in spring drills. Hit of the day: Free safety Kenneth Hilliard crushed wide receiver Kevin Brown as he attempted to catch a pass over the middle in just the first play of the workout. Brown took awhile to get up, but returned to action minutes later. Play of the day: Hassell completed a pass to tight end Cody McCarty over the middle, and McCarty broke free to the sideline and scampered 70 yards before being pushed out of bounds just before the endzone by TCU’s multitalented wide receiver/free safety LaTarence Dunbar. Jordan
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