• Hi Guest, want to participate in the discussions, keep track of read/unread posts, upgrade to remove ads and more? Create your free account and increase the benefits of your BigSkyFans.com experience today!

2007 Practice

M

martymoose

Moderator
Staff member
Thought I'd start a thread for practice.

It all starts Monday. :-) News and information from practices would be most appreciated.
 
It starts today:

http://www.oregonlive.com/vikingsfootball/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/sports/118636891696000.xml&coll=7

Glanville gets down to business at PSU
Football practice begins today to add to the new Vikings coach's already full plate


Monday, August 06, 2007JIM BESEDA The Oregonian Staff
Brenda Glanville recently asked her husband if he might take her out to dinner.

Sure, said Jerry Glanville, tossing out the possibility of going to Oba in the Pearl District -- the next time he has the time to do it up right.

"Maybe in January," he said.

By now, Brenda Glanville is accustomed to the time demands placed on football coaches -- both by themselves and by the nature of the position. So she didn't take it personally.

Jerry Glanville, the first-year Portland State head coach, is immersed in his new job. He's busy with practice plans, film study, coaches meetings, recruiting, fund raising, personal appearances and a few dozen other things related to Vikings football heading into today's first practice at the Stott Community Field on campus.

With the Sept. 1 opener against McNeese State in Lake Charles, La., less than four weeks away, who has time for a leisurely sit-down restaurant meal?

If expectations on the Park Blocks were high coming off last season's 7-4 record, they soared once Glanville, a former NFL head coach, stepped down as Hawaii's defensive coordinator and took over the Vikings' program. Then they soared again when former PSU coach Darrel "Mouse" Davis was named Portland State's new offensive coordinator.

Glanville hopes to lead the Vikings to the school's first Big Sky Conference football championship, but he's also realistic. The roster he inherited doesn't satisfy all the needs of his 3-4 defense or Davis' run-and-shoot offense, but he seems to think that there is enough talent on both sides of the ball to get the job done.

"I think we'll be able to say, 'Let's go play,' " Glanville said. "That will be a plus."

The Vikings have scheduled 28 practices over 24 days, and will go from 7 to 9 a.m. each of the first six days, with Sundays off.

Page 2 of 2
Next week, they plan to add an afternoon practice session and practice from 1:30 to 4 p.m. twice a day every other day (Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday) for two weeks. Then they're scheduled to cut back to once a day from 7 to 9 a.m. the week of the opener.

"We'll start as if the players haven't heard one word we've ever said," Glanville said. "When I'm done, we'll start over as if they've never heard one word, and then we'll do it again. By then, they should have picked it up."

With just five returning starters on offense and four on defense, the Vikings have several holes to fill



"I was told the other day -- now, I don't know this -- that we have the fewest starters coming back in the Big Sky. Is that true?" Glanville asked. "I was told that by an out-of-state reporter. I said, 'I was really feeling good until you told me that.' I didn't realize that we were the lowest."

Davis, who gained national notoriety during his stint as PSU's coach from 1975-80, isn't sweating that.

"The only thing it might mean is that we've got two or three linemen that are battle tested, and we've got a receiver or two that have played," Davis said. "And we're running a different offense, so it's a totally different scheme, a different thought process and everything, so, no, the numbers don't mean that much to us. You're kind of starting fresh, anyway."

One obvious hole on offense is at right guard. Senior Peter St. John started 11 games last season and was the projected starter during spring practice, but he was declared academically ineligible last month and is not expected to rejoin the team.

Junior Clayton Rios, a 6-foot-2, 290-pound transfer from Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria, Calif., is penciled in as the starting right guard heading into today's practice, and junior Landan Laurusaitis is behind him, but nothing is set.

The Vikings also will be breaking in new starters at quarterback, left guard, left tackle, wide receiver, defensive tackle, linebacker, left cornerback, right cornerback and strong safety.

Davis said one of the biggest issues to resolve during camp is to find four starting wide receivers. Seniors Tremayne Kirkland and Kenneth Mackins are expected to fill two of the spots, although Mackins must sit out the McNeese State game to serve a one-game suspension following an altercation in last season's Sacramento State game.

After that, there is an assortment of returning players -- some receivers and some converted running backs and tight ends -- plus a few college transfers and at least one true freshman who will vie for playing time at the other receiver spots.

Glanville, who also serves as the Vikings' defensive coordinator, said he has been impressed with the leadership that senior inside linebacker Jordan Senn and senior free safety Micheal Dorsey have shown. Beyond that, Glanville said it's too early to assess the defense.

"I just watched the last cut-ups from spring practice and we have no right to be as far along as we are," Glanville said. "And if we remain at that level, we won't be good enough. We've got to grow. But are we ahead of schedule? Without question, we're ahead of schedule. Are we where we want to be? No."
 
I agree. If anyone attends the practice today and finds out who the new players are, let us know please. Likewise, if I come across anything I'll post as soon as I can.
 
Few things that scare me going into practice.

-Defense struggles to mesh with 3-4 Defense.
-We need to be 3 deep at WR to be strong there
-We need to learn how to Kick.
 
Here we go:

http://www.goviks.com/release.asp?RELEASE_ID=2909

8/6/2007
Breakfast With Jerry; Vikings Open Football Practice

Jerry Glanville
In 2007, Jerry Glanville hopes to have his Portland State Vikings accomplish more before 9 a.m. than most college football teams will all day. At least that was the emphasis as the first-year head coach ran his team through its opening drills of fall camp on Monday morning.

The Vikings started up at 7 a.m. and by 9 a.m. were wrapping up conditioning drills. That will be the case - with the exception of a few double day practices in preseason - for every Portland State practice this year.

The early start didn't prevent a lot of interested fans and a handful of local media from making the trek to the Stott Community Field in the wee hours Monday morning. The Vikings had a spirited two-hour workout. Afterward, Glanville was his normal quotable self when asked about the start of the new season.

"What you do in the off-season isn't worth it," Glanville said. "I would rather take a stick in the eye than have an off-season. This is why you (coach football)."

On the serious side, Glanville likes what he saw in the opening workout.

"If you could have seen us start in the spring, and seen where we started today, it's just light years better. We are so much better, and we've still got to get a whole better.

"Defensively, we have picked it up probably quicker than anywhere I have been. We are mentally on top of it. I feel good about that. Offensively, we talked about it last night - after our first three games, we will really know what we are doing. But you have got to go live, you have got to go to game situations, before it all becomes natural."

Perhaps the only upset of the day was Glanville donning a gray Viking football t-shirt during practice, marking the first time he has been seen in something other than all black. However, the rest of the coaching uniform was intact, from the trademark straw cowboy hat and sunglasses down to the black coaching sweats and turf shoes.

The Vikings will practice from Tuesday through Saturday from 7-9 a.m., taking Sunday off. Next week's schedule is the same, with double-day practices on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Those afternoon sessions will run from 1:30-4 p.m. with the team in full pads.
 
Great news on the defense. Glad they are getting things down, we may need to lean on them while the offense learns the R&S.
 
I'm really interested in knowing how any of the new transfers and the freshman looked, as I won't be able to a practice for awhile. Any info. would be great.
 
Howland in the lead:

http://www.oregonlive.com/vikingsfootball/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/sports/118645712145330.xml&coll=7

Glanville waits for Mouse to smile
Tygue Howland and Brian White neck and neck to run Portland State's new run and shoot
FACTBOX
• The

Tuesday, August 07, 2007JIM BESEDA The Oregonian Staff
Portland State's Tygue Howland beat his alarm clock to the punch Monday morning.

The sophomore quarterback said he set his clock to go off at 5:15 a.m., but was so excited about the official start of preseason practice at 7 that he was awake, dressed and ready to head out the door before the alarm had a chance to ring.

"I didn't sleep at all really last night, to tell the truth," Howland said after Monday's two-hour workout at the Stott Community Field. "I didn't need the alarm clock, because I was waking up every hour in anticipation of this."

If Howland seemed a little excited, he wasn't alone. Almost everybody connected with the Vikings' football program has been eager to see first-year coach Jerry Glanville put his team on the field and begin preparations for the Sept. 1 opener against McNeese State in Lake Charles, La.

That goes for Glanville, the former NFL coach, too.

"What you do in the offseason isn't worth it," Glanville said. "I'd rather take a stick in the eye than have an offseason. This is why you do it."

The Vikings are looking to improve on last season's 7-4 record and second-place finish in the Big Sky Conference, and they have plenty to work on as they adapt to Glanville's 3-4 defense and new offensive coordinator Darrel "Mouse" Davis' run and shoot attack.

Glanville and Davis have a number of questions to answer over the next few weeks, including making a decision on a starting quarterback. That competition is shaping up as a two-man battle between Brian White, the 6-foot-5, 225-pound senior who transferred from Colorado last season, and Howland, the 6-3, 220-pound sophomore from Sedro-Woolley, Wash.

"It's a growth deal," Glanville said. "When Mouse smiles, I'll know one of them is ready. Mouse has not smiled yet. And he may not for a while."

Davis said if the Vikings played a game today, Howland would be the starter -- a switch from three months ago, when White held the top spot going into the spring game.

"Tygue and Brian both are accurate throwers and both of them have about the same arm strength," Davis said. "But Tygue's understanding of the offense is a little more developed in terms of reading defenses and throwing where we should be going with the ball. That's probably his biggest advantage right now.

"We would like to go in with a competitive attitude, so a guy can go up the ladder, depending on how things go."

In other words, the other three quarterback prospects -- junior Jimmy Collins and true freshmen Drew Hubel and Connor Kavanaugh -- could find themselves in the mix the same way Neil Lomax latched onto the starting quarterback job as a freshman in 1977.

Lomax, the Vikings' all-time passing leader, went into the first day of preseason practice as the No. 5 quarterback, climbed a couple of notches when two of the veterans went down with injuries, and grabbed hold of the starting job before the fourth game of the season.

"That was a pretty fast ascent, but it can happen, because we practice that way," Davis said. "We get our quarterbacks a lot of repetitions, and then they show up in accuracy, they show up in understanding, and they show up in their ability to do the deal."

After one practice, though, Howland appears to have the upper hand.

"The coaches haven't named a starter yet, and it's going to be exciting to see who gets it," Howland said. "The competition makes us both better, really. I took the first reps today, but we'll see how it ends up."

Howland, who suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament against California in last season's third game, was thrilled with Davis' vote of confidence.

"That's why I'm here -- to play," Howland said. "If Mouse thinks that way, that's good. I mean, I'd feel confident either way. I definitely want to be the guy, but if Brian is there, I'd feel confident, too."

White, who joined the Vikings midway through last season, said the quarterback job is up for grabs, as far as he's concerned.

"There are a lot of positions like that," White said. "You're going to get that any time there's a new staff, so everybody has to come out here and treat every day as if tomorrow is game day and continue to win their spots."

Senior wide receiver Tremayne Kirkland said he'd be ready regardless of how the quarterback battle plays out.

"I know neither guy is going to be satisfied not going into the first game as the No. 1 quarterback," Kirkland said. "I'm willing to ride with whoever starts on Sept. 1."

Notes:

The Vikings suspect that the damage done last week to the practice field's lone goal post -- the crossbar was snapped off at the joint that connected it to the portable standard -- was the work of vandals. A new crossbar has been ordered, and the Vikings hope to have it in place in time for today's practice. . . .

The team plans to unveil its new Nike-designed home and away uniforms at 10 a.m. today during a news conference outside the Stott Center.
 
From the Tribune today:

http://www.portlandtribune.com/sports/story.php?story_id=118642901994337200

PSU Football
The Portland Tribune, Aug 7, 2007

Coming up: Coach Jerry Glanville likes cool weather, which means 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. practices this week and 7 a.m. starts during the entire training camp.

There will be six daily doubles — Aug. 14, 16, 18, 21, 23 and 25. The Vikings open at McNeese State at 5 p.m. Sept. 1.

What’s on tap: Players will be drilled in a new 3-4 defense run by Glanville and a run-and-shoot offense led by coordinator Mouse Davis. Nine starters and 40 letter winners returned.

Offensive developments: It’ll be Brian White vs. Tygue Howland at quarterback. Tremayne Kirkland and Kenneth Mackins will be two receivers, but who else fills out Davis’ receiving corps?

“We’re going to be a four-wide team and base our offense off the pass,” Davis said. “I like the looks of the quarterbacks here.”

A starting running back has to be found with Mu’Ammar Ali leaving. Glanville set the tone about offense when he said: “You run the ball for toughness. You throw the ball to ring the bell.”

Defensive developments: The Big Sky’s best defense returns some good parts. “We will be the hardest-hitting team on the West Coast,” Glanville promised. “Those who don’t want to hit, we’ll help them transfer.”
 
I am interested in the QB battle. All things being equal, there is something to be said for starting Howland since he's a Soph and will be around for a couple more years. Theoretically, starting him this season would make him better in the next two when he'll be our projected starter anyway. I guess I'm trying to talk myself into this since I like White and he is running second right now.
 
ManOfVision said:
I am interested in the QB battle. All things being equal, there is something to be said for starting Howland since he's a Soph and will be around for a couple more years. Theoretically, starting him this season would make him better in the next two when he'll be our projected starter anyway. I guess I'm trying to talk myself into this since I like White and he is running second right now.
Click to expand...

Yeah I agree, I'd like to see a QB who can be around for more then a few years. Build himself into a household name. But its also tough to imagine Brian on the bench all year.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top