The Beast : Two down, one to go

Today’s scrimmage at Traz Powell Stadium was the second opportunity for Miami fans to see their Hurricanes up close and personal.

After two open scrimmages you get a sense regarding the direction Al Golden wants this team to go. The most noticeable thing about today; the tempo. Coaches crammed about 120 plays into the two-hour session and anyone in attendance will tell you things were beyond fast-paced. Come August, this team will be in tip-top shape.

Not the first time we’ve mentioned that in the blog here, but ‘conditioning’ has been the buzz word this off-season and today was another example that this coaching staff is doing all it can to whip these kids into game day shape.

The defense was much more aggressive today and really held their ground at the line of scrimmage. Jordan Futch again came up huge, with six tackles and two sacks. After what we’ve seen the past few weeks, No. 58 seems primed for a breakout year, if he can keep up this sort of play.

Ray Ray Armstrong had some bruising hits and overall both linebackers and safeties played pretty well. The tackles and corners are still a work in progress, but we already knew that.

After talking to some guy after the scrimmage, you got a sense that the defense wanted to rebound from last week’s performance and to their credit, they did.

The offense built on last week’s performance and early on you could tell the short passing game working – which is something I believe we’ll see a lot of once the season starts. Jacory Harris looked much better on his short throws and made some nice swing passes out to the backs that picked up good yardage.

At times it was reminiscent of Ken Dorsey to Willis McGahee, but Harris to Lamar Miller looks like it will work just fine.

Storm Johnson is a absolute beast. I don’t like to throw my moniker out there much, but there’s no other way to describe this kid. Johnson is a ball of speed, power, intensity and desire – all wrapped up in a No. 1 jersey.

Miller will electrify the crowd with his burst of speed and Mike James absolutely should not be overlooked as he’ll bring it – but when you see Johnson out there, you know this kid will put fear in defenders. There will be a collection of linebackers this year who feel the full fury of The Storm.

Johnson had 13 carries for 80 yards and two touchdowns, while Miller finished with 14 carriers for 73 yards. James carried five times for 33 yards but was taken off the field after getting his bell rung, though he’s expected to be fine.

The passing game started out with short passes, but the long ball eventually came. Both Harris and Stephen Morris did a nice job airing it out, though both had an interception.

The play of the day was a throwback to tight end Chase Ford, which went for a 56-yard gain. Ford has been coming on as of late, but the offensive player of the day was Tommy Streeter.

Last weekend Streeter had a tough go of it, but in a matter of days he turned things around. No. 86 had some spectacular catches today and finished with six receptions for 98 yards and two touchdowns. Travis Benjamin also had two grabs for 61 yards and a score.

Morris finished the day 9-of-14 for 146 yards, a touchdown and an interception while Spencer Whipple went 4-of-6 for 56 with no touchdowns and no picks.

From what I saw, Harris still leads the quarterback competition, which jives with what my little birdies around Hecht have been saying. Harris has had a leg up on Morris for most of spring practice.

There were a few injures to note. Vaughn Telemaque was walking around with a neck brace, though he didn’t practice and I’m not sure what the situation was there. LaRon Byrd also went down with what appeared to be a knee injury, though he did walk off the field at the end of the scrimmage under his own power and Coach Golden said he’d be all right. We should know more come Tuesday.

All in all, a pretty good showing for about 3,000 fans in North Dade.

One thought. I know the coaching staff likes to do things as early as possible – line noon games and 10am scrimmages – but I think we all realize that South Florida tends to live a bit later than the rest of the country.

Come next year it might make sense to schedule scrimmages around 4pm. Leave mornings free for family time, soccer practice and Little League. After that, us ‘fanatics’ can tailgate a bit while the other stragglers and fans from other parts of the state can head south to make a day of it. Just a thought.

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