Any Spring Football Updates
- Thread starter planocat
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I think there will be life after JR. Redshirt Frosh lefty QB Zach Bednarczyk looked really good today in limited scrimmage time. Ed Shockley looking to be the heir apparent to Cherry in '16 and a starter on outside this season. Very active LB.
We missed a 35 yd. FG in controlled scrimmage. Ugh!
This year's 16 commits were in as were many rising juniors.
We missed a 35 yd. FG in controlled scrimmage. Ugh!
This year's 16 commits were in as were many rising juniors.
JR didn't take any reps from what I saw. I think they wanted to see what they had in backup.
Defense looked pretty good stuffing run game consistently. I think it was dB Wesley Smith who scooped up a fumble & took it 70+ yards.
Hearing good news about Dylan Lucas. Apparently, good chance to be ready for summer camp. LB will be deep with Cherry, Majors, Shockley, & Lucas for starters.
Defense looked pretty good stuffing run game consistently. I think it was dB Wesley Smith who scooped up a fumble & took it 70+ yards.
Hearing good news about Dylan Lucas. Apparently, good chance to be ready for summer camp. LB will be deep with Cherry, Majors, Shockley, & Lucas for starters.
Gang along with many others please accept my sincere thanks for your posts. Always well thought out and informative.
I arrived very late yesterday morn, so did not see much. Glad to hear the LBs were strong against the run. That is what I would expect from that great group. But that brings up a question. Who was running the ball? I hope Javon White will develop. A lot of enthusiasm has been placed on the RBs who we will see in August.
I am convinced Nova's staff does a super job recruiting.
Coach T's remarks when QB Zach Bednarczyk signed, "Like John, he fits our scheme with a spread offense, and he is the first lefthander we have had in my29 years. He is very athletic and isn't a pocket drop-back guy"
Happy to hear good news about Dillon Luces. My daughter had some classes with him and thinks he is a good guy. I for one will never forget that super great season he had as a freshman.
I arrived very late yesterday morn, so did not see much. Glad to hear the LBs were strong against the run. That is what I would expect from that great group. But that brings up a question. Who was running the ball? I hope Javon White will develop. A lot of enthusiasm has been placed on the RBs who we will see in August.
I am convinced Nova's staff does a super job recruiting.
Coach T's remarks when QB Zach Bednarczyk signed, "Like John, he fits our scheme with a spread offense, and he is the first lefthander we have had in my29 years. He is very athletic and isn't a pocket drop-back guy"
Happy to hear good news about Dillon Luces. My daughter had some classes with him and thinks he is a good guy. I for one will never forget that super great season he had as a freshman.
It was running backs by committee yesterday. I wasn't there the whole time, but I saw Underwood + Gudzak mostly when they did run. Really Bednarczyk looked really good to me and even scampered ala JR for a 30 yd or so TD.
Lucas is just a solid kid all around from what I hear. There was no hesitation to bring him back for a 5th year even when he was thought to be a slower recovery. Awesome teammate and just a smart tough football player from all that know him.
It will be interesting to see who emerges as the workhorse back. Maybe more running back by committee. Interested to see where Forbes & Pollard fit in. Hard to rely on frosh, but wouldn't be the 1st time. McClenton is a slot guy.
I think the OL needs to come together. Losing Kowalski & Hall is a lot to lose. They have some good players there still & will be important for them to gel along with getting blocking & production from TE spot. I thought the defense was ahead of our offense. Still as good as Benarcyzk was IMO it would look better with JR back there. obviously.
We did miss a medium distance FG in the play I saw. I hope that we can get some reliable play there. Punter was solid.
I really liked how our defense swarmed to the ball. Early, but plenty to be very optimistic about. UConn should have their hands full in early September.
As for the incoming frosh I heard Talley spoke to them. Told them that they are now part of the program and to be very smart in final weeks of school. They were told they are a highly touted class with high expectations on & off the field.
Has all the makings of a fun season. I hope the students & alumni come out & support them.
This post was edited on 4/19 10:06 AM by Gangtackle11
Lucas is just a solid kid all around from what I hear. There was no hesitation to bring him back for a 5th year even when he was thought to be a slower recovery. Awesome teammate and just a smart tough football player from all that know him.
It will be interesting to see who emerges as the workhorse back. Maybe more running back by committee. Interested to see where Forbes & Pollard fit in. Hard to rely on frosh, but wouldn't be the 1st time. McClenton is a slot guy.
I think the OL needs to come together. Losing Kowalski & Hall is a lot to lose. They have some good players there still & will be important for them to gel along with getting blocking & production from TE spot. I thought the defense was ahead of our offense. Still as good as Benarcyzk was IMO it would look better with JR back there. obviously.
We did miss a medium distance FG in the play I saw. I hope that we can get some reliable play there. Punter was solid.
I really liked how our defense swarmed to the ball. Early, but plenty to be very optimistic about. UConn should have their hands full in early September.
As for the incoming frosh I heard Talley spoke to them. Told them that they are now part of the program and to be very smart in final weeks of school. They were told they are a highly touted class with high expectations on & off the field.
Has all the makings of a fun season. I hope the students & alumni come out & support them.
This post was edited on 4/19 10:06 AM by Gangtackle11
As far as reporting its my pleasure. Rather do that than defend football's existence on these forums.
I was at spring practice and was also impressed with defense!
Roberston practiced and took some snaps but did not scrimmage.
Wesley Smith (sophomore) looked good as new safety and Taurus Phillps (sophomore )showed good potential at receiver.
It will be a great season this year with Roberston, Cherry and Paris leading the way as captains !
Also was impressed with all the rising high school juniors at practice!
Roberston practiced and took some snaps but did not scrimmage.
Wesley Smith (sophomore) looked good as new safety and Taurus Phillps (sophomore )showed good potential at receiver.
It will be a great season this year with Roberston, Cherry and Paris leading the way as captains !
Also was impressed with all the rising high school juniors at practice!
dtc-thanks for the info. If memory serves, Wesley Smith, last season as a R-Fr was back-up to Captain Joe Sarnese at FS.
On national signing day Feb. 6, 2014 the Philly Inquirer had this headline "Nova believes Phillips is a top-tier talent".
The Inquirer's Marc Narducci wrote, "the success of any FBS team is to be able to attract players being recruited above on the FBS level. In Taurus Phillips Villanova recruited such a player" .He was an RB in high school but coach T said he will be used as a slot receiver where his running ability can still be showcased. Phillips had a lot of interest from Nebraska, right up to signing day.
My wife and I were waiting at the VU will call , St.Johns game in early March at the Wacovia Center. Coach Dave Riede was there greeting high school juniors who were guests of the football staff. I only recognized one player, the younger brother of our highly regarded in - coming LB Drew Wiley. Wiley, along with LB Anthony Malaguti are two super prospects. Wiley committed to the Wildcats over Delaware. Malaguti had some pretty good FBS interest as well as offers from Delaware, JMU and Richmond all power CAA programs, as well as good academic schools. Malaguti played at Don Bosco Prep, a power house as well as a great academic prep school. He had a teammate sign with FBS champ Ohio State. Nova's staff recruits very well. With the great returning talent at LB it seems these two super in-coming LBs will not see a lot of PT in 2015. But oh baby look for them in 2016.
BTW any word on Safety Trey Johnson? He had a super freshman season in 2013. Sat out 2014 with an injury.
On national signing day Feb. 6, 2014 the Philly Inquirer had this headline "Nova believes Phillips is a top-tier talent".
The Inquirer's Marc Narducci wrote, "the success of any FBS team is to be able to attract players being recruited above on the FBS level. In Taurus Phillips Villanova recruited such a player" .He was an RB in high school but coach T said he will be used as a slot receiver where his running ability can still be showcased. Phillips had a lot of interest from Nebraska, right up to signing day.
My wife and I were waiting at the VU will call , St.Johns game in early March at the Wacovia Center. Coach Dave Riede was there greeting high school juniors who were guests of the football staff. I only recognized one player, the younger brother of our highly regarded in - coming LB Drew Wiley. Wiley, along with LB Anthony Malaguti are two super prospects. Wiley committed to the Wildcats over Delaware. Malaguti had some pretty good FBS interest as well as offers from Delaware, JMU and Richmond all power CAA programs, as well as good academic schools. Malaguti played at Don Bosco Prep, a power house as well as a great academic prep school. He had a teammate sign with FBS champ Ohio State. Nova's staff recruits very well. With the great returning talent at LB it seems these two super in-coming LBs will not see a lot of PT in 2015. But oh baby look for them in 2016.
BTW any word on Safety Trey Johnson? He had a super freshman season in 2013. Sat out 2014 with an injury.
Thanks to all for the reports. Remember seeing Video's of Bednarczyk. Of course, we all know those Video's only show the most positive aspects. However, he looked to have a very nice balance of passing and running skills. Not expecting him to be a Robertson, but I won't sell him short either. The last thing I worry about is great QB play at Villanova. Everytime we've lost a terrific QB, eg., Gordon, Whitney, you think how the hell are we going to find a replacement for that level of play? Well, we almost always seem to find a tremendous successor. Of course, it will be quite a challenge as Robertson is probably the best of the best! Huge shoes to fill for whoever, but that's for the future. We have one more year to watch the best FCS QB in the country. Stay healthy, John! Go Cats!
I forgot to look for Johnson. The Malaguti/Wiley combo is akin to Lucas/Cherry light. Malaguti played top notch talent at a heralded HS and is a 6'2" 230lbs who plays like an old school linebacker on his film. His best asset is he is a sure tackler and I liken him to Lucas. I was told that Wiley was close to a Syracuse offer,but he played at Hopewell Valley which has only recently become a decent public school program in Central NJ. I'm told he is more of a Cherry type player and ran a sub 4.6 40 at the camp he attended last summer at Villanova. He also was a pass catching fullback in HS and Delaware had offered him as a FB/HBack. He's 6'1" 225 with real good explosive step. That said both will be most likely looking at redshirt season if all goes well or maybe Wiley plays special teams with the good speed.
I think Villanova has a chance to string several solid seasons after the JR era, but I want to enjoy this one 1st. September 3rd can't get here soon enough. Good to be talking football here.
I think Villanova has a chance to string several solid seasons after the JR era, but I want to enjoy this one 1st. September 3rd can't get here soon enough. Good to be talking football here.
Crazy question, does anyone know the hotel that will be Nova's HQ for the UConn game? I know last year at Cuse the NY state fair took lots of rooms from our HQ. I plan to stay at the team HQ.
BTW completely off topic, my prayers are with all those at the Boston Marathon tomorrow.
BTW completely off topic, my prayers are with all those at the Boston Marathon tomorrow.
BUMP. Any feedback on what people think our running back situation will look like next year will be appreciated. Also, JR was injured for most of last year. Do we expect JR to run the ball more this year as well? THANKS!
Underwood, Gudzak, White will all get a chance to tote the rock. Forbes & Pollard are frosh with potential if needed. I think JR will be JR & that means lots of running.
As far as freshmen, don't under estimate Russo even though he is walking on, he's one of only 2 incoming kids that has played any real competition in HS.
IMO the 3 backs mentioned by gangtackle will do very well. However really tough to replace the two who graduated, one of whom will certainly be in an NFL camp. The next very important question- how will the Oline be? Lost lots of talent up front.
Yesterday Philly's KYW had Coach T on for 30 seconds talking about JR. On Tuesday KYW had UD's coach. First I heard or read about VU spring camp. Friday ends spring camp, players can go down town for the spectacular Penn Relays.
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