From Young Guns to Top Guns
In last year’s first spring scrimmage, I pulled my hamstring. This year’s opening spring scrimmaged netted me a nasty paper cut.
Transitioning from collegiate football player to collegiate newspaper sports writer is still a painful process.
For the last week, I attended the early morning practices and the April 13 scrimmage as an observer for the first time. From 2008 to 2012 as a Bengal offensive lineman, going to Holt Arena to me meant suiting up in pads and getting ready to play some football. Now walking down to the field as a graduate student writing for “The Bengal” only brings back feelings of nostalgia.
I was feeling a void and was missing being out there with my old teammates – until they started running wind sprints and those feelings quickly dissipated. Regardless, it was still a joy watching the Bengals prepare for the next season.
For this piece, I will be looking at the Bengals’ offensive unit. With the departure of stars like quarterback Kevin Yost, wide receiver Rodrick Rumble, offensive lineman Mark Clampitt and tight end Josh Hill, the offense will be looking for young talent to step up. Below are my thoughts on the progress of some of the younger players as well as some quotes from veteran guys I played with and from Coach Kramer.
Offensive Line
The past few years, much of the blame of Idaho State’s inability to win football games fell on the offensive side of the ball, namely on the offensive line. The unit has seen five different coaches and fewer than four different offensive coordinators since my freshman year in 2008. It is difficult to maintain consistency and knowledge of an offense when it changes from year-to-year.
With the third year of Kramer and Don Bailey’s high-flying offensive system, expect to see consistency from the linemen. The group will be young. The departures of last year’s seniors Clampitt, Erik Jacobson and myself will leave redshirt junior Nick Beckman the eldest member of the group. After a practice last week, Beckman talked about assuming that leadership role of the group.
“You have to act like a track star and take the baton and run with it,” Beckman said. “I never really thought that I would be in this spot when I was younger, but now that I have it is important to show the younger guys what needs to be done.”
Beckman has come a very long way since his redshirt year in 2010. He played only one year of organized football his senior year at Capital High School in Boise, Idaho. He has developed his body into a solid 290-pound left tackle. He has tremendous skill with his feet and is a hustle player.
“The only guy on schedule as far as development is Nick Beckman,” Kramer said last week. “He is a redshirt junior and is playing like a redshirt junior. He can play for any team in the Big Sky Conference. Having coached for two other teams in this conference (Eastern Washington and Montana State) I know that Nick would have played for me at this point in his career.”
The offensive line that Beckman will lead is a very young group, yet they have a good deal of game experience. Sophomore Jim Bagley and freshmen Wesley Wingrove, Travis Namohala and Colin Prestestater played some significant time last season.
Namohala is the only experienced center of the group. He missed a few practices last week due to illness (he was healthy for the scrimmage), which left Cody Abbott, a redshirt freshman, with first team center duties. This is important for the team, as it needs to develop depth at the center position. I saw a lot of potential in Abbott when playing with him last season. He understands the offense, yet he still needs to grow into his body and gain some playing experience.
“It was a good learning experience for Cody as he gets experience with the first group,” Kramer said. “He is not ready to go but he will be in time. He has a lot of God-given ability.”
Redshirt sophomore Terrence Carey, who transferred to ISU last season from Florida State, has been switched from the defensive line to the offensive line. He was starting with the first group at right guard and showed some great things there. He seemed to understand the offensive plays in both practices and at the April 13 scrimmage.
“He has good feet and good balance,” Kramer said. “He has great perception and understanding of the game. He will have a great shot at playing right guard for us this season.”
Wide Receivers and Tight Ends
Though the deep threat of Rodrick Rumble, the all-time leading receiver at Idaho State (223 reception and 2,863 yards), will not be present next year, the Bengals will not have to worry about “replacing Rodrick.”
“Rumble was one of the great players in the history of the Big Sky Conference has ever seen, let alone the best player in Idaho State history,” Coach Kramer said. “You don’t really replace a guy like that. What you do is turn the page and find a new guy with a new role.”
Luke Austin and Cam Richmond are not worried about “filling Rodrick’s shoes.” Both guys possess their own set of skills that make them their own dangerous threat.
“I’m my own player,” Austin said. “Rodrick was a great player, but our game is a little different. I am trying to create a name for myself and go out and have a big year next year.”
With Austin and Richmond, you can always expect a great volume of hard work every day. Austin led the team last year with eight touchdown grabs with 611 total yards from 46 catches. He will be the primary inside threat man from the slot receiver position. Richmond had 739 receiving yards, second best on the team, from 67 catches and had four touchdowns. Richmond functions as a possession receiver and was reliable in third down situations.
With Austin and Richmond the two seniors in the unit (and the only seniors in the entire offense), younger guys at the position will have to step up. In the scrimmage last Saturday, redshirt freshman Broc Malcom did just that. He had seven catches for 79 yards and a touchdown. Also look for Cole Lemer and Kai Campbell to make an impact next season. Both guys are quick and have great hands.
Another crucial loss to the Bengal offense was of tight end Josh Hill. He was second in the team in catches with 70 and had 630 yards and five touchdowns. Hill was also a physical blocker and helped create a lot of extra yardage on screens for his teammates.
In his shadow was freshman Tyler Wright. He and redshirt freshman Josh Cook will need to garner as much as they can from these spring practices to be ready to compete next season. Wright missed the scrimmage due to injury, leaving Cook with the majority of the reps. Cook performed well in the passing game, catching four passes for 52 yards. It will be interesting to see how much offensive coordinator Don Bailey will use tight ends next season in light of their youth.
Running Backs
If you have seen an Idaho State football game since Kramer has been here, you will know that the running game is used to a bare minimum. Many fans I have come in contact with have criticized the lack of a true running game. The fact is, we wanted to run the ball. Kramer and Bailey still want to run the ball. The lack of execution deterred our production in the running, thus requiring us to pass more.
The running game will come. The development of the offensive line will allow sophomore Aaron Prier and freshman Xavier Finney to make use of their talent. Both guys have the skill to become the starter, but Kramer says it will be hard to name one of them as such.
“I don’t know if we will ever define one as the starter and the other as the backup,” said Kramer, “because both are pretty darn good. Both guys give the element of consistency, which is a great problem to have.”
In the scrimmage, Prier rushed for 36 yards and Finney rushed for 33 yards. This is about status quo for two running backs sharing the totes in this offense. The offensive line gave them room to run at times, and both Prier and Finney finished runs hard.
“We saw a bit of a running game, and I am glad to see that,” Kramer said after the scrimmage. “We want to run the ball more effectively as opponents will play a lot more coverage on us. Our two running backs, who I consider to be veterans, recognize that.”
Both guys have speed, strength and vision to become a great tandem. They understand the offense and block in pass protection very well, which is often overlooked in a running back. What is great about Prier and Finney is their versatility. Neither can be defined as just a short yardage back or an outside running back. Both are all-around running backs.
Quarterbacks
Similarly with Rumble, questions about who will fill Kevin Yost’s shoes will arise. In the time I practiced and worked with redshirt junior Justin Arias, I can tell you that, again, the Bengals will not be taking a step back. According to Kramer, Arias is already beyond the level that Yost finished off at.
“Arias has picked up exactly where Kevin Yost left off, and he has improved. That is saying a lot, because Yost threw for a lot of yards and did a lot of good things for us.”
“Arias has a Paul Newman, Cool Hand Luke, demeanor about him,” Kramer added.
Arias played in a few games during the 2011 season but redshirted during this previous season. The last year was designed to groom him into the starting role for the 2013 campaign. He feels that the redshirt year has greatly benefited him and he is appreciative of the things he learned directly from Yost.
“Learning from Kevin during the season, learning what he did well and what he needed to improve on has helped me improve my game,” Arias said. “Redshirting prepared me to know what to expect from practices and what Coach Bailey expects of us.”
Arias was efficient in the scrimmage Saturday, completing 21 of his 33 passes for 208 yards and one touchdown. He kept the offense moving at a fast pace and minimized his mental mistakes, which is one of his focuses going into next season.
“I am learning to throw the ball away more [when the play isn’t there] and to not take sacks. Those negative plays kill you. You don’t have very many third-and -fifteen plays that you can do over and over again.”
Backup redshirt freshman Riley Sessions performed efficiently as well. He was 15-22 with two touchdowns and 183 yards in the scrimmage. He has made huge progress from last season. He seems to have a better command of the offense. Sessions has a gun for an arm and he proved that as he threaded several passes between small windows to his receivers. Kramer is happy about his development.
Next week I will be looking at the defense, which has had a bit of a makeover. Several new coaches have come in to help the defense that struggled to stopping anyone from doing whatever they wanted to do.
