The Kyyote's Howl

I braved the wind and the cold to take a look at the team, today. There was a young man that I was sure I recognized, but couldn’t place, working with the receivers. Johnnie Lee looked a little older, and a little more mature than he did when he played for the Miners, Talking with him, I kind of had the same impression. He and defensive lineman Humberto Padilla are back in the classroom at UTEP, and both are out on the field working with the players. I have to believe that when JLH talks, receivers listen. He has street cred, as they say. What I liked most was hearing him say that he tells the kids to listen to the coaches and get their education.

The Miners’ new offensive line coach, UTEP’s All-American ex-tight end, Brian Natkin has hit the ground running. Speaking of the offensive line, and I will get more information on the line soon, Eloy Atkinson had surgery, but will be fine and ready to go for the upcoming season. At the center position, Kyle Brown worked at that position last year, but the real news here is that El Paso’s Horizon High School freshman, Paulo Melendez (6-2/310) has been working at the spot.

The defensive line has seen some movement, also. Watkins and Miller are penciled in at the ends, with Adam Ayala moving to the interior line spot. James Davidson, who saw time at the defensive end spot last season and showed signs that he was taking to the position and getting people’s attention is back on the field, sans contact, after having surgery to repair a broken hand. Once he is back to 100%, look for him to push for the starting spot.

Coach Price is very impressed with Jeffrey and Bell, his probable starting running backs. Having had the three-headed monster in Banyard, Frazier, and Myers last year it was hard for these two to get their chances. When they did, it was apparent that they were both very talented. They will have the spotlight, soon.

I noticed that the quarterback from Lon Morris College, John Coomer, wasn’t there. I was told that he has switched positions to receiver.

Nick Lamaison talked about his shoulder before practice, and said that he had worked very hard himself, and with the training staff, and that it felt pretty good. The real test, he said, would be when he got out on the field and started throwing.

He said that he wasn’t really worried about contact, and, of course, he wouldn’t have any contact during practice.

“It’s all about the throwing. I’ll be able to take the hit, or the pain, or whatever. I’m just worried about the throwing. I’m not worried about it, but that’s what I need to test, is the throwing. That’s what I’ll focus on,” he said.

He has been throwing 25 yard passes all week, but there is a huge difference between throwing 25 yard passes, and throwing passes under pressure. There’s things like zip, touch, and timing. he was quick to point out that it was more a matter of putting zip on the ball than throwing it long. The pressure on the shoulder comes from the strain put on the joint when putting that zip on the ball.

He said that he felt like he would be ready for the Thursday night game against the Houston Cougars.

After practice, he once again talked about the Houston game.

“Definitely it’s a big game, because it’s a conference game. I’m going to work in the training room, make sure that my arm is as good as it can be. It’s a big game, and we all care about it, a lot.”

About his shoulder, he had this to say, “I felt good. I was thinking I might have had some trouble with some deeper passes, but I didn’t. As soon as I got into it, as my body started getting warm, more and more, I felt a lot better, and better, as practice went along.”

Coach Price had told him to go full go, and not to hold anything back, and get ready to play.

“I’ll be a little bit sore, tomorrow, or tonight, probably, but I’ll get that fixed up. One thing I’m glad to be back out here is since I haven’t been throwing for awhile, I’ve got to tighten up the timing a little with some of my guys, on my own level, kind of working around my shoulder, and things like that. But, as far as the first day, on Monday, I think it went really well.”

So, after the first day back he felt good, and he looked pretty good throwing the ball. Tomorrow, after his shoulder has a chance to see how it feels to have been put back under pressure, will probably be an even better test. But, he is a warrior, and you can bet that if his shoulder doesn’t fall off over night, he will be out there pushing as hard as he can to make sure that when the first snap comes from the Miners’ center, it will be to him.

Carson Meger is as cool as an air conditioned igloo, both on the field and off. On the field, he makes his reads, has an instinctive feel for when to move to avoid a rush and when to tuck it away and get what he can on the ground.

Off the field, he has the ability to say all of the right things-all of those things that savvy players have learned to say. But, he also talks naturally about football in the same, knowledgeable way. He says the right things without them coming out sounding canned or rehearsed. They sound natural. Just like him-natural.

In his first interview since getting his first real start (he started in the SMU game but was pulled after the first play, a punishment for the starting quarterback, Nick Lamaison, who had violated a team rule) Meger talked calmly about the experience, like it was something he had done a thousand times. As surprised and excited as everyone else was about his performance, many seemed to think Meger would be, and wanted to hear about it. But, he wasn’t surprised or excited about his performance. It was what he had always known. He smiled, he enjoyed others surprise and excitement, instead of them enjoying his. There was no indignation about their surprise. There was no desire to point out to them that they were surprised, but not him. There was no hint of triumph in proving doubters wrong. He’s way too cool for that kind of thing. He smiled, and enjoyed himself, but not at their expense or in a way they expected.

Carson Meger has a rare quality in an athlete at this level. He is one of the most competitive persons you will ever see, but he competes to win games. The game may be who can kick a punt that stops closest to the endzone without going in from the 50 yard line, or a football game. But, as much as he wants to win, and quite often does, he never loses the joy of playing a game. Win or lose. It’s just a game. Let’s play another.

When he was asked how it felt to finally get his first real start at the Division 1 level, the first sentence out of his mouth said it perfectly.

“It was fun,” he said. Then he went on, “Everybody comes to play, not to sit on the sidelines, so after waiting for my first two seasons and three games of this season, it was fun to finally strap up and get out and be in the huddle with the guys, and be out there with the team and run a whole game. So, it was a lot of fun. I had a whole lot of fun doing it.”

When asked if he expected to be the starter, this week, he handled it perfectly.

“You’ve got to prepare like you’re going to play, every week. I’m hoping I do, and if I do, I’ve got to make the most of it. If I don’t I’ve got to do my part from the sideline and be ready to play, if that comes to happen. But, we’ll just kind of have to see, and take it day by day, and see what happens.”

The reporter gave it another shot, from a slightly different angle, asking if expecting Nick Lamaison to start was maybe a misconception. Meger was too smart.

“I’m not sure. Like I said, we’ll have to take it day by day and see what happens,” he said, showing a little bit of a smile,”see how practice goes, and see where we go from today, and take today and roll tomorrow. Tomorrow might be a different answer, or it might be the same. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

Asked if he felt like he had at least secured the number two spot, he again showed the same nimbleness that he uses to avoid on rushing defenders.

“With this team, and with football, as far as the quarterback situation, there’s a starter, and there’s everybody else. That’s just kind of how it is. Everybody’s got their own roll, and everybody’s got to take in that role, and that’s what I’m going to do. I’ve got a role toplay on this team, and I’m going to play it, whether it be number two, or number three, what ever the role is, I’ve got to take that in and play that every week, and just be prepared to play, no matter what the situation is.”

Another big positive from the South Florida game was the play of the offensive line. After struggling to create the push needed to get the running game going in the Miners’ first three games, against the powerful, ranked Bulls, it seemed to be able to push the South Florida defensive line around with an unexpected ease. I asked Meger to talk about his offensive line coming off of their performance against a tough Bulls team.

“They did good. That was a fast, pretty creative, defensive line. The defense as a whole, and especially the linebackers had a lot of speed. The O-line did a heck of a job protecting me all night. They did a good job.”

Any nerves going into the game, I asked.

“No, not really. I mean, you might think there are, but like I said, everbody out here has played before. Nobody comes into Division 1 just never playing the game. Everybody’s played the game before, so once you get in between the lines and start playing it doesn’t matter how many people are in the stands, where you’re playing, or what the situation is. You just kind of roll with it, and it feels good to be back in it., that kind of deal. It was fun. Anxiety, not nervousness.”

Speaking of people in the stands, playing for state championships in Texas means playing in front of big crowds, so I asked him what the numbers were like when he played in the championships.

“In high school, the biggest crowd I played in front of was 39-40 thousand. That kind of gets you prepared for this. Like I said, whether it 40 thousand or three people in the stands, once you get in between the lines you don’t really realize who’s watching or how many people are in the stands until you do something big, and then you hear how many people. But, between the whistles, between the lines, you don’t really know or care who’s in the stands.”

Not when you are playing a game, and just having fun.

Just some tidbits to start;

Walk-on kicker, Kevin Lopez, an El Paso kid, will be getting his degree in Business Administration in December. Good kid, nice to see him doing well in the classroom, too.

A scout from the New York Giants was making the rounds, and today he was in El Paso to watch our team’s practice. He wasn’t looking at anyone in particular, just browsing. At least that is what he told me. I don’t suppose he would be giving away that information, anyway.

Long snapper, Matt Camilli was snapping today, but he isn’t expected to play anytime soon.

Defensive End, Adam Ayala, was kind of easing around today. He wasn’t involved in the action.

The team is practicing without pads. CMP is trying to get them ready, without getting anyone hurt, getting dinged up players healthy, and trying to be able to go into Thursday’s game with lively legs.

James Nelson was back on the right tackle position of the offensive line today. That put the line back into their semi-normal positions.

Now, on to the information everyone wants to know. Who was taking the snaps at quarterback, and how did they look?

Most of the work was split in half going to Lamaison and Meger. At first it was with the running backs. Then, they moved into the passing game. Lamaison looked a little lacking in zip, it seemed to me, at first. But, having said that, he seemed to be hitting his receivers on both short and long passes. By the end of practice, he looked like he did before, as far as I could tell.

Meger looked like Meger. I have been singing his praises for a couple of years now. He scraps. He gets the ball to where it is supposed to be. He has an instinctive feel in the pocket. He looked good.

Lamaison was asked how he felt after practice, and he said he felt fine. He said he figured he might be a little sore after practice, but will get the ice and be taken care of by the trainers and feel fine. Tomorrow will probably be a better indication of how well he is back. He said he was told to practice hard, to see what he could do, not to hold back, as that would make it harder to measure how well he was.

I will have interviews with CMP, Lamaison, Meger, and others coming on line, soon. I’m just trying to get the rest of the pressconference uploaded, and then I will be uploading more interviews.

That’s all for today.

After a physical practice on Wednesday, which was designed to emphasize the need for the team to be more physical, to be able to run the ball into the endzone from inside the three yard line, the team was without pads on Thursday, putting the final touches on the game plan for Saturday’s game with SMU.

Coach Price was happy with the way practice went, and with the improved health of the team.

“Pretty good practice, for Thursday”.  He went on, “We’re healthier than we were going into last week’s game.  We have more, better players.  So, we had to make so tough decisions on the travel squad. That’s good, because that means we have more than 66 good guys.”

Is the team ready?

“Oh yeah.  Everything is ready to go,” said Coach Price.  “Game plan is good.  Today they didn’t make many mistakes, so that’s what I kind of look for.  When they’re still making mistakes on Thursday, then, we’ve got too much in, but, I think we’re O.K..”

Coach Patterson was also happy with the way his team looked in Thurday’s practice.

“They seemed real focused.  I think they’ve got a grasp of the game plan,” Coach Patterson said.

I talked with him about his explanation, weeks ago, about how much more flexibility the depth he was building with his defensive line was giving him, and the evidence of that in the Stony Brook game.  The defense was able to get much more pressure on the quarterback than it had been in the past.  There were times when the Miners had four defensive ends on the defensive line.

Coach Patterson said, “Yeah, well we’ll no more this time.  They’re more of a passing team, so I can do it more this Saturday.  I’m hoping it’s going to give us an advantage to be able to put our guys in different positions to give them their opportunities to rush the quarterback, and take advantage of their own individual skill sets.  It’s looked good in practice.  The test is Saturday, to see if I’m right.”

I said that the team was pressuring the Stony Brook quarterback, and that they would get a lot more opportunities to do the same against the passing attack of the Mustangs.

“No question.  No question.  You know, we had two sacks, but we hit him nine times.  But they’re not a drop back passing team.  I kept telling the kids on the sidelines that if we can get them in third and long, we’re going to have a big day.  So, just get them to third and long.  When we got in those situations it paid dividends.  It’s the same thing this week.  If we can get them in long yardage situations, I feel pretty comfortable that we can rush the quarterback with our four man rush,” he said.

He spoke about the speed at the defensive end position.

“You probably noticed on Saturday, that there were times when we had four defensive ends out there, just trying to get a speed, fast group out there, that has the ability to collapse the pocket, quickly, and make the quarterback feel the pressure .  People talk about pressure, they think just sacks.  But, pressure means that he gets the ball out too fast, the pass is too high, it’s too low, causing the picks to win the game.  That’s what I’m looking for,” he explained.

Of course, the Mustangs have a big, bruising running back, named Zach Line, and the Miners will have to find a way to stop him from being able to pick up big chunks of yards on the ground.

Coach Patterson said, “He’s a big, strong, physical back, and the key is to get him before he gets rolling.  If you can get him at the line of scrimmage, and hold him to one or two yards, then you are in good shape.  But, once he gets his shoulders upright, and he gets a head of steam, he’s a hard guy to bring down for those little DB’s.  So, that’s the key, to not let him get out in space.”

Bottom line, the team is pretty healthy, well prepared, and ready to go.  What we see on Saturday will probably be a much better indication of what this team is capable of doing this season.

I talked with Miners defensive back, DeShawn Grayson, yesterday.  I started by asking him to talk about the Stony Brook game.

It was pretty obvious that he would have just as soon I not have asked about that game.  But, Grayson is tough.  He’s a hitter.  He can take a hit, too.

He smiled just a little, looking away as I finished the question, gathered his thoughts, and answered, “Well, started off a little slow.  The offense was a little more difficult than expected.  But, in the second half, we made some adjustments and came out better.”

The adjustments at halftime definitely changed things.  Giving up just under 300 yards in the first half, the Miners defense cut that to 130 yards in the second half, and a mere 38 yards on the Stony Brook team’s final 4 possessions.

Speaking about this week’s game against SMU, a very different style of football, Grayson said this, “Yeah, it’s a lot different from Stony Brook but, it’s more of what we see, with our offense spread.  So, we’ve just got to focus, and really just lock it.”

He said it doesn’t matter to him at all which quarterback they put in.

Speaking about his own personal match up DeShawn had this to say, “I want to take on their best player.”

With the Mustangs’ Zach Line being such a powerful running back, and an equally potent passing attack, which does he think about stopping first, he was asked.

“I think stop the run first, myself,” he replied.

Asked if Line was a fullback or a tailback, Grayson grinned, and said, “I don’t know what he is, but we’ve got to stop him.”

Is it easier to play against a team you know, he was asked.

“Yeah.  It’s a lot more easier.  It gives guys like me, more, looking forward to it.  I know the guys.  I know them by name.  I ain’t going to say their names.  When I get out there I’m going to call them by their names.  Let ‘em know I’m here,” he said, smiling.

Is it a rivalry game?

“Yes.”

Is this the team you want to beat most in conference, or is it Houston?

“Definitely Houston”.

After some laughing, he continued, “We want to beat everybody but, me, personally, we’re going to go game by game, and keep it going”.

What about this opening game of conference play?

“This is the most important game, so far,” he said.

This is the only game that matters today, tomorrow, or Saturday.  No more, looking back at Stony Brook, or ahead to any other game than Saturday’s game against the Mustangs.  Questions will swirl around the team with a loss, and questions will vanish with a win.

First and foremost, most of the injured players will be returning to action for the SMU game.  Jerel Watkins, James Robinson, and Aubrey Alexius will play.  So will Royzell Smith, who was returning from surgery on both of his shoulders in the off-season, and had landed on his shoulder at the end of the  Stony Brook game.  These players will be back, perhaps in some cases, on a limited basis.  The one huge absence for the SMU game will be the big right offensive tackle, James Nelson.  He continues to work on getting back from the high ankle sprain he suffered in the Mock Game.

Along the lines of injured linemen, Coach Price praised James Martin, the offensive lineman from Mt. Sac that was on Nick Lamaison, and Mike Edwards team, before the three transferred to UTEP.

“James Martin, every time he takes a breath, he gets better.  He’s a big ol’ good looking kid.  He’s just fresh out of junior college.  That didn’t seem to bother Mike Edwards and Nick Lamaison, though,” said Coach.

On a positive note, and one that the Miners will need, Coach Price said that the team will be healthier going into this game than it was going into the Stony Brook game.

Coach Price is not thrilled about beginning conference play with the second game of the season.

“I’m not.  Not for this team.  Not for our team.  I think we need to get better.  We’re going to have to play at a high level.  No question about it.  They’re a veteran team.  We’re not,” a very serious Mike Price said.

He spoke about the challenge the SMU team presents.

“It’s a little bit easier coaching situation.  It’s not as an anxious feeling, because you know what to expect.  So, from a coaching standpoint, I feel more comfortable going into this game.  But, from a player’s standpoint, they know just how good those guys are.  So, our players know their players, and know how good they are.  So, it’s going to be a very, very, very big challenge for us,” said Coach.

He challenged the notion that SMU is a passing team, “No, no, you’ve got to stop the run against these guys.  You’ve got to stop Line.  He’s a big-time player.  He got over a hundred yards, the first half against Texas A&M, and they’re no slouch.”

Asked if he thought SMU would get a little more conservative starting McDermit Coach Price said, “No.  I don’t think so.  They’re going to do what they do.  If the defense gives them the run, they’ll run the ball.  If the defense gives them the pass, they’ll pass the ball.  Coach Jones is going to do what he does.  That’s the way it goes with him, you know.”

In Coach Price’s media luncheon, and again yesterday at practice, Coach Price mentioned that there are some players that the fans will be seeing more of.  I think there may be a message here.

“Jordan Leslie’s going to play more, and catch more passes.  Anthony McGhee is going to play more, and catch more passes.  You’ve seen what Nathan Jeffreys can do.  He’s a real good running back, and he hasn’t done anything, yet.”

Coach Price began by talking about how big the Stony Brook team looked, before the game started.

“I looked over, and saw those guys.  Those guys were huge!” said Price.

He described the players at different positions, all big fast, except the  defensive back, whom he had thought was small, but saw that he may have been short, but he wasn’t small.  He quickly found out that they were much better than they had thought they would be.  Stony Brook also came out with some formations, and shifting, that the coaches had not seen, putting the Miners a little off balance.

Price laughed and talked about the Miners’ plan, which he said he probably won’t use again, was to kick off to them, stop them deep in their end of the field, and get a short punt, giving the Miners a short field.  Then, the Miners were going to march down the short field, using two and three tight end formations, and get a quick score.  He said that they had worked on this plan for a couple of weeks.  Then, three of the offensive linemen went down with injuries, and all of a sudden the great plan wasn’t looking so good.

On defense, the Miners wanted to stop the run, and the play action pass.  Coach Patterson made adjustments at the half.

The offense also made some adjustments, to take better advantage of the offenses strengths.  They started going with quick passes to the wideouts.

He talked about some of the mistakes the team made, and just how much those cost the team.  One of them was when Lamaison was hit while attempting to pass and the fumble was taken in.  Another was the interception at the 1 yard line.  He said that there were other plays he might have called, and that many will say, couldn’t you run it in from the one.  Well, the answer seemed to be a definite “no”.  Then, Vernon Frazier reached out to push the ball across the line, and it came lose, before he got in.  So, he said that those added up to 21 points, and that things could have been different.

But, as it happened as it did, he was very happy with and proud of his team.  They held together.  They didn’t get down on themselves, or others.  The kids were paying attention.  They substituted without any confusion.  There were no penalties for offsides, or delay of game.  There were many things that the team did well.

Price had high praise for Nick Lamaison, and talked about how the quarterback got better as the game went on, was cool under pressure, and was a terrific leader.

“I think we have a real gem, in him,” said Coach Price.

Price talked about how the defense shut down the Seawolves running game in the second half.  On Stony Brook’s last five possessions, they had 46 yards of offense, and an interception.

Moving on to SMU, Coach Price said the Miners will have to try and handle Zach Line, the powerful running back of the Mustangs.  SMU’s running game is different than Stony Brooks.  SMU tries to spread the defense out to create the openings for their running backs.

He said that they would change things up some for the very different challenge that SMU poses.

He said that what he would like his players to do, is wear those uniforms that Texas A&M wear.

“Have you seen those uniforms?  They’re all white.  The butt sticks out like this.  Big muscles right here (indicating thighs).  Man, those jerseys!  You see what’s hanging from those shirt sleeves?  Those big arms!  Man, I gotta get some of those!”, said Coach.

Bret Bloomquist asked if he might change things up a little in the place kicking, with the 6′ 8″ SMU kick blocking specialist in the game.  Coach Price said we probably wouldn’t see a 61 yard attempt.

“You told me where he’s from ( pointing, and speaking to Bret), the country of Estrogen.  You’ve been there before”, said Price.  “Or something like that.  Estro something.  Maybe Estonia.”

Speaking of Zach Line who comes from Massachusetts, Coach Price Mentioned that he, and the player from Estonia were walk ons.

“Long walk, from Estonia.” Price quipped.

He talked about a pretty good crowd, and how most of them stayed until the end.

“At half time, I checked with Aaron, my son, up in the press box to see if there was a train outside the stadium waiting to take me to Dodge, or someplace.  I thought I might hop on, and get the hell out of here.    Happy I stuck around,” he joked.

One of the favorite things for fans to do is think about ifs and buts, and then discuss their thoughts.  I’m going to try and stay away from ifs and buts for now, but I reserve the right to use them at a later time, if I choose to.

Coach Price uses a spread offense.  It uses the pass to create opportunities where receivers can go up against defensive backs.  It is designed to reduce the strength of more talented, more powerful teams down to a one player on another player match up.  The run is used to keep defenses honest.  When it is working at its best, the running game catches defenses off guard, and the running game can do pretty well.  When the running game gets going well, the passing defense gets even easier to pick on.

Offensive linemen can pass block easier than they can open holes for running backs.  It is easier to slow someone down who is trying to get past you, just by getting and staying in their way, than it is to drive them backwards, or to a direction you want to push them.

The spread helped weaker teams compete with stronger teams.  It has become a real option for strong teams to use against other strong teams, nowadays, too.

As with anything in life, that offense’s strengths also are what gives it its weaknesses.  Passing attacks tend to give up offensive time of possession.  Offensive linemen get beat on in passing protection as opposed to doing the beating when attacking defensive lines.

Race horses are fast.  Hook them up to a wagon full of Budweiser and they aren’t worth their million dollar price tags.  Try entering a Clydesdale in the Kentucky Derby.

The Miners have trouble with power running teams.  Have a tug of war between a thoroughbred and a Clydesdale.  Any Clydesdale.  The Miners aren’t Secretariat, and Stony Brook wasn’t a Clydesdale.  Think quarterhorse versus draft horse.  Remember Toledo, Akron, UAB last year, and the list goes on (and on).  Put the Miners up against another, of our own breed, and the Miners compete pretty well.  Against the Mustangs and even Houston, we usually can match their fire power.  When Houston beat the hell out of UTEP, how did they start it?  That’s right.  They ran it up the Miners’ butts.

As Cronkite used to say, “That’s the way it was.”  The Miners offensive line is inexperienced, and was missing three of the starters.  That showed most in the running game.  For the passing game, they performed fairly well, all things considered.  What the Miners do well, they did fairly well.  Lamaison racked up 365 yards and completed 24 of 38 passes.  The fumble that was what kept Stony Brook going was when Lamaison was throwing a pass.  Or was it when Frazier fumbled after catching a pass?  Point is, it was passing that decided the outcome of the game in the favor of the Miners.

In the first half, Stony Brook racked up 293 yards, and ran at will, setting up their passing at the same time.  The team that practices against the power running game, had no trouble stopping the Miners’.  In the first half the Miners ran the ball seven times, and threw eleven times.  In the third quarter, the Miners ran the ball nine times, and passed eight times.  In the fourth quarter, the Miners ran five times, and passed the ball twenty-two times.  In the second half, the Stony Brook offense was held to 130 yards of offense.  The Miners offensive output jumped to 312 yards. nearly all of it through the air.

Turnovers had a lot to do with the score, including sending the game into overtime, and ending the game in overtime.

Lessons;

This one is one that should already be known to Miners fans.  Power running teams give the Miners fits.  Sometimes we are able to overcome them, sometimes not.

The offensive line was not up to strength and is inexperienced.  Wounded, inexperienced lines aren’t the best for running the ball.

Even an injured, inexperienced Miners’ offensive line was able to allow the quarterback to put up big numbers.

The receivers were catching balls thrown to them.

The defense had trouble at first with the power running attack, but in the second half the defense had pretty much figured it out, and shut it down.

Special teams looked very good.

Thanks for allowing the interuption.

You may resume your normal iffing and butting, now.

The first game is now just a few days away.  The offensive and defensive teams are putting the finishing touches on their game plans, practicing against the scout team, which is doing their best to imitate the Seawolves.

The dead giveaway that it is almost game day is when Coach Price stops giving any real details about practice.  He makes some general statements like the team is coming along.  Here’s what I’m talking about.  When he was asked about the offensive line this was his response;

“Well, we know who we’re going to play.  We know who we’re going to play, and we know what plays we’re going to run.  So, that’s all done, and we’ve been practicing those plays.”  Pausing, thinking, he then says, “I’m still going with my original thought.  Keep it mixed up.  Keep you guys off balance.”

I began, ” You said you guys might be a little more..”

But, before I could finish asking the question, Coach Price interupted, and said, “It may, and it may not.  So, I wouldn’t bet on it.  Maybe a double reverse pass on the first play.”

Playing along, I said, “So, the line is not going to go ahead and dictate what you’re going to do, maybe?”

Laughing, he replied, “I didn’t say not.  I didn’t say never.”

Coach Price did say that he feels good about what they are planning on doing, and of course he has a back up plan, if needed.

Questions about the offensive line will be referred to the very lengthy explanation given by Coach Connelly in an earlier interview.  Things are, and will be, exactly as he said, then.

Then, there are those who will be wondering about the defense, and particularly in this first game, about stopping a power running game.  Like above, Coach Patterson has been telling those who have been paying close attention to what he has been saying, exactly what is what on the subject.

You see, I have taken my cue from CMP.  I will not say much of anything more specific than what I have said before.  I will tell you that our defense will be better, and some of that is due to the added depth.  Much of it actually.  But, it isn’t just because the depth will allow us to keep fresh players on the field.  For the perfect explanation of what it means, simply go back and pay close attention to what Coach Patterson has said on the subject.

Those who watch the game with a critical eye, will have plenty to talk about after Saturday’s game.  This is going to be fun.

Please come by and say hello at the tailgate spot on Hawthorne.  Look for the Den flag.  Yes, the one that flew along side of the flags of the nations of the Coalition in Afghanistan.