Pittsburg State football players who may think they have positions locked up could be sorely mistaken.
Coaches watched with an eagle eye during the 2009 PSU scrimmage Saturday night at Carnie Smith Stadium.
“Really, we are young enough that we have competition at just about every position,” said PSU offensive coordinator Tim Beck. “I feel good about our depth at running back and you need as many tailbacks as you can get.”
Offensively, running backs got off to a slow start but were able to show flashes of potential during the 80-plus play scrimmage.
Backs like sophomore Eric Love and fellow sophomore Briceton Wilson found some gaps late in the scrimmage against the vaulted Pitt State defense.“The line had a lot of good blocks and everyone seemed ready to play,” Love, a 5-foot-9 tailback from Cozad, Neb., said.
Love had a solid run of 24 yards during one of the final drives of the scrimmage.
“There were a couple of good blocks and I could get to the outside,” Love said. “But, the defense played very well.”
But, it did not take away from the fact that the offense showed signs of a young offense getting used to the Pitt State system.
“It’s growing pains,” said PSU quarterback John McCoy. “You get a little nervous and it is just trying to get used to things.”
During one drive, McCoy went 5-for-5 and found 5-6 sophomore wide receiver Jon Thomas three times for 28, 33 and 15 yards.
“He’s my roommate,” McCoy said. “He’s little but I can find him.”
On the same drive, McCoy also found Derek Thomas, Levi Kuntzsch and Love.
“He (Thomas) knows where I expect him to be and we have good chemistry,” McCoy said. “But, I have that good chemistry with all of the receivers.”
On the defensive side, coordinator Dave Wiemers said that the goal was to keep things simple.
“We were really vanilla just to watch kids play base defense,” Wiemers said. “We have some great position battles going on.”
With the solid play of the defense, McCoy and the offense felt good about what they were able to accomplish.
“For the defense that everyone thinks we have and I know that we have, the offense did well.” McCoy said. “We’re talking about one of the best defenses in the country and they can flat play.”
NOTES The PSU scrimmage was not without some drama. Quarterback Jeff Smith was able to show little brother Chas about college football with a stiff-arm late in the scrimmage. Joked Chas: “It was a little cheap because I couldn’t touch him. He’ll get his shot in because that was about the only place he could do it ... Beck was not specific as to which positions were still up for grabs but said that the coaching staff was going to start preparing for the Aug. 29 season-opener against Central Oklahoma today and that included player evaluation.
