BOONE, N.C. — With a quarterback pressured into throwing the ball toward an incompletion-friendly area near the black-shirted sideline, defensive coordinator
Dale Jones saw it coming his way and roused his players by successfully punting the mid-air offering before it touched the turf.
The energy level from App State's players and coaches remained high as spring practice continued Wednesday in Kidd Brewer Stadium.
Below is a recap of the day, including an overview from assistant head coach
Justin Watts as well as a breakdown of how the defense and offense have looked so far.
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THOUGHTS FROM COACH WATTS
"I was just really excited to watch the guys work. As an offensive coach, it's funny, you sit there, and sometimes the guys that stick out in your mind are some of our defensive players. With nine or 10 returning starters coming back, they fly around and are fun to watch. I was picking with (new team member and former Clemson/Duke quarterback)
Chase Brice yesterday, and he played in the ACC. I said, 'Hey, that's a pretty good defense you're going against in practice.' He was like, 'No kidding. Those guys can run.' Just great energy. A ton of stuff to work on, but overall, I thought the guys competed well offensively and defensively and on special teams, in the punt return drill at the end. I think they're really getting after it and buying into what we're trying to accomplish. I'm excited about moving forward."
DEFENSIVE BREAKDOWN
There were defensive highlights at all three levels, including pressures or simulated sacks from the likes of
KeSean Brown,
Caleb Spurlin, early enrollee Karon White and
Jalen McLeod (leading to a pass being batted down by
Tommy Dawkins Jr.).
D'Marco Jackson (thanks to a deflection by
Ryan Huff),
Brendan Harrington and
Kaiden Smith came up with interceptions in 11-on-11 or seven-on-seven work, and
Mike Smith's explosive break on a ball nearly led to an interception.
"Probably the most important thing is our energy," Jones, the defensive coordinator, said. "The kids have been working their butts off. They've had high energy, and we haven't gone in pads yet, so when that's happening, what we're trying to get accomplished right now is really just trying to get our basic defenses in and trying to be in the right gap and running to the football. It's basically having fun, and I think our kids have accepted that. They're doing a really, really good job. I think the best thing in these first two days is we've been able to move a lot of guys around and see where they could fit in our defense."
OFFENSIVE BREAKDOWN
Christan Horn's long, drop-in-the-bucket reception on a deep throw from Brice served as one of the offensive highlights Wednesday.
Malik Williams made a strong catch on an impressive throw into a tight window, while
Ben Williams produced some long runs behind the Mountaineers' new-look offensive line.
Jalen Virgil's speed and elusiveness were on display after he caught passes and fielded punts.
"It's been a lot of improvement from Day 1 to Day 2 and a lot of hustle by our guys," offensive coordinator
Frank Ponce said. "We talk about being tough all-around — mentally tough, physically tough. I think our guys displayed that the last two practices. Especially from Practice 1 to Practice 2, there was a lot more energy today and a lot more physicality, at every position. I'm talking, starting with the offensive line, all the way to the quarterbacks. We're excited about our guys. They're really playing hard out there. Our defense is very talented, and they're holding their own. We want to continue that. That's what makes us better — having a great defense — and we want to make them better, so we'll continue to fight on."
