Blue-white scrimmage

[mw0729 18]

What was everyone's take after your first look at Gate City?

[GC HOKE 27]

Good effort.  I saw some good things.  Don't know if we have enough playmakers or speed to have a really good season, but there is some toughness, size, and skill there.  We might surprise some people and have a decent season.

I think I only saw one injury.  I hope that young man is ok.  There were a few players not dressed out, I assume due to injury as well. I hope those young men heal quickly.

[Leatherhead Larry 530]

I believe we are more fundamentally sound than we have been in a long while. We have a good base to build off of. I loved the fact I saw the coaches coaching instead of just barking. It was hard to tell anything with the teams divided up equally. Sallee is coming along at QB, completed some very nice passes. Anyone notice that we didn't press cover on defense? You can tell the Houserights are gone. (Thank goodness) We look very "thick" for the first time in awhile too. We've certainly bulked up this offseason. I hope things pay off for this bunch. We better thump Volunteer next week. They return 2 starters on the entire team. The benefit game vs Graham will be the tall tell. Go Big Blue!

[TTownTigers 82]

The lineplay is the best it has been in years in my opinion.  We have some size up front and muscle up front.  We have little speed and look much like many of the old smashmouth teams, but the concern for me is, we have little to no speed.  Even with our teams that went deep in the playoffs or won state titles, we always had 2-3 guys that were lights out in the defensive backfield and could cover speedy WR's giving our front 7 enough time to do damage. That concerns me this year.  We are going to be trouble for opponents if we stay in games going into the 4th because of the lineplay.  We will give people major problems up front, especially in the 4th quarter of games.  Our best pass defense is going to have to be ball control offense both running, and with efficient, short passes in which we have the WR's and QB to be very efficient.  Fundamentally, I like this team.  By first glance, they look like a team that isn't going to beat itself and if we don't beat ourselves, we are going to be much better than many think.  We will learn much in the benefit game against Graham.  Graham, Union, and Richlands in no particular order will be roughly the same across the board with each team having strong points and each team having weak points, but all 3 are heavy weights that have the ability to go deep in the playoffs and maybe end up in the final game.  I think the Graham game will tell us a lot because we will not see more speed against this team than any team all year long, and to go with it, a short passing game utilizing speed and quickness in open space, and them trying to get their speed in one on one situations. This is my major concern.....our defensive backfields ability to contain speed in open space.  Therefore, the Graham scrimmage will tell us a lot, and any scrimmage can tell you something, but I am glad we are scrimmaging a team with speed at the skilled positions.  If we match up with Graham, I will be as excited as I have been for GC football coming in to game one as I have been in many years.

[SXSW 559]

14 hours ago, TTownTigers said:

The lineplay is the best it has been in years in my opinion.  We have some size up front and muscle up front.  We have little speed and look much like many of the old smashmouth teams, but the concern for me is, we have little to no speed.  Even with our teams that went deep in the playoffs or won state titles, we always had 2-3 guys that were lights out in the defensive backfield and could cover speedy WR's giving our front 7 enough time to do damage. That concerns me this year.  We are going to be trouble for opponents if we stay in games going into the 4th because of the lineplay.  We will give people major problems up front, especially in the 4th quarter of games.  Our best pass defense is going to have to be ball control offense both running, and with efficient, short passes in which we have the WR's and QB to be very efficient.  Fundamentally, I like this team.  By first glance, they look like a team that isn't going to beat itself and if we don't beat ourselves, we are going to be much better than many think.  We will learn much in the benefit game against Graham.  Graham, Union, and Richlands in no particular order will be roughly the same across the board with each team having strong points and each team having weak points, but all 3 are heavy weights that have the ability to go deep in the playoffs and maybe end up in the final game.  I think the Graham game will tell us a lot because we will not see more speed against this team than any team all year long, and to go with it, a short passing game utilizing speed and quickness in open space, and them trying to get their speed in one on one situations. This is my major concern.....our defensive backfields ability to contain speed in open space.  Therefore, the Graham scrimmage will tell us a lot, and any scrimmage can tell you something, but I am glad we are scrimmaging a team with speed at the skilled positions.  If we match up with Graham, I will be as excited as I have been for GC football coming in to game one as I have been in many years.

From what I saw this is pretty much my thoughts. There is some "grit" to this team, there is a lot to like about them. QB can be special with a little help. My only concern is depth, tem or twelve extra bodies sure wouldn't hurt.