QB anyone’s guess as Miami begins fall practice
Chuck Martin was OXFORD — waiting for members of the electronic media to be ready when he suddenly reached out and slapped the brim of a reporter’s hat.
“C’mon,” the Miami University football coach said. “It’s the first day of practice. Are you ready? You don’t look ready.”
The usually energetic Martin was more excited than usual on Friday. More than 100 RedHawks — 109, according to a count of the roster provided by the media relations department — convened on the artificial turf of Yager Stadium in Oxford on Friday for the first of 15 fall camp practices leading up to the season opener, at Iowa on Aug. 31, of Miami’s 122nd season of college football.
“I loved it,” he said immediately after addressing his entire team following the two-hour session conducted in pleasant weather. “It was awesome. There wasn’t a lot of real football. It was more about learning reads and alignments and assignments and techniques, but there was a lot of energy and enthusiasm. You expect that on Day One.”
Five more things you need to know about Miami’s fall camp:
1. Who’s the quarterback?: This question might not be answered until October. Third-year sophomore Jackson Williamson and redshirt freshman A.J. Mayer are co-No. 1s on the depth chart and will most likely stay that way through the early part of the schedule before a permanent replacement for the departed Gus Ragland is determined. The righthanded Mayer took most of the snaps with the first unit on Friday, which most likely won’t be the case on Saturday.
“It’ll be pretty much 50-50,” Martin said. “We need to get everybody used to working with everybody.”
Mayer made some nice throws on Friday, including a 30-yard pass down the left sideline to speedy junior running back Jaylon Bester on a go route and a few more to receivers in traffic.
True freshman Brett Gabbert is third on the depth chart, but he’s also likely to get some work with the first unit as the RedHawks face a grueling first few weeks that include trips to Ohio State and Cincinnati and a Mid-American Conference opener against defending East Division champion Buffalo.
“We’ve got to get two ready – maybe three,” Martin said. “What if Ohio State grabs our quarterback’s arm, rips it off and throws it into the stands?”
2. Youth movement: After having one of the MACs most veteran-laden rosters last season, the RedHawks are among the conference’s younger teams this season with just 18 seniors and 51 true or redshirt freshmen. Martin has adjusted the practice routine so that younger players are at one end learning basics while veterans are at the other end incorporating nuances.
“You don’t want to go too slow for the veterans or too fast for the younger guys,” he said. “I thought the young kids hung in there mentally.”
3. Knock on wood: The RedHawks went into fall camp with everybody healthy, a testament to the work done by the program’s strength and athletic training crews, Martin said.
“We’re really good,” he said. “Those guys did a great job. Our entire (football) organization is so much better. This is probably the healthiest we’ve been.”
True freshman wide receiver James Maye did limp off halfway through practice with what appeared to be a left hamstring problem.
4. That’s gonna be on SportsCenter: Even though it was Day One, several players turned in some eye-catching plays, including freshman linebacker and Centerville-product Max Wynn tipping a ball and grabbing it out of the air for an interception. Other noteworthy plays include fifth-year senior tight end Quentin Hardy making a leaping one-handed catch over the middle in traffic and fourth-year junior defensive back and Iowa transfer Emmanuel Rugamba breaking up a pass that third-year sophomore defensive back Sterling Weatherford intercepted.
Of course, it didn’t all go smoothly. During one drill, Martin loudly pointed out while mimicking the dancelike movements he was seeing from his players, “This is not walk-through. You go full speed to the whistle.”
Toward the end of practice, the offenses were simply trying to run two straight perfect plays against no defense – no penalties, being in the right formation, making the correct reads and adjustments – without actually throwing the ball or handing it off. The first team went 2-for-2 and stepped back. The second team had issues. It was just the first day. 5. The schedule: The RedHawks are scheduled to practice today, Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and August 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20 and 21 before settling into a weekly in-season routine. All fall camp sessions are scheduled to run from 8:50 a.m. to 10:50 a.m.