Defense Ahead of Offense at UC Scrimmage
By Doug Smock
Sunday Gazette-Mail
April 15, 2007
The way Tony DeMeo figures it, his University of Charleston football team’s defense should hold the fort this fall until the offense jells.
But in spring practice, a blossoming defense has to settle for trying to kick in the offense’s fort, and that’s the way Saturday’s scrimmage at UC Stadium went at times.
While the offense wasn’t skunked, the defense seemed to enjoy the upper hand and got stronger as the rain-soaked practice moved along.
“I’m really pleased with the way our defense is coming around. We’re playing fast,” DeMeo said. “We’re making some mistakes but we’re playing fast, and that’s the big thing.
“I think you’re going to see a very, very aggressive, mobile defense. I think offensively, we’re playing with some young quarterbacks, and they’re going to get better. But I feel like as long as we play defense we’re going to be in every game, and I think they’ll buy some time for these young guys to develop offensively.”
When the scrimmage format shifted and the line-to-gain chains were brought out, the defense stepped up in a big way. The offense was held to no gain or worse on 18 of 37 snaps, not counting penalties.
The stars on the defense show a perfect blend of local and state products, along with imports from football hotspots such as Florida and Cincinnati. From out of state, there was LeDominique Williams showing sure tackling in the open field. Chris Woomer nearly nabbed an interception and Stephen Howard screamed in to recover a fumble. Antonio Smith was everywhere at times.
But there also was Joey Lindamood of Parkersburg at middle linebacker, Winfield’s T.L. Asbury holding his own against the starting offensive line and pretty much wrecking the second unit. But for somebody making a leap, look north on Route 21.
“[Tackle] Dustin Eary of Sissonville has been the biggest surprise all year,” DeMeo said. “He’s having a great spring, he’s doing a great job, he caught Rusty Taylor on a reverse and that’s something he couldn’t have done a year ago.”
That’s Rusty Taylor, former Riverside track star and once-upon-a-time Marshall walk-on — and the guy that scored on a 49-yard catch-and-run.
Eary, who will be a sophomore this fall, not only had to recover from a knee injury, but had to shed weight gained during his down time. At 6-foot, 275 pounds, he is getting nimble enough to become dangerous.
“I lost probably about 30 pounds during the winter,” he said. “I was a little overweight last year and it hurt me a lot in my running. Mentally, I’ve grown up a lot and I’ve learned not to take stuff to heart as much. I’ve become more of a man on the field than I was before.”
The offense had some handicaps Saturday. For starters, Nitro’s Josh Culbertson, the leading returning rusher, was resting an injured back. That led freshman Sean Tyree (29 carries, 81 yards) to get most of the backfield rushes, with Wahama’s Jeshua Branch getting some snaps.
Then there is the matter of quarterback, where Corey Isner has graduated. Floridian DaRante Hunter, South Charleston product Shaad Coleman and speedy 5-8 freshman Trace Whitman shared the snaps. To their credit, Hunter and Coleman combined to go 14-of-22 for 176 yards, without an interception.
And it’s not like they don’t have skill players to throw to. Taylor took a rollout pass, got around a block and turned a few defenders into statues on his scoring reception. Terrance Spencer, a junior-to-be who caught 60 passes last year, did a splendid job of coming back to a Hunter lob for a 28-yard gain. Murrvin Johnson and Vince Brown return at receiver.
“We’ve got a lot of skill players that can definitely do a lot for us,” Coleman said.
The rough spots appear to be on the offensive line. That became doubly apparent when seven shotgun snaps hit the carpet and a few more came out high.
“New centers,” DeMeo said. “[One guy] got moved to center a few days ago. They’ll take a couple of times to get that ironed out, [but] things will work out. Things will be fine.”