Another spring practice has come and gone as SU wrapped up their sixth session.
Here are a three observations from Saturday’s morning practice.
Work in the trenches
The morning started with one-on-one blocking between offensive and defensive linemen. Both players were tasked with trying to get past the other. The drill was very physical, and the coaches were in the players' ears the entire time.
The video shows transfer OL Naquil Betrand going against redshirt freshman Xavier Miles. Betrand kept his opponent in front of him during most of the battle.
Betrand is in the mix for playing time after some key departures.
Defensive backs get in work
Defensive backs were featured during Saturday's media session.
The DBs worked on footwork and some mock coverages. In the footwork drill, the players kept their feet moving until the coaches pointed in a direction. After that point, the players needed to sprint in that direction.
The second drill involved one player as the receiver and the other as the defensive back.
The goal was to stay with the receiver to prevent any separation. An interesting note was that freshman Demetres Samuel Jr., who has played both DB and WR, participated in these drills.
Samuel’s speed and size make this possible and it's worth keeping an eye on where else he lines up this spring.
7-on-7s
The media was also able to watch some 7-on-7 action between the offense and the defense.
Once again, Trebor Peña made his mark.
The defense struggled to contain him, and he hauled in a lot of key passes.
Meanwhile, sophomore quarterback Rickie Collins threw just one incomplete pass while targeting redshirt freshman Jaylan Hornsby.
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