Technician Online

August 4th, 2008

O’Brien, Evans on upcoming scrimmage for QBs

With the five-man quarterback battle still raging into the first full week of practice, each quarterback will have the chance to prove his progress during the team’s first scrimmage Wednesday.

The scrimmage marks the first of four before the season opener at South Carolina. And while the focus up to today has been getting guys on track and learning the playbook, Wednesday will mark the first test for quarterbacks in game-like action.

“In a scrimmage situation, coaches aren’t on the field, so they have to perform on their own,” coach Tom O’Brien said. “It becomes test time for them to see if they can remember a routine and execute it.”

The quarterbacks, such as Daniel Evans, who sat at the top of the depth chart going into preseason practice, are looking forward to the scrimmage. It not only gives them the opportunity to show their knowledge of offensive coordinator Dana Bible’s offense, but it also serves as a nice break in the middle of the week.

“It changes up the day in and day out monotony of practice,” Evans said. “It’s a lot of fun and we like…keeping score against each other.”

The preseason includes four scrimmages and several two-a-day practices that will begin Saturday. As for the first scrimmage, O’Brien says the staff uses it to make sure his quarterbacks are performing the right plays.

“The first one is more just getting plays in and getting reps,” O’Brien said. “But later you’ll grade it the same way you would a game.”

Evans says he’s not worried about his stats Wednesday, adding that his focus is on making the right reads and setting up plays.

“So many times we’re working on different things, and if someone runs a wrong route or someone misses a block it will cause something to happen with the quarterback,” he said.

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