Coach Marty Schottenheimer is totally old school and was yelling at his players to “pull your heads out of your asses!” when they didn’t have 11 men on the field.  I did not miss the pit action today, and it did not disappoint.  Let’s take a look at who stood out in the afternoon.

QB

Todd Reesing (Kansas) threw one of the ugliest passes I have ever seen today in red zone drills.  He dropped back to throw a screen pass and ended up pushing the ball out of his hand and away from his body.  It looked like the pass was tipped, but no defender was even close to him.  The nose of the ball was almost 90 degrees to the ground and it was wobbling like an injured duck.  Kerry Meier was the intended receiver, and the pass was completed but by the time it was caught the defense had caught up and stopped the play. 

Matt Nichols (Eastern Washington) threw some nice passes and seemed comfortable running the red zone offense.  His pump fake was very effective in getting the defense to bite, and he showed good timing and touch with his receivers.  Nathan Overbay (TE - Eastern Washington) dropped a touchdown pass from his former college teammate, but another West tight end - Dennis Pitta - did not let Nichols down.  Nichols lofted a perfect pass to the back of the end zone that went through a defenders outstretched arms and directly into Pitta’s hands for six.  Nichols is a project quarterback, but one that has flashed enough ability in Orlando to prove his worth. 

Max Hall (BYU) only has eyes for former college teammate Dennis Pitta.  He threw Pitta a touchdown pass in red zone drills, but other than that did not have an overly impressive day. 

RB

Pat Paschall (North Dakota State) was finally wearing the correct helmet today and he looked fantastic!  Paschall is great in open space, but really looked good between the tackles today.  He stayed low when going through the hole, and would wait until he was in the second level before bouncing it outside.  He sees the field well, and had a great cutback run that would have been at least a 40-yard touchdown.  The West squad was using him effectively on outside pitch plays, but he was also grinding out tough yards inside.  He would keep his feet moving after contact, and has a great stutter step before changing direction.  Paschall doesn’t lose much speed when changing direction, and had a spin move he used inside the hole at the line of scrimmage to gain 4-yards on what should have been a loss of 2. 

Keith Toston (Oklahoma State) showed a well rounded game today.  He stays low, showing great patience and vision every time he carries the ball.  I like the way he smoothly glides across the field and he was getting 5-7 yard carries regularly in practice today.  He is a very agile back, and can maneuver his way through trash at the line of scrimmage.  His feet are outstanding and he runs under control even though he can make ankle-breaking cuts on a dime.  Toston even showed some toughness today because Chris Thomas (DB - Air Force) was crushing players today, but he could not make Toston lose his feet.  His low center of gravity and balance was surely making NFL scouts drool. 

Dimitri Nance (Arizona State) is a back I enjoy watching very much.  He has more burst than you would expect a man his size to have, and he delivers punishment to anyone trying to tackle him.  Nance showed a great start/stop move in the hole today that most big backs can’t make.  He doesn’t lose all of his momentum when changing direction, and keeps his piston-like legs moving to churn out the tough yards after contact.  He’s more than a big man that is hard to tackle, he runs with “pop” and has an aggressive (mean) attitude when it comes to running the football.  Nance also had a good spin move and is light on his feet.   

WR/TE

Kerry Meier (Kansas) had good hands today, and showed the ability to hang onto the football after taking big shots.  He can adjust to poorly thrown passes (and there were a ton on the West side) and knows how to use his big frame to shield defenders away from the ball. 

Seyi Ajirotutu (Fresno State) had a very good day of practice.  He knows how to find the soft spots in the zone, and was coming back to the quarterback today (after being coached up on that yesterday).  Even thought Ajirotutu is a taller receiver, he was able to slip under the outstretched arms of Darrell Stuckey (DB - Kansas) to gain more positive yards after the catch.   

Emmanuel Sanders (SMU) caught some nice passes, but didn’t really wow me today.  His best play of the day came on an end around that gained at least 20 yards for the offense.  Sanders took the handoff and sped around the left edge to pick up big yardage.  He showed some fast wheels on that play.

Verran Tucker (California) is out with a hamstring injury.

Terrance Austin (UCLA) was the player that replaced Tucker on the roster, and he made a couple of plays.  Both were on end arounds where he was able to flash his quick feet and speed to the edge of the defense.  One of the end arounds came with the ball at the 15-yard line, and Austin raced to the pylon untouched for six points.  I didn’t see him catch a ton of passes, but his hands didn’t look awful on the few I did see him haul in.

Jordan Sisco (Regina) didn’t catch my eye today after making a few plays yesterday. 

Dennis Pitta (BYU) caught a couple of touchdown passes today, but didn’t stand out for me until the West started working on their red zone offense.  Pitta had great concentration on his second TD catch of the day.  Matt Nichols lofted a perfect pass to the back of the end zone, and Pitta had to look it in after the ball sailed between a defenders outstretched arms.  He trapped the ball against his left shoulder pad with both hands, and had enough body control to tap both feet inbounds before falling to the ground.  It was a fantastic play that had the crowd (and his teammates) celebrating afterwards. 
Offensive Line

Kenny Alfred (Washington State) completely shut down Ekom Udofia (DL - Stanford) and showed a strong base in doing so.

John Estes (Hawaii) totally owned Martin Tevaseu (DL - UNLV) a couple of times today.  One time Tevaseu jumped off sides, then reset, then the ball was snapped.  Estes simply put his hand on the back of Tevaseu’s helmet and pressed down, pinning the big defensive lineman on the ground.  It was the biggest “oooh!” moment of the day.

Brandon Carter (Texas Tech) showed Daniel Te’o Nesheim his functional strength by simply tossing him to the ground in the face of a bull rush.

Shelley Smith (Colorado State) did a good job of standing up to the speed and moves of Jeffery Fitzgerald. 

DEF

Jeffery Fitzgerald (DL - Kansas State) used his speed to get past Cole Pemberton (OL - Colorado State).  He then used moves on top of moves to get past Pemberton a second time in the pit.

Daniel Te’o Nesheim (DL - Washington) showed great strength, and pushed Chris Marinelli (OL - Stanford) back into the football dummy.

Earl Mitchell (DL - Arizona) was able to get by Shelley Smith with a wicked spin move, and he even threw a wicked elbow for good measure.

Dexter Davis (LB - Arizona State) got into the action in the pit and took Cole Pemberton (OL - Colorado State) to school.

Jason Beauchamp (LB - UNLV) also got into the mix when the pit was fired up.  He showed great speed to get under Mike Tepper (OL - California), and later beat Chris Marinelli (OL - Stanford) with a swim move to the inside.  During 11-on-11 drills he was also flying around thumping anyone with the football.