WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J.- Monmouth University's football team wrapped 2013 camp with an 80 play scrimmage on Wednesday afternoon at Kessler Field.
“I think we had a good quality camp and today was a good way to finalize our preseason practices,” said head coach Kevin Callahan. “I thought we saw, especially with the first group, the offense move the ball very well in the beginning in the scrimmage. As we started filtering some other people in and mixing and matching groups we weren't quite as sharp as we need to be. We've made a lot of progress during this preseason, we've found some guys who can contribute and make plays for us and now our attention is turned solely on Montana State.”
While the goal over the past few weeks was to get the depth chart set in a number of positions, the quarterback position was particularly interesting without one player on the roster who had taken a game snap for the Hawks. After three weeks of competition the coaching staff has named UMass transfer Brandon Hill (Audubon, N.J./Audubon) as the starter heading into week one. Hill, the only quarterback on the roster who has seen significant game experience, played in five games for UMass as a redshirt freshman including three starts.
“It's a lot nicer to know you're the guy,'' Hill said. “Now I can get the reps I need and work with the guys, the receivers, the running backs on the hand exchanges, the offensive line on calls, and work with the guys I'm going to spend the majority of the time on the field with, so I can start building that chemistry with them.''
“There are a number of guys coming into this scrimmage still trying to solidify a position on the depth chart,” said Callahan. “Maybe where two guys were vying for a spot and we saw some very good competition today. Once we have an opportunity to look at the video chart maybe some more of those depth chart places will be more clear.”
The Hawks ran 80+ plays on Wednesday with every healthy player getting work. With camp completed, attention now turns to week one's opponent, Montana State.
“Tomorrow we don't have practice, but we do have some meetings,” said Callahan. “They have Friday and Saturday morning off. We'll get back to work here Saturday afternoon. At that point 100% of our focus will be on Montana State. We'll practice Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday before departing Wednesday morning.”
Monmouth opens the 2013 season against No. 2/3 Montana State in Bozeman Montana on August 29. The game, set for a 9:05 (Eastern) kickoff can be viewed for free on the Big Sky.TV or through http://www.msubobcats.com
