The day started with Coach Mike Houston telling the team before they broke the beginning of practice of huddle, “Let’s have a great day”!  Just as we’ve seen over the last few days, guys got better today.

Here’s some of what I saw:

C-A-A Commissioner Joe D’Antonio was not only at practice on Wednesday, he was a part of practice. The Commissioner has what he calls “Practice with the Commissioner”, where he goes to the regular season champions from each sport and participates in practice with the team. “Joey D” as he likes to be called worked out with the receivers during the drills to begin the day and spoke with the team afterward. (Joey D wearing #82 in the picture below)

• There was a good period where the Wide Receivers and Tight Ends worked on blocking on the edges and on the 2^nd level to aid the run game. This was also good for the Defensive Backs and Safeties who will face blockers as the opposition try’s to establish their own run game.

• The battle for the starting Quarterback job is just that, a battle. The coaches put both Cole Johnson and Ben DiNucci in very difficult situations, and both had good moments and moments that weren’t their best. But as Offensive Coordinator Donnie Kirkpatrick said recently, having too many good Quarterbacks doesn’t keep him up nights. These two guys are making it a hard decision for the coaches. Could we see them both play in games?

• The Defensive Line push is tremendous. I had the opportunity to stand well behind the plays, facing the D-Line, and watch plays develop. You want to talk about having to react quickly, the Quarterbacks had to do that because of the intense pressure they faced.

• The list of Wide Receivers who have made tremendous grabs continues to grow, but at the same time, so does the list of defensive players who make plays on the other side of the ball. Linebackers KeShaun Moore and Kelvin Azanama made athletic plays to deflect passes. Wide Receivers Percy Mayers and Devin Ravenel were among the Wide Outs who made terrific catches today.

• Leadership was on display a lot today, from Rashad Robinson helping a younger player understand why he had been beaten by a receiver to Cole Johnson verbally and with his gestures putting the team in the right places.