August 5th Practice Report- The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good
*All of USC's QB's were sharp. Blake Mitchell, Tommy Beecher, and Chris Smelley were all praised by head coach Steve Spurrier. Cade Thompson also looked good.

*The Brinkely Twins. Both will be impact players on USC's defense. Many criticized their signing last December, but those same people will be glad USC took them when the season gets under way.

*WR Moe Brown may have been the fastest player on the field tonight. He ran right by Carlos Thomas on a deep route.

*Marque Hall looks like a big-time SEC defensive tackle.

*The freshman class of 2006 appears to have been better than advertised. Several "under the radar prospects like Captain Munnerlyn, Terrance Campbell, Eric Norwood, and Moe Brown look like big-time players.

*USC got WR Moe Brown and QB Chris Smelley. Neither player was offered by Clemson after they were evaluated. Instead, the Tigers signed WR Jeffrey Ogren, Smelley's high school teammate, and QB Michael Wade. USC clearly came out on top of that deal.

*Starting OT's Gurminder Thind and Jamon Meredith are physically imposing. Neither player was highly recruited, but have developed into great looking players.

The Bad
*The most disappointing player on defense was by far Carlos Thomas. The sophomore from Atlanta was expected to nail down the starting cornerback position opposite Fred Bennett. Instead, Thomas lined up with the second team, and was beaten many times in coverage.

*Heath Batchelors knees. Hopefully a red-shirt season will allow the knees to heal, but right now, Batchleor is not able to move well enough to play.

*Justin Sorensen and Jeremy Burgess. Neither look like they will contribute this fall. Web Brown was moved ahead of Burgess and ran with the 2nd team at center.

*Brandon Isaac being held out of practice. although no reason was given, Cockfather Illustrated has learned that it was not injury related.

The Ugly

*Stanley Doughty, Matt Raysor, Kenrick Ellis, and James Thompson running the entire practice for not reporting at their required weight. As for Doughty, Raysor, and Thompson, they may play very little this season unless they get their weight under control in a hurry while maintaining a team first attitude. Ellis out-hustled all of them during practice as he was seen running out ahead of the others.

*Mike Davis's foot infection.

*Noah Whiteside played and acted like a player already on a three game suspension. Whiteside's body language and lack of concentration showed throughout practice.

*Ty Erving's lack of speed. He was beaten badly by several of the WR's in drills.