By Matt Porter
CORAL GABLES — Al Golden doesn’t know what to make of it, but he’s happy to see Ryan Williams at work.
Williams, who entered spring drills as UM’s starting quarterback before tearing the ACL in his right knee, does not participate in 11-on-11 sessions but made a brief return to 7-on-7 play Friday, taking three snaps. He competed in most of the team drills and is able to run, albeit with a slight limp.
“He’s making progress,” Golden said. “Again I keep knocking on wood, and I’m not being coy with you – I don’t know what it all means. All I know is, he’s having an unbelievable recovery. In terms of the bell curve, he’s on the high end of it. So it’s good.”
Miami Norland High's finest: left tackle Ereck Flowers and running back Duke Johnson. (instagram.com/mattyports)
Miami Norland High’s finest: left tackle Ereck Flowers and running back Duke Johnson. (instagram.com/mattyports)
When spoke to the media Tuesday, Williams said he won’t set a timetable for his return. “I’ll play when I’m ready,” he said. It was his injury , of course, that set off UM’s quarterback competition.
Your daily update on that:
Freshman Brad Kaaya continues to look cool and confident. He ran mostly with the first team and threw a perfect ball to tight end Beau Sandland for a 40-yard gain. He also hit D’Mauri Jones for a short touchdown, timing an underneath route with precision, and Phillip Dorsett for a long score in 11-on-11 action. He threw no interceptions, but he and center Shane McDermott botched a pair of snap exchanges in drills, riling up offensive coordinator James Coley. He made the offense sprint a half-field.
Several times this week, Golden has praised Kaaya’s poise and smarts. Asked what else he’d like to see from the freshman, Golden said:
“Just do what he’s doing. Command of the huddle. Continue to be more vocal. I think that’s the one thing Jake Heaps is right now. He’s vocal. He’s not afraid to get into, get after other guys and communicate and be loud.
“We’ve got to continue to work with Brad and Kevin [Olsen] and Malik [Rosier] on that. So that was the challenge to Brad today, just continue to be more vocal. Obviously he’s learning a lot. We’ve got a lot going in on the front end.”
It was not the best day for Heaps, threw two interceptions, threw two near-interceptions and ran into a sack during the 11-on-11 sessions. He did produce perhaps the day’s finest throw, a perfect corner fade over Antonio Crawford and into the hands of Stacy Coley for a touchdown.
Rosier and Olsen ran with the second unit.
* Wide receiver Darrell Langham, of Santaluces High, will arrive “tonight,” Golden said. The coach previously said Langham, the last of the 2014 signees to make it to campus, would be there Friday.
* Golden said he wasn’t ready to release a depth chart – “We are rotating so many guys right now” – but through the first week, tight ends, offensive line and linebackers seem to be clear-cut.
The tight end hierarchy is Clive Walford, Beau Sandland and Standish Dobard. The offensive line of left tackle Ereck Flowers, left guard Jon Feliciano, center Shane McDermott, right guard Danny Isidora and right tackle Kc McDermott has been together for most of the team periods. When UM is in its base defense, middle linebacker Denzel Perryman is between weak-side man Raphael Kirby and strong-side guy Darrion Owens.
* One of the best battles of camp has been cornerback. In the mix: Tracy Howard, Antonio Crawford, Corn Elder, Artie Burns and Ladarius Gunter.
“That’s a heck of a battle at corner right now,” Golden said. “Lot of guys competing. Got a long way to go in that race. That race is far from over. … Too early to call the election there.
“The thing about corners are they all fight for the same job. They all fight for the nickel, they fight for the field corner, the boundary corner and generally they have the same jobs on kickoff coverage, on punt coverage, on kickoff returns. So, the interesting thing there is they’re all stacked up there on every one of those so we’ll see how it shakes out.”
* Despite giving up the touchdown, Crawford out-shined the competition Friday. He picked off a pass from Heaps and also had one interception Thursday. Crawford is working as the starting nickel corner (in a package that includes weak-side linebacker Jermaine Grace, defensive ends Al-Quadin Muhammad and Tyriq McCord and defensive tackles Anthony Chickillo and Ufomba Kamalu.
* Physically impressive safety Jamal Carter, listed at 6-foot-1 and 207 pounds, said he’s 210 pounds and wants to get up to 215. Carter said he’s battling with Deon Bush at the strong safety spot, with freshman Kiy Hester also in the mix. The free safeties are Dallas Crawford, Rayshawn Jenkins and freshman Marques Gayot, from Park Vista High.
* Foliage watch: Tracy Howard and Kamalu lost their black jerseys, which are worn by defensive team leaders.
Others in black: nose tackle Earl Moore, Chickillo, rush end Trent Harris, Owens, Perryman, Kirby, Antonio Crawford and Dallas Crawford.
There were no changes among the players wearing orange jerseys (offensive team leaders). That crew was Flowers, Feliciano, Shane McDermott, Isidora, Kc McDermott, Walford, Sandland, receivers Rashawn Scott and Phillip Dorsett, running back Duke Johnson and walk-on fullback Ronnie Regula.
* Jenkins and receiver Herb Waters locked up for the first tussle of camp. No punches were thrown and no one went to the ground.
* Since summer classes ended Friday, UM will return to a mostly-morning practice schedule Saturday. “It’s good for their recovery,” Golden said. “It’s better for our meeting schedule and most importantly, it’s best in terms of the heat and everything.”
* That also means less of a chance for lightning delays.
After Friday’s stoppage of about 35 minutes, the Canes are 4-for-4 in lightning delays this camp. Yet another afternoon storm — a regular South Florida summer occurrence — sent the team back to the locker room a few minutes into practice.
No rain was present, but lightning in the area caused the alarm to sound, and started the clock on a mandatory 30-minute wait. Saturday’s session begins at 8:20 a.m., usually a less-treacherous time in the skies.
Golden said the team had to cut several periods from camp so far because of weather delays.
“They did a great job this week,” he said. “Great maturity, excellent leadership, good focus.”
