Young Bulldogs make impact during scrimmage
The Citadel football team held its "Meet the Bulldogs" scrimmage Saturday, and some new players took the opportunity to introduce themselves to a few hundred Bulldogs fans.
Second-year running backs Dalton Trevino and Terrance Martin started with the first-team offense ahead of a couple of veterans, and true freshman quarterback Aaron Miller made a quick impression with a 54-yard touchdown run.
In all, the offense showed it has made some strides as it prepares for a second season in the triple-option attack, looking a bit more sure-footed that it did during last year's 3-8 campaign. Quarterbacks Ben Dupree and Matt Thompson led TD drives of 13 and 12 plays, respectively, and fullback Terrell Dallas pounded up the middle for an unofficial 59 yards on nine carries.
Also, wide receiver Luke Caldwell threw a 59-yard TD pass to slotback Rickey Anderson on a reverse pass, and caught a TD pass from Dupree during a goal-line situation as the Bulldogs ran about 120 plays.
Still, there's work to be done before the Sept. 3 opener with Jacksonville, as the offense turned the ball over three times, once on a fumble and twice on interceptions.
"I thought for three or four series there, we functioned fairly OK," said coach Kevin Higgins. "We're still trying to get the offensive line meshed up and still trying to get a handle on which of those backs are going to emerge."
Martin, a sophomore, and redshirt freshman Trevino got the first snaps with the No. 1 offense, ahead of Anderson and Van Dyke Jones. Martin ran five times for 26 yards, and Anderson had three carries for 18 yards and the long TD catch.
"Trevino has had a great camp, and Martin will be a good player," Higgins said. "We know what Rickey and Van Dyke can do, and all four of those guys will play a lot."
Miller, a 6-0, 215-pounder from Clover, will redshirt if everything goes as planned. But he showed enough Saturday to convince coaches that he might be able to help this season.
"Put it this way -- after today, there's more of an inclination to wait as long as we can and see what he can do," Higgins said. "He very well might be able to help us this coming year."
In full-field situations, QBs Dupree and Thompson combined to hit 3 of 10 passes for 35 yards, with two interceptions thrown by Dupree. One bounced off the hands of a receiver in the end zone and was picked off by safety Austin Crowe. On the other, cornerback Brandon McCladdie stepped in front of a receiver for a pick.
"Our defense has seen us a lot and they brought safety blitzes and corner blitzes today," Higgins said. "They used a lot of their package, so I'm not as concerned about that. Having said that, I think our defense is faster than ever and moving extremely well. The linebackers are doing a nice job and we are a little bit more physical than have been. The secondary did good job staying disciplined against an option attack."
