Some good news regarding Seumalo — the coaches are easing him back into practice and using him at guard for now since Andrews is out, but he might move if and when Andrews returns. The expectation all around is that he will be ready to start game 1 barring any setback.

Regarding the QB battle, nothing really new today. Quarterbacks were throwing into the nets (rolling out and throwing from 10 yards away then throwing what would be WR screens), and Collins struggled and lost his cool a couple of times, appearing to be frustrated about his performance. He struggled hitting the net, as did the transfer QB Garretson. Mitchell and Marcus did well in those drills, but McMaryion missed open wide receivers in his 2nd team reps. Based on this and yesterday’s performance, Mitchell probably has the upper hand at this point.

On the second team, Paul Lucas stood out. Very explosive, froze DBs, and ran good routes for a converted RB. He would have scored several touchdowns had McMaryion delivered better balls.

Some notes from practice, which was overall an uneventful day.

Regarding Isaac Seumalo and the offensive line, which seems to be a main concern of many: he practiced today as mentioned in other outlets, but only briefly and then Delp filled in for him. The first unit is otherwise the same as the end of last season and during spring. The second unit, right to left, was Will Hopkins, Drew Clarkson, Mason Jonson, Brayden Kearsley, and Bobby Keenan.

As I expected, the WRs stood out today. Victor Bolden was the best offensive player on the field today, burning veteran DBs like Larry Scott by running pinpoint routes. Jordan Villamin looked fantastic. He dropped weight and looks to be moving very well. Guyton looks good, and both players and coaches are high on him (as am I, and Jack). Another receiver (TE) who had a big day catching passes was Brent Vanderveen. He’s transitioning into the position well, though he needs to become a better blocker. Vanderveen could add much needed depth, and if he keeps it up, possibly allow Nall to move to defense or RB (with Songy and Cook gone, they can use an extra LB and RB more than a TE). Tanner Sanders is small but runs polished routes.

Nick Mitchell and Seth Collins were both impressive throwing the ball today. Mitchell was better today, but not enough to separate himself after just one day. We know the media and the coach want Collins to be the guy, so he likely will be the guy. Both QBs were able to complete well-covered deep out routes. These were one on one drills without pads, so take it with a grain of salt. Again, I reiterate that the QB “problem” is overblown. At this point, we have to assume McMaryion is out of the race. His body language and verbal language on media day suggested this, too. He was not sharp today, mostly practicing with a mediocre second unit, which could have had something to do with that. There is still time for him to do something, but he’s quickly becoming an afterthought. Injury is likely the only way he sees the field. Let’s not rule out Garretson‘s impact, which will make this transition even smoother than people think:

Though he will be limited to the sideline come game days, Garretson boasts two assets — encyclopedic knowledge of the playbook and significant college experience — that Seth Collins, Nick Mitchell and Marcus McMaryion don’t possess.

Garrett Owens looked good kicking the ball made a couple of deep kicks. P Nick Porebski was the holder. Deltron Sands looks like a great receiving back, very fluid in his routes.

The structure of practice has changed as well. Practice was divided into two groups to maximize efficiency and give the 2s some more reps and experience. The veterans went first, and as expected, they were crisper with better tempo and execution. The younger players followed and the coaches slowed things down, helping them out with the fine details. This created an efficient scenario where everyone received good reps and was involved. This will likely change as camp moves along and the 1s get more of the reps, but for the first few practices it’s a great plan because the 2s will have gained solid knowledge and experience that they can bring into next year or and injury/emergency situation.

Overall practice was crisp and efficient compared to Spring practice.

One thing Mamma Machado had right is that the eve of Fall practice feels like Christmas eve (so does the night before kickoff), and that spring practice is meh. Agree completely with her on that, at least now with Andersen at the helm.

I think the most interesting thing to witness this Fall is the change in mindset. The quote from Larry Scott yesterday was just another in a long series that basically confirms Riley was soft and holding guys back. It’s as close to fact as possible at this point. When people analyze the 2015 team, are they taking into account players were mentally and physically weak, their “inner beast” could not be unleashed? Because to me that sounds like a team that’s about to explode. Everyone is underrating this group. Fans of this site say the cupboard is bare and there’s no talent. That’s ridiculous. There is talent up and down the roster. The OL will be sneaky great; the WRs could be the best group in the Pac-12. QB is skewing everyone’s opinion, but with GA open to mixing and matching QBs, and the fact they don’t have to do much in the passing game given this group of WRs, I’m just not that worried about it. The QB situation is overstated too. I reiterate, 5 wins minimum with focused and intense football, which will make the losses bearable.

The downside, as always, is we’re all a year older and balder.