Air Force Academy — Air Force coach Troy Calhoun was pleased for the most part with the work of his first units in today’s game-type scrimmage at Falcon Stadium.
However, he still plans to work on details in the coming week leading up to next Saturday’s season opener at home against South Carolina State.
“There still could be some competition for a starting position this week,” Calhoun said. “We don’t have five solid players up front on the offensive line of our second unit,” Calhoun said. “We’re probably seven deep overall on the offensive line and that number has to grow.”
Calhoun noted he’s seeing better overall work from the centers and guards, but noted some freshman players at tackle have to step up — and quickly. Injuries to sophomore tackles Chris Campbell and Anthony Schelstrate have placed a high priority on senior Chris Monson and junior Keith Williams to play as well as the starters.
Calhoun passed around some compliments. He noted kicker Ryan Harrison’s 62-yard field goal and the improvement in his punting. He noted several plays in the open field by senior outside linebacker Julian Madrid, but pointed out that Madrid has to play better when he’s lined up on the tight end. Calhoun mentioned a tough third-down catch by sophomore receiver Sean Quintana. Tailback Kip McCarthy drew praise for his tough running on the first unit.
“No. 8 (freshman cornerback Reggie Rembert) has some electricity to him,” Calhoun said of his 5-foot-7, 175-pound newcomer from Flower Mound, Tex.
“On his punt returns, he has to learn to put the ball away. He was swinging it all over the place. We have to fix that.”
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com
