Photo by: SFA Athletics
2017 SFA Football Fall Camp Report: Quarterbacks
8/18/2017 2:32:00 PM | Football
The ‘Jacks went back to helmets, jerseys and shorts for day 14 of fall camp and hosted practice on the turf of Homer Bryce Stadium after heavy rains soaked the grass fields behind the SFA Fieldhouse
The 2017 Stephen F. Austin football season is just around the corner and the Lumberjacks have begun fall camp, beginning the countdown to the 91st season of Lumberjack football in Nacogdoches. Throughout camp, SFAJacks.com will break down each position, today highlighting the quarterbacks.
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Stephen F. Austin football team wrapped up the work week by practicing in helmets, jerseys and shorts inside Homer Bryce Stadium Friday morning. The 14th practice of fall camp was moved onto the turf from the originally scheduled practice fields after heavy rains yesterday soaked the grass behind the SFA Fieldhouse.
A stiff breeze helped to subside the steamy conditions inside Homer Bryce Friday morning as the 'Jacks held a shorter than usual practice in preparation for Saturday's full-pad scrimmage. Lasting only an hour and 10 minutes, the 16-period workout was centered around 46 open-field plays.
After the usual pre-practice drills, dynamic warmup and stretching, SFA went into positional drills and working on punting. The majority of the morning was spent on the open-field plays which took up nine of the 16 periods. The 'Jacks ran 21 plays as a team before going through seven repetitions, followed by a two-minute break and then a final 21 snaps. The offense-focused plays included both running and passing plays as the team and coaching staff worked the playbook. The morning workout did not include an end-of-practice conditioning session.
Quarterbacks
Heading into 2017 the biggest hole for the SFA offense was arguably its quarterback position, after losing a pair of seniors in Zach Conque and Hunter Taylor. The duo combined for all but 25 passing yards and all 22 touchdowns in 2016. Conque passed for 2,201 of SFA's 3,217 yards a season ago, while Taylor accounted for 991 yards through the air and seven touchdowns. For their careers, Conque and Taylor combined for 8,406 yards and 58 touchdowns while the returning contingent of quarterbacks has a combined four passing attempts under their belt.
The 'Jacks have a pair of returners in junior Ryan Cottingame (Sunnyvale, Texas) and sophomore Jake Blumrick (Pearland, Texas), both of which have seen limited action during their Lumberjack careers. Cottingame appeared in 11 games a season ago, completing two of four passes for 25 yards. Blumrick played in just one game in 2016, making his collegiate debut in the win at Incarnate Word where he rushed twice for 18 yards in SFA's final possession of the contest.
Both Blumrick and Cottingame saw significant reps during spring practices and bring different strengths to the position. The two have been taking all the first and second team repetitions throughout fall camp and each have been quite impressive. Blumrick was the featured signal caller in last Saturday's first scrimmage of the preseason and had a pair of nice touchdown passes, in addition to two red zone rushes that would have most likely gotten him into the end zone had not the plays been blown dead. Cottingame also looked poised and decisive during the opening scrimmage of fall camp as he led the second team offense.
"Every day is always a competition in the quarterback room", second-year offensive coordinator Gary Crowton said about the competition at the quarterback position. "We've got a little bit of experience in Foster (Sawyer) and I think Blumrick has really come on and had a really good fall camp. That's good because Foster had that little knee sprain that he's overcoming. Then Ryan Cottingame is doing a good job too and I like our two young guys, they are going to be good at some point. I feel like the group is growing and they're going to keep battling right to the first game."
"I think they both (Blumrick and Cottingame) are really doing a good job right", continued Coach Crowton. "Talking about the depth chart on there, I'm not going to do that, but I think they are both trying to prepare. Like I mentioned before, today we had Foster (Sawyer) and Jake taking the one reps, and then yesterday or the day before, Ryan took some one reps so they all have taken that. They are just trying to get better with what they can do in their part of the game. For example, if they have a weakness in one play, they are trying to get that ironed out and trying to put the whole package together so they are ready to go on gameday."
Fortunately, Blumrick and Cottingame will have a big target to throw to this fall in sophomore tight end Kiki Hill (Goliad, Texas). An All-Southland Conference honorable mention selection a year ago, Hill has been tabbed a preseason favorite for multiple all-conference accolades after a standout redshirt freshman campaign in 2016. Hill has been named preseason All-Southland Second Team by the league office and tabbed as preseason All-Southland First Team pick by College Sports Madness and Emory Hunt's Football Gameplan. Named as a key player by STATS FCS, Hill was one of the 'Jacks top play makers last season, catching 19 passes for 172 yards and scoring a pair of touchdowns. Arguably the best returning tight end in the league, Hill is a top threat to opposing defenses. He has the ability to play the traditional tight end role but can also run flex alignments, making him a multi-purpose player.
One of the biggest off-season acquisitions was the addition of TCU junior transfer Foster Sawyer (Fort Worth, Texas), who comes to Nacogdoches with two full seasons of eligibility remaining. Sawyer played in 12 games for the Horned Frogs with a pair of starts, completing 37-of-82 passes for 433 yards and three touchdowns. In 2015 Sawyer made his first collegiate start, completing 8-of-18 passes for 107 yards and tossing a touchdown on the road at seventh-ranked Oklahoma. It was a battle between two top-11 ranked FBS teams as the Horned Frogs were edged 30-29 in the final minute.
Standing at 6-foot-5 and weighing 230 pounds, Sawyer brings size to the quarterback position for SFA. However, he will have to wait a little longer than expected before seeing time on the field after a summer knee injury. He has been making great progress with rehab throughout fall camp and looks to take more and more snaps as the preseason continues. Sawyer should be suited up and ready to go as a Lumberjack at some point during the season.
"He (Sawyer) will be back soon very soon, that's up to the trainers", remarked Coach Crowton about Sawyer's timetable for full return. "I think he's almost ready now, he looks really good in practice and he's doing everything so I'm happy with where he is at. He's trying to get better with what he can do."
Head coach Clint Conque also signed true freshman Zach Smith (Pearland, Texas), who put up impressive numbers during his prep career, and has brought in fellow true freshman Zach Truelove (Shepherd, Texas). Both have taken repetitions throughout fall camp and look to position themselves for more snaps this fall.
SFA now turns its attention to its second full-contact scrimmage of the preseason, taking place Saturday at 4 p.m. inside Homer Bryce Stadium. The 'Jacks will then have Sunday off from practice before wrapping up fall camp next week.
The 'Jacks open up the 2017 season at SMU on Saturday, Sept. 2, before beginning the home portion of their schedule the following weekend against Southern Utah (Sept. 9).
Season tickets for 2017 SFA Football are on sale through the SFA athletics ticket office and can be purchased here. Available season ticket packages include reserved chair back and reserved bench seats. SFA football season tickets start at only $63 for the general public and $38 for faculty and staff. For more information, call 936-468-5225 (JACK).
Stay tuned to SFAJacks.com, as well as SFA's social media platforms, for complete 2017 fall camp coverage.
2017 SFA FOOTBALL FALL CAMP SCHEDULE
Saturday, Aug. 19 (Scrimmage Two) – Practice 15 (4 p.m.)
Location: Homer Bryce Stadium | Attire: Full Pads
Monday, Aug. 21 – Practice 16 (9:15 a.m.)
Location: Practice Field* | Attire: Shells
Tuesday, Aug. 22 – Practice 17 (9:15 a.m.)
Location: Homer Bryce Stadium | Attire: Shells
Wednesday, Aug. 23 (Scrimmage Three) – Practice 18 (7 p.m.)
Location: Homer Bryce Stadium | Attire: Full Pads
* – Practice fields located behind the athletics fieldhouse
-SFA-
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Stephen F. Austin football team wrapped up the work week by practicing in helmets, jerseys and shorts inside Homer Bryce Stadium Friday morning. The 14th practice of fall camp was moved onto the turf from the originally scheduled practice fields after heavy rains yesterday soaked the grass behind the SFA Fieldhouse.
A stiff breeze helped to subside the steamy conditions inside Homer Bryce Friday morning as the 'Jacks held a shorter than usual practice in preparation for Saturday's full-pad scrimmage. Lasting only an hour and 10 minutes, the 16-period workout was centered around 46 open-field plays.
After the usual pre-practice drills, dynamic warmup and stretching, SFA went into positional drills and working on punting. The majority of the morning was spent on the open-field plays which took up nine of the 16 periods. The 'Jacks ran 21 plays as a team before going through seven repetitions, followed by a two-minute break and then a final 21 snaps. The offense-focused plays included both running and passing plays as the team and coaching staff worked the playbook. The morning workout did not include an end-of-practice conditioning session.
Quarterbacks
Heading into 2017 the biggest hole for the SFA offense was arguably its quarterback position, after losing a pair of seniors in Zach Conque and Hunter Taylor. The duo combined for all but 25 passing yards and all 22 touchdowns in 2016. Conque passed for 2,201 of SFA's 3,217 yards a season ago, while Taylor accounted for 991 yards through the air and seven touchdowns. For their careers, Conque and Taylor combined for 8,406 yards and 58 touchdowns while the returning contingent of quarterbacks has a combined four passing attempts under their belt.
The 'Jacks have a pair of returners in junior Ryan Cottingame (Sunnyvale, Texas) and sophomore Jake Blumrick (Pearland, Texas), both of which have seen limited action during their Lumberjack careers. Cottingame appeared in 11 games a season ago, completing two of four passes for 25 yards. Blumrick played in just one game in 2016, making his collegiate debut in the win at Incarnate Word where he rushed twice for 18 yards in SFA's final possession of the contest.
Both Blumrick and Cottingame saw significant reps during spring practices and bring different strengths to the position. The two have been taking all the first and second team repetitions throughout fall camp and each have been quite impressive. Blumrick was the featured signal caller in last Saturday's first scrimmage of the preseason and had a pair of nice touchdown passes, in addition to two red zone rushes that would have most likely gotten him into the end zone had not the plays been blown dead. Cottingame also looked poised and decisive during the opening scrimmage of fall camp as he led the second team offense.
"Every day is always a competition in the quarterback room", second-year offensive coordinator Gary Crowton said about the competition at the quarterback position. "We've got a little bit of experience in Foster (Sawyer) and I think Blumrick has really come on and had a really good fall camp. That's good because Foster had that little knee sprain that he's overcoming. Then Ryan Cottingame is doing a good job too and I like our two young guys, they are going to be good at some point. I feel like the group is growing and they're going to keep battling right to the first game."
"I think they both (Blumrick and Cottingame) are really doing a good job right", continued Coach Crowton. "Talking about the depth chart on there, I'm not going to do that, but I think they are both trying to prepare. Like I mentioned before, today we had Foster (Sawyer) and Jake taking the one reps, and then yesterday or the day before, Ryan took some one reps so they all have taken that. They are just trying to get better with what they can do in their part of the game. For example, if they have a weakness in one play, they are trying to get that ironed out and trying to put the whole package together so they are ready to go on gameday."
Fortunately, Blumrick and Cottingame will have a big target to throw to this fall in sophomore tight end Kiki Hill (Goliad, Texas). An All-Southland Conference honorable mention selection a year ago, Hill has been tabbed a preseason favorite for multiple all-conference accolades after a standout redshirt freshman campaign in 2016. Hill has been named preseason All-Southland Second Team by the league office and tabbed as preseason All-Southland First Team pick by College Sports Madness and Emory Hunt's Football Gameplan. Named as a key player by STATS FCS, Hill was one of the 'Jacks top play makers last season, catching 19 passes for 172 yards and scoring a pair of touchdowns. Arguably the best returning tight end in the league, Hill is a top threat to opposing defenses. He has the ability to play the traditional tight end role but can also run flex alignments, making him a multi-purpose player.
One of the biggest off-season acquisitions was the addition of TCU junior transfer Foster Sawyer (Fort Worth, Texas), who comes to Nacogdoches with two full seasons of eligibility remaining. Sawyer played in 12 games for the Horned Frogs with a pair of starts, completing 37-of-82 passes for 433 yards and three touchdowns. In 2015 Sawyer made his first collegiate start, completing 8-of-18 passes for 107 yards and tossing a touchdown on the road at seventh-ranked Oklahoma. It was a battle between two top-11 ranked FBS teams as the Horned Frogs were edged 30-29 in the final minute.
Standing at 6-foot-5 and weighing 230 pounds, Sawyer brings size to the quarterback position for SFA. However, he will have to wait a little longer than expected before seeing time on the field after a summer knee injury. He has been making great progress with rehab throughout fall camp and looks to take more and more snaps as the preseason continues. Sawyer should be suited up and ready to go as a Lumberjack at some point during the season.
"He (Sawyer) will be back soon very soon, that's up to the trainers", remarked Coach Crowton about Sawyer's timetable for full return. "I think he's almost ready now, he looks really good in practice and he's doing everything so I'm happy with where he is at. He's trying to get better with what he can do."
Head coach Clint Conque also signed true freshman Zach Smith (Pearland, Texas), who put up impressive numbers during his prep career, and has brought in fellow true freshman Zach Truelove (Shepherd, Texas). Both have taken repetitions throughout fall camp and look to position themselves for more snaps this fall.
SFA now turns its attention to its second full-contact scrimmage of the preseason, taking place Saturday at 4 p.m. inside Homer Bryce Stadium. The 'Jacks will then have Sunday off from practice before wrapping up fall camp next week.
The 'Jacks open up the 2017 season at SMU on Saturday, Sept. 2, before beginning the home portion of their schedule the following weekend against Southern Utah (Sept. 9).
Season tickets for 2017 SFA Football are on sale through the SFA athletics ticket office and can be purchased here. Available season ticket packages include reserved chair back and reserved bench seats. SFA football season tickets start at only $63 for the general public and $38 for faculty and staff. For more information, call 936-468-5225 (JACK).
Stay tuned to SFAJacks.com, as well as SFA's social media platforms, for complete 2017 fall camp coverage.
2017 SFA FOOTBALL FALL CAMP SCHEDULE
Saturday, Aug. 19 (Scrimmage Two) – Practice 15 (4 p.m.)
Location: Homer Bryce Stadium | Attire: Full Pads
Monday, Aug. 21 – Practice 16 (9:15 a.m.)
Location: Practice Field* | Attire: Shells
Tuesday, Aug. 22 – Practice 17 (9:15 a.m.)
Location: Homer Bryce Stadium | Attire: Shells
Wednesday, Aug. 23 (Scrimmage Three) – Practice 18 (7 p.m.)
Location: Homer Bryce Stadium | Attire: Full Pads
* – Practice fields located behind the athletics fieldhouse
-SFA-
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