First College Scrimmage

Completed my first college scrimmage this afternoon. Well, the first one that really counts. Last year I while I was a prospect, I worked two college scrimmages, but these did not count towards qualifying. Now they do.

I ran my ass off and this was just a scrimmage. They ran about 75 plays, but there are so many more plays to the flats and long passes. The Umpire does not just wait for the ball many or stop at the hashes anymore. I'm running sideline to sideline on most plays now.

Working the middle is much the same in college as in HS, however there are a few things I've noticed so far that are very different. I still go to the LOS on a pass, but I'm not so focused on whether the passer crosses the line or not. The wings do this. In HS the White Hat often wants me over the ball until he blows the whistle. Not in college. Put the ball down and get hell out of there I was told. Unless, of course they are in a hurry-up offense, then I stay over the ball until released. I was also told the Referee will never... ever... touch the ball.

I worked the wings for a series or two. This is very different than college. Holding your position on a pass is just weird and then sprint to the forward progress spot like some nineteen year old when your... well, no where near nineteen. I had a player ask me if I wanted a drink of water because I was sweating so much. I declined.

I don't work the wings much in HS any more, but I guess I can kinda go on automatic. The game is so much simpler. But now, I need to pay more attention to which receiver to watch, who is eligible to block below the waist (BBW), is my man off the line, do we have a seven man line, did a covered receiver go down field on a pass. These players are bigger, faster and smarter (some would question this). They are better coached for sure and these coaches seem to actually know the rules. I see players changing techniques during the play as if they know when they are crossing the line(like with holding).

This is going to be harder than I thought.