By ROBERT CESSNA
Texas A&M's Malcome Kennedy pulls in a pass in front of teammate Johntel Franklin in the McFerrin Athletic Center before the team's scrimmage Saturday.
The Texas A&M football team ended 12 straight days of training camp with a controlled scrimmage at Kyle Field on Saturday night, a practice that looked ragged at times because many key performers are injured.
The first-team defense forced three turnovers during a stretch of nine plays, but even that unit had tough stretches with missed tackles and penalties.
The offense played without senior wide receiver Jeff Fuller, who has been out since tweaking a hamstring just before the camp's first controlled scrimmage Monday. Also missing were junior running back Christine Michael and junior wide receiver Kenric McNeal. Senior running back Cyrus Gray, who had been out with a hamstring injury since the first day of camp, saw limited action.
"[Missing players] doesn't allow you to have the consistency you want, but we should have been a little bit better than we were today," A&M head coach Mike Sherman said. "We looked tired."
The defense played without senior end Tony Jerod-Eddie, junior outside linebacker Sean Porter and senior cornerbacks Terrence Frederick and Lionel Smith.
With so many starters on the sidelines, several of the younger players made big plays. Freshman wide receiver Mike Evans had several nice catches, and freshman linebacker Tyrell Taylor forced a fumble.
But it wasn't enough to offset the loss of all the experienced players.
"We got to get some guys back," Sherman said. "We're a pretty banged up team -- nothing that's going to keep anyone out of any action, but [it's] just keeping them out of geting reps in practice. Jeff hasn't practiced a lot, and Cyrus didn't practice until yesterday. I'm anxious to get those guys back."
The defense had a few 15-yard penalties, and on the second play after halftime, it allowed a 50-yard run by Gray that Sherman condensed to 14, saying that someone should have made the tackle.
"We were sloppy," second-year defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter said. "I was happy we forced some takeaways, which was nice to see. But we've got a lot of young guys in the mix, so it wasn't as crisp as it needed to be. We had some dumb penalties that we've got to get corrected."
The backup running backs didn't take advantage of their opportunity with sophomore Ben Malena fumbling away the ball to junior cornerback Dustin Harris.
"I'm concerned about the third tailback, because we put the ball on the ground," Sherman said. "We just can't do that. We've done that enough times already."
Ragged play even engulfed senior starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who otherwise is having a spectacular camp.
He overthrew sophomore tight end Hutson Prioleau down the middle on a pass that was easily intercepted by senior free safety Trent Hunter. Two plays earlier, redshirt freshman defensive lineman Gavin Stansbury deflected a pass that senior inside linebacker Garrick Williams intercepted.
Tannehill also missed a touchdown hookup with sophomore wide receiver Nate Askew who was 5 yards behind Harris, underthrowing the pass.
Sherman didn't sound concerned over Tannehill's performance Saturday.
"He's been on so much for so long, he was bound to have a day when he just wasn't 100 percent on," Sherman said. "He's had four straight days of just unbelievable ball location."
Senior place-kicker Randy Bullock, who also is having a strong camp, was held out after tweaking a muscle. Freshman Taylor Bertolet was short on a 51-yard field-goal attempt and hit a goal post on a an extra point.
"We had some bad snaps," said Sherman, one leading to a 35-yard field-goal attempt that was blocked by Harris. "We weren't consistent with our snaps and that was part of it and we had a protection issue. I'm not real pleased with that operation. We've had a couple blocked in camp. I'm pleased that our defense is in a blocking mentality, but I'm displeased that we've had three blocked in the last couple days and that's very disappointing. We have to shore that up. It all starts with the snap and hold, but those guys on the edge, I think we could have done a better job."
The players get a day off Sunday before getting back to work by looking at the tape of the scrimmage.
"I like where we're at," DeRuyter said. "And I like the fact that we have two more weeks to get ready because we have a lot of work to do."
For more on the scrimmage, see Robert Cessna's blog at aggiesports.com.
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