College Football: 7-on-7

Summer drill helps keep Bobcats sharp

By Tyler Mayforth

San Marcos — It looked like a typical Saturday fall afternoon at Bobcat Stadium.

Bradley George dropped back to pass and fired tight spirals to his receivers. Steve Alvarez, Darius Bolden and Daren Dillard reeled in the passes from the soon-to-be senior quarterback.

Bolden and Dillard split the seams of the defense, while Alvarez reeled in a touchdown pass in traffic.

Yet, it wasn’t 8 p.m. on a Saturday and 75 degrees. Rather, it was 7 p.m. Tuesday night with temperatures hovering around the triple digits.

Summer means one thing for Texas State football players — 7-on-7 games.

“It gives us a great time to get our timing and chemistry down with our quarterbacks,” Dillard said. “A lot of us are younger and didn’t have the opportunity last year, so we’re making the most of it this year.”

Last year, the Bobcats welcomed four new wide receivers to San Marcos. Three were freshmen (Bolden, Dillard and Mishak Rivas) while the other (E.J. LeBlanc) transferred into the program.

All four would see significant playing time early and often.

Bolden and Dillard combined to reel in three passes against Angelo State in the 2008 season opener for 67 yards. Rivas carried the ball on the first play from scrimmage (12-yard gain) and hauled in a 9-yard touchdown pass.

“Last year we entered the season not knowing what to expect since they were freshmen,” George said. “Everyone now is a year older, including myself, and a year wiser.”

Texas State’s young receivers got most of their knowledge of the game from two sources last season — the playing field and Cameron Luke.

The four were put into situations to excel and they did. Bolden, Dillard, Rivas and LeBlanc combined to catch 92 passes for 1,307 yards and nine touchdowns.

Yet, they were able to watch a first-class receiver at work in Luke. They could see how effortless George and Luke connected on passes. It was almost like George knew exactly where to throw it so Luke would make the catch.

“I’m trying to get comfortable with Bradley like he was with Cam last year,” Dillard said. “Bradley and I were working out three to four times a week before 7-on-7 and now it’s more.”

It’s going to be one of the receivers’ jobs (including Da’Marcus Griggs and Joe Chassion) to form a strong bond with George. One of them needs to take command of the corps and demand to be the playmaker.

George has seen the group play so far this summer and has his opinion on who he thinks will be the star.

“Da’Marcus is having an equally as good summer as everyone else, but I think he’s going to be the guy to step up and contribute heavily,” George said. “We’re going to have a better overall receiving squad though. This is the fastest group I’ve seen out here before.”

Speed kills in the new era of spread offenses in college football.

Texas State passed for 3,499 yards last season and averaged 13.8 yards per reception. The Bobcats like to stretch the field and this summer’s work can only help leading up to Sept. 5’s season opener — and beyond.

“It’s all about timing that’s why we’ve been out here three times a week,” George said. “Hopefully it will pay off through the season and we can light up (our opponents) through the air.”

Text Only