Bryson Daily ran to the right, made a quick cut left, fought through a tackle and stretched the ball past the goal line.
Daily has shown a knack for scoring touchdowns going back to two long runs last season. Saturday’s scrimmage could be a sign of good things to come this season.
Army coach Jeff Monken hopes Daily reaching the end or leading Army on scoring drives becomes a familiar sight. After the scrimmage, Monken said the junior will be his starting quarterback for the season opener at Louisiana-Monroe Sept. 2.
“Bryson right now is at the top and it’s good to feel good about who the starter is going to be,” Monken said. “There’s still plenty that he needs to do to improve and get better and not force plays.
“Taking the red (no contact) shirt off of him today and letting him run some especially on the goal line, that was positive. That’s a strong suit for him being a physical, tough runner.
Some other news coming out of Monken’s post-scrimmage media was the status of dynamic running back Tyrell Robinson. Monken said Robinson, who sustained an ACL injury against Wake Forest last October, will not be ready for the season opener.
“I don’t know (when he will start practicing),” Monken said. “His injury was a bad injury. We do anticipate that he will be back for the season but certainly not for the first game. He hasn’t taken a live rep yet. Until he can take a live reps, we are not going to feel comfortable putting him in there. His health is the most important thing and getting him healthy. We do anticipate getting him back some time this fall. I don’t think it’s going to late, late in the season, hopefully a few weeks into the season.”
Robinson scored three touchdowns, all 42 yards or more, in Army’s first five games in including the Black Knights’ first punt return TD since 2007.
Scrimmage observations
The first team offense to start practice was QB Bryson Daily, RB Miles Stewart, Slot Ay’Jaun Marshall, WR Isaiah Alston, WR Casey Reynolds, LT Boobie Law, LG Jackson Filipowicz, C Brady Small (story on Small), RG Connor Finucane, RT Shayne Buckingham
The first team defense to start the scrimmage was DE Austin Hill, NT Kyle Lewis, DE Chris Frey, Apache Jimmy Ciarlo, Edge Trey Sofia, LB Leo Lowin, LB Spencer Jones, CB Jabari Moore, CB Cameron Jones, S Quindrelin Hammonds, S Casey Larkin
Larry Robinson, the second quarterback to start the goal-line situations at the beginning of scrimmage, scored two touchdowns on short runs.
Safety Max DiDomenico recovered a fumble forced by linebacker Spencer Jones early on. Edge linebacker Trey Sofia recorded a sack.
Guessing there was 90 percent running plays during the scrimmage. Not much passing and no touchdowns through the air. But, Ay’Jaun Marshall did have this heads-up catch on a tip.
Sophomore kicker Anderson Britton was the first to attempt a field goal. Top kickers Quinn Maretzki and Cole Talley kicked off but were not called on for field goals. Freshman James Wagenseller had a couple of booming punts.
Running backs Jordan Owens and Carson Smith each ran for touchdowns during the rookie vs. rookie portion of the scrimmage. Owens’ score was the longest play of the day. Freshman quarterback Mitch Boldin ended the scrimmage with a touchdown run in the rookie period.
Hear from Jeff Monken, wide receivers coach Aaron Smith, running back Hayden Reed, safety Max DiDomenico, center Brady Small and running back Jordan Owens in the videos below
