Derek Carr, like many of the Fresno State starters didn’t play much on Saturday, when the team held its first live scrimmage of fall camp practices.
Carr was in for six plays — out of the 92 the Bulldogs ran — and was done for the day.
That’s all it took for Fresno State coach Tim DeRuyter and his staff see what they needed to see from Carr and most of the first-team offense and defense.
The focus on Saturday was on the depth behind the starters. Second, third and fourth-team units were under the microscope, their performances in the scrimmage serving as a focal point for upcoming fall camp practices, where the team’s depth will continue to unfold itself.
“We purposely wanted to see what our two’s, three’s and four’s could do, and times guys made plays and at times guys looked ugly,” DeRuyter said. “It’s about what you’d expect. I liked our effort, but we have to get a lot better in our depth.”
The coaching staff will meet on Sunday (the team’s first off day of fall camp practices) to analyze the scrimmage’s film — which centered on Fresno State’s reserves. Building depth was the theme of Saturday’s scrimmage, which concluded off a first week of practices focused on installation.
The defense played physical, grabbing seven sacks, but “we have to be better with our assignments,” defensive coordinator Nick Toth said.
“After our one’s, I didn’t like how our two’s, three’s and four’s understood the defense. We’ve got to get them better,” Toth said.
After Carr’s one-and-done series, Brian Burrell, Myles Carr and Zack Greenlee took the bulk of the scrimmage’s snaps.
Burrell, who had experience running the first-team offense while Carr was away for the birth of his first son, continued to distance himself from the rest of the pool, DeRuyter said.
“They’re still learning,” Carr said of his backups. “College football is not an easy game to play, especially at the quarterback position and especially when you play our defense.”
Running backs Josh Quezada and T.J. Thomas did not participate during Saturday’s scrimmage due to injury, leaving Malique Micenheimer and Marteze Waller with most of the carries. Walk-on sophomore Jordan Brown, the younger brother of former Bulldogs standout Travis Brown, took reps with the third-team unit.
Fresno State has 17 practices remaining before its Aug. 29 season opener against Rutgers on Bulldog Stadium.
Overall, there’s room for improvement.
“Like I said, our one’s, I like where we’re at,” DeRuyter said. “It’s a success anytime you get your two’s, three’s and four’s a lot of reps on tape, and you can evaluate and see where those guys are at.
“We may move some guys up and down in the depth chart. We may move some guys position-wise. We’re trying to find our best 22 on each side of the ball.”