We also had a brief visit with offensive coordinator Tim Lappano who shed some light on Thursday's scrimmage and some depth chart matters. Here are some of the highlights:

--- Lappano said the main goal was for the scrimmage to be a lot cleaner than was Saturday's, when there were a handful of critical penalties and three bad center snaps out of the shotgun. "We cleaned that up,'' he said of the snaps. "We didn't have any of that. The snaps were as good as they've been all year.'' He also said the penalties were "down a lot'' with a couple of holding calls and one motion.

--- Said both of the QBs threw the ball well and also cited third-teamer Ronnie Fouch, who had to work with the second-team offense against the No. 1 defense. "He played pretty well in a tough situation, so he's coming on,'' Lappano said. Jake Locker is still the No. 1, however, and there is no serious talk about trying to use two QBs.

--- One of his main concerns is dropped balls, especially from the tight ends, a position he said is still wide open. Lappano said the tight end "is the first read on 50 percent of our routes, so they've got to get open'' and catch the ball, he said. Johnie Kirton apparently had a nice catch for a TD but all three of the returners are still locked in a dual for that spot, Lappano said. Walt Winter is the No. 4 tight end right now as Chris Izbicki appears headed to a redshirt year.

--- Said he liked the play of many of the backup RBs and said it's still too early to say who will be the No. 2 back. Said he expected that J.R.Hasty, Brandon Johnson and Curtis Shaw could all get carries against Syracuse. Sounds as if Brandon Yakaboski is out of the mix right now as he has been suffering from a concussion. Hasty apparently had about a 25-yard run where he was hit hard by Mason Foster but still held onto the ball.

--- Johnson is earning his name as a returner and apparently returned a punt for a TD in the scrimmage as well as handling some kickoffs. But he also apparently is impressing as a short-yardage runner.

--- Speaking of short-yardage, sounds as if that role will go primarily to Luke Kravitz with Kirton no longer really being tried there.

--- Sounds as if the O-line is appearing to solidify itself. What we saw yesterday appears to be the starting group --- either Ben Ossai or Cody Habben at left tackle, with Juan Garcia at center, Ryan Tolar and Casey Bulyca at the two guard spots and Chad Mackin at right tackle. Sounds as if both Ossai and Habben will see time at left tackle.

--- Said he likes the play of walk-on WR Charles Hawkins and it's possible he could get a play or two at some point. But he's not yet in the regular rotation, though Lappano lauded his work ethic and said he's come a long way since last spring.

--- Cody Ellis sat out the scrimmage with a hamstring injury but the rest of the receivers apparently played well, including Anthony Russo who has recovered quickly enough that he seems certain to play against Syracuse. Sounds as if Alvin Logan is likely headed to a redshirt year.

UPDATE --- Here's a couple additions as I go through my notes:

--- Lappano said Johnson has not fumbled once this camp and noted that he's a physical back who is "a way better inside runner than we thought. He runs the ball up in there hard for a small guy.''

--- Said there were four drops in the scrimmage, one by a tight end, which he said is too many and something that has to be corrected.

--- His quote on the backup running back situation is that "it might be a little bit of tailback by committee. We'll maybe get them all a couple carries and see what they can do.''

---Of the tight ends, said Michael Gottlieb has been the most consistent but that none of them have really jumped out and won the job.

--- I wouldn't count on any of the RBs switching positions. Willingham said that the time for moving guys is pretty much over with, unless there is some urgent need somewhere due to injuries. I think most guys are where they are going to be, other than more simple moves like a linebacker going from inside to outside, etc.

--- Said he really liked the inside running of Kravitz, adding that "he crunched it up there quite a bit yesterday.''