Bryce Love is "working his way back" and Shaw is "hopeful he'll be ready to go." It's not definite that he'll play and "he has shown some really good signs". Shaw said he's not as confident that Love will play as he was toward the end of last week.
Nate Herbig will not practice today and will "get him as ready as we can. Hopefully he'll be ready to go, also. I'd put him in the questionable category."
Casey Toohill is back. Devery Hamilton will play more after only a few snaps against Utah. If Herbig can't play then he or Drew Dalman may be the answer at right guard. If Herbig plays then Shaw expects a rotation between Brandon Fanaika and Hamilton at left guard.
When discussing what the team focused on during the bye week, Shaw first talked about resting guys to get healthy. He also emphasized working on execution and that the team hasn't played to its potential, yet: "We've lost two games in a row and we haven't played great, yet. We are also not bad. We're good in some areas and need to be much better in other areas. The key for me this week in the bye week was to get everyone rested ... and really hone in on the things we're trying to work on. Maybe look at a couple of new things, because we're always tweaking what we do in all three phases. But really get back to making sure we step with the right foot, putting our hands where they're supposed to be and giving effort and straining. The two main areas are running the ball and stopping the run. That's where winning football is -- for us to really emphasize those and get better at those."
What were the big picture takeaways from re-watching the first six games?
"The overall theme, which is probably the most bothersome to me is that not only have we not reached our potential, I don't think we've approached it. We've had glimpses -- glimpses in the pass game, glimpses defending the passes, glimpses defending the run at times during games. We haven't put a complete game together, let alone a three or four game span where we're playing at our best. That's up to me. That's where I have to continue to poke and prod coaches and players. Make sure we're doing what we're supposed to be doing. Sometimes I have to put my arm around some guys; sometimes I have to push some guys. There is so much more within us than we're showing on gameday. Gameday is not about potential, it's about execution. We have not approached our capabilities of execution."
Character building moments: "This would be a good time for that. You love to at the end of the year point to this bye week as somewhat of a turning point for us. There are a lot of things we have to address. It's not a secret we have to start games better. (We're) looking at a few different things. We'll talk to the team about those in the coming days. We can't start playing when we're down seven, down 14, and then play our best football just to get back into the game. That's what happened Oregon, that's what happened against Utah, that's what happened against Notre Dame. We played so much better than we played when the game was even or at the beginning of the game."
When you reviewed the first six games were there any players on either side of the ball who stood out because of the progress they've made?
"Yeah, and I don't want to single anybody out right now, but there has been progress by a few guys. I just wish that list was longer. Not that many guys have regressed, I just don't think we've had as many guys progress. There's a reason why there is a phrase, 'Be in midseason form' --- which kind of means you've gotten through the mistakes, young guys don't play like young guys anymore and we're not there, yet. We haven't seen that, yet. I'm hoping this is the game that we start to see that, a team that goes out there and executes and plays really well. Not every play is going to be perfect, but it's Ok if we get beat on a play as opposed to allowing ourselves to get beaten by our own miscues. That's the key for being in midseason form."
Nate Herbig will not practice today and will "get him as ready as we can. Hopefully he'll be ready to go, also. I'd put him in the questionable category."
Casey Toohill is back. Devery Hamilton will play more after only a few snaps against Utah. If Herbig can't play then he or Drew Dalman may be the answer at right guard. If Herbig plays then Shaw expects a rotation between Brandon Fanaika and Hamilton at left guard.
When discussing what the team focused on during the bye week, Shaw first talked about resting guys to get healthy. He also emphasized working on execution and that the team hasn't played to its potential, yet: "We've lost two games in a row and we haven't played great, yet. We are also not bad. We're good in some areas and need to be much better in other areas. The key for me this week in the bye week was to get everyone rested ... and really hone in on the things we're trying to work on. Maybe look at a couple of new things, because we're always tweaking what we do in all three phases. But really get back to making sure we step with the right foot, putting our hands where they're supposed to be and giving effort and straining. The two main areas are running the ball and stopping the run. That's where winning football is -- for us to really emphasize those and get better at those."
What were the big picture takeaways from re-watching the first six games?
"The overall theme, which is probably the most bothersome to me is that not only have we not reached our potential, I don't think we've approached it. We've had glimpses -- glimpses in the pass game, glimpses defending the passes, glimpses defending the run at times during games. We haven't put a complete game together, let alone a three or four game span where we're playing at our best. That's up to me. That's where I have to continue to poke and prod coaches and players. Make sure we're doing what we're supposed to be doing. Sometimes I have to put my arm around some guys; sometimes I have to push some guys. There is so much more within us than we're showing on gameday. Gameday is not about potential, it's about execution. We have not approached our capabilities of execution."
Character building moments: "This would be a good time for that. You love to at the end of the year point to this bye week as somewhat of a turning point for us. There are a lot of things we have to address. It's not a secret we have to start games better. (We're) looking at a few different things. We'll talk to the team about those in the coming days. We can't start playing when we're down seven, down 14, and then play our best football just to get back into the game. That's what happened Oregon, that's what happened against Utah, that's what happened against Notre Dame. We played so much better than we played when the game was even or at the beginning of the game."
When you reviewed the first six games were there any players on either side of the ball who stood out because of the progress they've made?
"Yeah, and I don't want to single anybody out right now, but there has been progress by a few guys. I just wish that list was longer. Not that many guys have regressed, I just don't think we've had as many guys progress. There's a reason why there is a phrase, 'Be in midseason form' --- which kind of means you've gotten through the mistakes, young guys don't play like young guys anymore and we're not there, yet. We haven't seen that, yet. I'm hoping this is the game that we start to see that, a team that goes out there and executes and plays really well. Not every play is going to be perfect, but it's Ok if we get beat on a play as opposed to allowing ourselves to get beaten by our own miscues. That's the key for being in midseason form."
