Sports feeds
E-mail sports alerts
DDN sports mobile
Sports TwitterInside
RedHawk freshmen 'looking fine,' coach says
Wide receivers Chris Givens and Jamal Rogers will likely see playing time this year, but quarterback Clay Belton will probably be redshirted.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
OXFORD — Just four days into summer football camp, Miami University's crop of true freshmen already have shown signs that the coaches who recruited them knew what they were doing.
The RedHawks' passing game of the future looks particularly promising.
Extras
Head coach Shane Montgomery said Monday he likes what he has seen from quarterback Clay Belton and wide receivers Chris Givens and Jamal Rogers.
"They're looking fine," Montgomery said. "Clay's done well at quarterback so far. He's taken in as much as he can, and we're really pleased with Givens and Rogers at wide receiver."
Givens is considered by some to be the Mid-American Conference freshman receiver most likely to succeed. The 6-foot-2, 190-pounder from Chillicothe was a standout at the Louisville (Ky.) combine last year.
Rogers, a 5-11, 170-pound speedster from Fort Myers, Fla., also was a combine sensation last year when his own school, Harmony Prep, held workouts.
Perhaps no recruit in the MAC, however, has more potential than Belton, a 6-6, 220-pound left-hander from Clayton Northmont High School.
"He's got a big-time arm," Montgomery said. "He's got an arm you see in fourth- and fifth-year players. He played in a passing offense in high school, so he's used to being in the shotgun, to throwing it all over the field, to picking up a second or third receiver.
"He's got the potential," the Miami coach added, "to throw the ball as well as anybody we've had here."
Givens and Rogers are likely to see some playing time this season, and Montgomery didn't rule out the possibility that he also might use Belton, though he would rather not.
"If you're stable at quarterback, you're likely to redshirt your freshman quarterback," Montgomery pointed out. "That gives him a year and then he's got a chance to become your starting quarterback. We'll see how it goes. It's a long season.
"Obviously with an injury, a third-string quarterback becomes a second-string quarterback," he added.
Senior Mike Kokal is the RedHawks' starter and sophomore Daniel Raudabaugh is a solid, experienced No. 2.
"I feel good with all three of them," Montgomery said. "We'll have to keep throwing them out there and see how they progress. But Mike's our starter right now. We feel good about where he's at."
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2197 or pconrad@coxohio.com.
