Video: Pete Thomas, Brendan Sorsby, Brady Lichtenberg Discuss Camp Higher Ground

The Bearcats returned to action Thursday morning at Camp Higher Ground for their seventh practice of fall camp, in preparation for the 2024 season.

Following practice, quarterbacks coach Pete Thomas, as well as quarterbacks Brendan Sorsby and Brady Lichtenberg met with the media to discuss Camp Higher Ground and recap fall practice #7.

Notes from the day:

- Green Bay, Houston, Philadelphia, New Orleans, and Seattle all had scouts in attendance to check out practice.

- Michael Mussari once again had another solid day. The freshman walk on continues to make tough catches and take advantage of the reps that he is seeing with the 1's and 2's. Today's highlight for Mussari was a tough back shoulder catch with Jordan Young in coverage that resulted in a touchdown. 

- The Bearcats' receiving corps has looked good collectively, but the common thought around the program is that Xzavier Henderson, Aaron Turner, and Jamoi Mayes have all separated themselves as guys who have consistently performed well through the first seven practices. 

- Sorsby looked good today throwing the ball, connecting with Tony Johnson and Xzavier Henderson multiple times for long gains. Sorsby stated after practice that he is around an 8 or 9 in terms of his comfort level within the offense.

- Lichtenberg found tight end Joey Beljan twice for touchdowns, both during the team portions of practice. The first touchdown was a good read where Lichtenberg went through his progressions and placed the ball perfectly in a tight window across the middle of the endzone. The second one was a broken coverage down the sideline where Beljan made the catch and took it in for the score, out running the rest of the defense. 

- Defensively, Marquez Parker continues to step up and make plays. The freshman forced multiple quarterback scrambles today by getting into the backfield and applying pressure.

- Eric Phillips applied pressure, allowing Jared Bartlett to come in for a would be sack on Samaj Jones.

- Brady Drogosh had a QB hurry that led to a bad throw and near interception across the middle. 

- Jordan Robinson and Ken Willis both showed up in the notes for PBU.

- Josh Minkins, Kalen Carroll, Jake Golday, Kai Stokes, and Antwan Peek Jr all made nice open field tackles for little to no gain. Stokes' tackle was during a redzone drill at the line of scrimmage where he prevented Manny Covey from going in for a touchdown.

- Peek made a big hit on Evan Pryor in the open field on a screen attempt. 

Overall:

Another productive day on both sides of the ball. The defense seems to be slightly ahead of the offense at this point, but the offense is making plays and has shown an improved ability to go over the top for long gains.

Defensively, the biggest difference so far has been the improved length, athleticism, and speed in the back end. The freshmen seeing reps have shown they belong, with Jiquan Sanks and Simeon Coleman consistently making plays from the second level. 

The Bearcats will be back in action Friday for another morning practice before heading back to Nippert Stadium for a scrimmage Saturday.