The Bobcats practiced Saturday morning for the sixth time during fall camp. It was conducted in periods outside at Peden Stadium, with a total of 27 periods over two hours and 58 minutes. It was the second day with full pads. Here are The Post’s observations:

Attendance:

Not Present: Elijah Ball (season-ending leg injury), Tyler Tupa (leg), Griffin Hites (leg), Hagen Meservy (shoulder), Austin Conrad (foot), De’Vante Mitchell (undisclosed), Zach Burks (undisclosed). 

Limited: Tariq Drake. 

Attendance notes:

• Ilyas Motley returned to practice Saturday for the first time in a few days. Tariq Drake sat out though, wearing full pads on the field, but he didn’t wear a helmet and he made no contact. 
• Joe Lowery and Kylan Nelson have been participating in team drills at a minimum. Coach Frank Solich said that there are no injuries to worry about, but the Bobcats are making sure that players with a history of minor injuries don’t develop more. 
• Solich also said that they’re not in any rush to get Meservy back on the field. He will be fine for the start of the season. 

Observations:

Sights and Sounds

• Despite the forecast, the Bobcats practiced outside and paid the price. They were caught in the rain multiple times, but the sun came out towards the end of practice. 
• Players seemed to be pretty excited for the off day on Sunday. Nathan Rourke said that he’ll sleep almost the entire day Sunday.  
• For the third straight day, there were no turnovers committed by the offense, which means no turnover belt for the defense. 
• Sook Center update: Cement was being cut Saturday, but there wasn’t much activity. The lights were turned on, though. We’ll see if there’s any significant progress in the next 48 hours. 

Offense

• The Bobcats had five competitive periods Saturday among first and second teamers. Three team periods and two 7-on-7 periods where Rourke and Quinton Maxwell shared the snaps. 
• Rourke was 18 of 26 in the five periods with two touchdowns. His best period came in the first team period of the day in a two minute drill situation where he was 5 of 6. 
• He completed passes to Andrew Meyer and Cam Odom (three each); Papi White, DL Knock, A.J. Ouellette (two each); Ryan Luehrman, Connor Brown, Bryan Long, Hunter Edwards, Alec Burton (one each). 
• The first touchdown came on a pass to Odom in the right side of the end zone from the 10-yard line. The second was from the 20-yard line in a team red zone period to Meyer. 
• Maxwell yet again almost took the same number of snaps as Rourke. He was 18 of 28 through five periods with four touchdowns. He completed passes to Knock, Noah Hoffman, Julian Ross (two each); Markel Davis, David Burroughs, White, Long, Edwards, Adam Luehrman, Shane Hooks, Keevon Harris, Isiah Cox (one each). 
• Maxwell has been struggling with footwork. Not stepping up into the pocket, he's both throwing a few balls of off his back foot. Maybe it was a bad day, but it seems like this has been happening the past few days. 
• Saturday’s practice saw Maleek Irons get a few more carries than the past few days. Irons is still getting back into the swing of things, but he’ll be the two back and share time with Ross. 
• After a week of practices it’s become apparent who has a leg up in certain position battles:
• Brett Kitrell exited spring practice as the No. 1 center, and he continues to be the top one. Steven Hayes is on the mend from an injury in the spring and will make a solid backup. 
• Not a position battle, but Durrell Wood should start at right guard. Wood has a few more seasons of experience and it will give the sophomore some time to grow.

Defense

• At times in individual drill time, the defense worked specifically on coverage of a screen and how to form a cup. The other time, there was route recognition and recognizing responsibilities when there are three receivers one one side. 
• Of the 18 incompletions between Maxwell and Rourke in competitive passing periods, five were caused by break ups or deflections — something the defense staff has put an emphasis on. 
• In the final few periods of practice, the third and fourth stringers went live in a full-contact scrimmage. Of the 15 snaps, Antrez Baker looked good on the defensive side. It was nice to hear the popping sound of live tackles.
• Saturday featured the second scuffle of practice between Joe Anderson and Kent Berger. Anderson must have kept blocking after the whistle.  
• After week one, it seems that the defense won’t have much problems with depth. There haven’t been any large position battles to watch, but just watching how the defense has grown. 

Next Up:

The Bobcats return to practice Monday morning at 8:40 a.m. Practice is open to the public. Sunday is the first off day players have of camp.