Lance Reisland·
Sanders opened his competitive work with one of his sharpest sequences of practice, despite splitting the second-team repetitions with
Dillon Gabriel instead of receiving the expected first-team opportunities. He completed all three of his passes during the opening sequence, connecting with Brenden Bates on a crossing route, delivering a well-timed bang-eight throw and climbing the pocket to find Cedric Tillman on a backside dig. Sanders continued to make plays by working through the structure of the offense. He found Jack Stoll on a delayed route, connected with Gage Larvadain underneath and went back to Tillman on another backside dig. When the deeper routes were covered, Sanders consistently took the available checkdown to Raheim “Rocket” Sanders rather than forcing the ball into coverage. His early success showed how effective he can be when his feet, eyes and timing remain connected. The execution became less consistent as practice continued. Sanders’ unit dealt with multiple formation and operational problems, disrupting its ability to function cleanly. During the two-minute period, he missed Larvadain on a curl and overthrew Tylan Wallace on a vertical route. The offense failed to produce a touchdown during that opportunity. Sanders also took a sack during goal-line work when Isaiah McGuire beat Bates off the edge. While the pressure arrived quickly, the play still ended without the offense generating a scoring opportunity. Sanders’ opening 3-for-3 sequence was excellent, but the larger challenge is carrying that rhythm through every competitive period while helping the unit eliminate its formation and operational mistakes.