Some observations after watching BG practice Friday afternoon at Perry Stadium …

- If players are beginning to find camp to be tedious, that wasn’t readily apparent at the beginning of practice. There was plenty of laughter and energy to go around during the stretching and exercise drills portion of practice. And once position drills began, 2 Pac began blaring through the stadium’s loudspeakers. Other artists on the mix included Cyprus Hill, Dr. Dre and Metallica. I was prepared to give major props to the DJ, but then Soulja Boy came on. Still, the musical selection was solid.

- Players wore shorts today, a change from the past few practices. I assume Clawson wanted to take it easy on his players to ensure they’ll be fresh for Saturday’s scrimmage.

- I know I’m late to the party, but I was surprised to see Andrew Beam is transferring. He apparently was fourth on the depth chart, and at that point, why stick around and spend your final season holding a clipboard? But are a couple of freshmen really better than the senior Beam? My guess is probably not, however Clawson wants to ensure that his starting quarterback for next year sees some time this year. He didn’t want Beam to hog valuable repetitions for his future starter. I can get with that theory.

- Aaron Pankratz looks to have a slight edge over true freshman Matt Schilz in the battle to be Tyler Sheehan’s backup at quarterback. I gotta be honest — I had been underwhelmed by Pankratz before today. That includes last year’s camp and this year’s spring game. But he really seems to be throwing a more accurate ball. Ideally, you’d like to become comfortable enough with Pankratz as your backup that you feel secure redshirting Schilz. I’m intrigued by this battle, no doubt.

- Word is freshman running back John Pettigrew has been getting some work with the first team offense. He won’t be your starter — Willie Geter likely has that honor nailed down — but Pettigrew looks to be a surefire part of the offense. Also, I’ve heard he is looking excellent in camp, which I suppose comes hand in hand with him practicing with the first team.

- Freshman Shaun Joplin wore pads for the first time this camp. He is tall, rangy, but has no clue what’s going on yet. Give this kid some time to learn terminology, make sure he’s taking care of business in the classroom, and you might have an All-MAC guy. Joplin, of course, missed the first few days of camp because of some eligibility issues.

- More on Joplin. He caught a short pass during a drill, and instead of whistling the play dead, one of the assistants hollered for Joplin to run into the end zone. Once Joplin made it that far, the assistant instructed Joplin to dunk the football over the goal post, which he did with extreme ease. This kid has crazy athleticism.

- Freshman receiver Ali Alaboody, who I liked a lot, is no longer with the team. Unless I’m mistaken, he never showed up for camp.

- Fan favorite Jason Rice is now a linebacker. You remember Jason, right? He’s the former walk-on who ran all over Kent State last year and then suffered a terrible leg injury the next week. Tried catching up with him after practice but he ran into the lockerroom before he was instructed to speak with me. Don’t worry, we’ll track him down soon.

- From what I can see, neither the first team offense nor the first team defense has changed from the first day of camp. Soon we’ll be getting down to the nitty gritty of preseason, so if a backup is looking to make a move, he better do it soon. Preferably in Saturday’s scrimmage.

- Freshman kicker Jerry Phillips, who hasn’t exactly earned stellar reviews from Clawson, looked pretty solid today, albeit on fairly short field goal attempts. We’ll post an interview with Phillips in the next few days.

- With Derek Brighton out with an injury — rumor is it’s a season ending injury — Freddie Barnes is getting some work at holder. Punter Nick Iovinelli has also been seen holding.