Spring Game Review

As always, there was good and bad in the spring game. I will start off with the bad as I am a bad news first kind of guy.

We obviously still are not where we need to be when it comes to the number of athletes we have out there. A few injuries at key positions forced us to play walkons in prominent roles during the spring game. The secondary was a prime example of this where we saw a lot of Marcus Gold and Justin McQueen. We really need the freshman DBs to come in ready to contribute right away. A guy sitting next to me in the crowd pointed out that there were 25 players (15 injured players currently on the roster, 10 from the incoming recruiting class) who we will see playing in the fall who did not play yesterday. I think that was an accurate assessment.

The OL still struggled to give our QBs time to pass. The first half was dominated by the defense. The touch/sack rules for the QB did kill a lot of plays that would not have been dead in a real game, but too many times our pass blocking resembled the sieve that our OL was last fall. Our run blocking was not much better especially in the first half. The starting OL was Shumard, Eike, Baker, Allen, and Williams. That means we still have no found an adequate replacement for Shumard at LT. That was amajor area of concern entering the spring, and it appears we still have not solved the problem. Michael Shumard is a top 3 round NFL draft pick at guard. As a LT, he is just an average Big 12 player.  

Overall, we did not look like we had the athletes on the field to be a top 25 team. Whether that changes in the fall when the freshman (and one juco) recruits arrive remains to be seen.

On the bright side:

We ran no-huddle all game. We played almost promarily out of a one back formation with 3 WRs and a TE split wide. Not only did this give the offense and defense tons of reps, it also emphasizes our strengths (strong armed QB and mismatches at WR and TE). This formation also may spread the field a bit and put less strain on our OL to run block for Gray, Stephens, and Michael.The spring game also featured the first team offense vs. the first team defense, and the 2s v. the 2s. IMO this gives our athletes more quality reps. Walkon redshirt freshman RB Jay Tolliver had some nice runs and proved to be a strong inside runner in the game. Cyrus Gray was bottled up by the 1st team defense most of the game, but made a nice cut inside and burst through the defense for a 20+ yard TD run. Bradley Stephens had a few nice runs. The OL gave him the chance to turn the corner a couple of times which was a rarity last season. We ran a few designed QB scramble plays, which seemed to be a departure from what we did last year. Looks like the coaches are looking for every way possible to move the ball this year, and the athleticism of Johnson and Dorman is going to fit into that equation.

Frank Avery caught a couple of passes at TE. He may still be a little light for the position, but he gives the QB a big target out there. Jamie McCoy was jis usual self, which is to say he was a mismatch for the LBs and safeties. He had at least one catch. What really caught my eye was his improved blocking at the point of attack. He looks very competent in that role. K.J. Williams looks like a bigtime D1 athlete. The question is, can he catch the ball. If the answer is no, move him to DE because we need to get his athleticism on the field somewhere.

Jerrod Johnson struggled in the first half. As I mentioned, the touch/sack rule really killed a few plays before they got started. In the second half, Johnson looked much sharper. he connected with Fuller on multiple occasions for long gains. Johnson looks like he worked on putting more touch on the ball. If we can find an OL that gives Johnson consistent time to set up and pass the ball, he should be a 3000 yard passer this year. Tommy Dorman showed he can really move when he wants to. He had a couple of nice runs. Also had a nice play in the first half where he threaded the needle through traffic for a 13 yd gain. He looks like he is making nice progress in the backup role. I expect him to be our #2 QB in the fall. Ryan Tannehill sat out the game.

Fuller was in a word, "dominant." We have no one who can match up with him one on one. I do not think anyone on our schedule this year will either. He is a NFL receiver who happens to have three years of eligibility left. He is the best receiver we have had since Robert Ferguson. I expect him to eventually break all of Ferguson's records (already broke the receiving TD record last season). If we can find a speed WR to play in the slot (I am thinking of you Uzoma Nwachukwu), I think we will really have a nice passing game this year.

Lionel Smith had one nice catch where he broke a tackle and made it into a long gain. He seems to have found a home at WR which is good since I do not think he would have ever seen the field at DB. Terrance McCoy had two catches. Walkon Jeremy Brown had a very nice game. He had 3 or 4 catches including a TD reception. 

On the defense, we appeared to be a little quicker. Rushing yardage was hard to come by. If a RB danced around a litt,e the defense would swarm to him and tackle him for a no gain. No one could block Von Miller. Some of that has to do with his improved play, and some with our MASH unit of an OL. It was nice to see players swarming to the ball again. Tony Jerod-Eddie and Eddie Brown look very stout up front. The starting DL was Matt Moss at DE, Brown and Jerod-Eddie at DT, and Miller at the other DE (or jack position). I expect this to be our starting DL in the fall. Ben Bass made some nice plays on the 2nd string DL. Rod Davis looks like he needs to lose 20 pounds and had a terrible first half. I believe Moss had a TFL on the second play of the game. He came alive in the second half and made a couple of nice plays, including one where he stopped the RB for no gain after chasing him down the line.

At LB, Ricky Cavanaugh really stood out to me. He was very active all game long. Anthony Lewis made some nice plays early, but I did not notice him much in the second half. He had a fumble recovery and return after Trent Hunter forced Fuller to fumble. Kyle Mangan made a couple of tackles. We blitzed a lot so we saw the LBs in the backfield a lot.

In the secondary, I like the combination of Hunter and Pugh at safety. Hunter is an All Conference type player. His range is very impressive. Pugh had a couple of nice hits. Lots of PBU's by the secondary. Terrence Frederick looked good at one CB. We are going to need Coryell Judie and some freshmen to step up at the other CB spot and in the nickel. Justin McQueen continues to improve. He may end up being a decent option at the nickel. Right now, I think we are just waiting for Jordan Peterson to heal and claim that spot.

Overall, I was encouraged by what I saw from the offense in the second half. We still have a long way to go from a player standpoint until we are a top 25 team. We just do not have the athletes on campus right now. Hopefully, a summer off to heal and the incoming freshmen class will help address that issue in the fall. The coaches should be applauded for continuing to look for ways to improve from a scheme and player standpoint. It is a breath of fresh air after the stubborness of the previous staff. We blitzed a lot on defense so Kines is trying to find ways to apply pressure. We only ran one screen all game. We did not throw to the backs out of the backfield. We kept the offense pretty limited which is what you would expect from a live practice game. I do not believe we had any major injuries. I believe LB Michael Hodges may have gotten dinged, but do not have any more information on that.