Spring Game

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GophenGolder

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There has been very little discussion of the Spring Game on here, besides the article on the front page. How did the team look? Was the offense more effective than last year? Who stood out?
 

In a good way, Maresh stood out. He was shedding blocks, making tackles, and physical.

Another one is Jeff Wills. I thought his footwork looked noticeably improved. That was something I was looking for.
 

I was pretty impressed with what I saw at the spring game. However, the one thing that could put a wrench in the whole picture was QB. Weber, contrary to what Brewster said, has not improved. He threw late, eyeballed just like he has for3 yrs. threw into a crowd and was a disappointment. Grey has been learning to eyeball from Weber, but he did throw a nice TD ball for a TD. Moses is not ready, but did show alot of promise. The O-Line was much improved, but did not show like last yrs. game, because they did go against the#1 D and they are tough. I am waiting to hear the naysayers say they weren't impressed, but last yr. they put 1 against 2, and this yr. they went 1 on 1 and I think both sides are better. Alford and Wills have gotten rid of some fat, and both had better feet. If they lose another 20 apiece, they will be better. Bunders was improved, I'm still not sold on Carufel. Burrris got dinged, but was OK, Wynn looked like there will be a fight at center. The 2 young kids Michel and Olson will play and push to start they are big and strong, might need some techniwque work yet, but are players. Lair and Eure are solid at TE, but hands ??? Eskridge is improved,but the 3 Fr. not here yet have a shot.

The D will take awhile to jell and get togather, but there is a ton of tallent and speed. Marash is not as fast as I hoped, but has a nose for the ball and a meanstreak. interior will be as good as last yr, and LB will be ok. Secondary is where I was IMPRESSED. Lewis and Watkins are better than Royston and Theret right now. They hit, strip and go to the ball. They also can tackle. Carter is a player and the transfer from Mankato Henderson should be ahead of Collado. He is a player. Closes on the ball well as does Carter, Lewis andWatkins. I just hope they didn't look that good because our QB's were glued on the receivers and so were the DB's. Brewster complained about the Rec. not hanging on to the ball , but the secondary did a good job of stripping and hitting. If they keep that up it will be good training for the Rec. I think we are in good shape at receiver.

I just hope that the QB position doesn't hurt us too badly before the D jells. That position worrys me. But on a whole I think we are a much better football team.
 

thanks littlebigboy, sounds good except the whole quarterback situation
 

littlebigboy said:
The D will take awhile to jell and get togather, but there is a ton of tallent and speed. Marash is not as fast as I hoped, but has a nose for the ball and a meanstreak. interior will be as good as last yr, and LB will be ok. Secondary is where I was IMPRESSED. Lewis and Watkins are better than Royston and Theret right now. They hit, strip and go to the ball. They also can tackle. Carter is a player and the transfer from Mankato Henderson should be ahead of Collado. He is a player. Closes on the ball well as does Carter, Lewis andWatkins. I just hope they didn't look that good because our QB's were glued on the receivers and so were the DB's. Brewster complained about the Rec. not hanging on to the ball , but the secondary did a good job of stripping and hitting. If they keep that up it will be good training for the Rec. I think we are in good shape at receiver.
Click to expand...

Agreed, I've been to three scrimmages and did notice Henderson in the 2 deep corners all three times. I had posted earlier that I was curious to see Henderson and Joey Baltizar(sp) in the Spring game because they were both unknown walk-ons who were suddenly in the 2 deeps. However, it appears that Henderson has been one of the top 4 corners all spring. I've never seen him mentioned in GH, other publications or by any posters other than MV, before the spring game. The Gopher.com spring game review mentioned that he led the secondary with three pass breakups. I saw him break up a deep ball to Brandon Green, I think. He closed quick and jarred it loose with a good hit on another pass play. He had a couple of tackles that were very physical, too. If Tillman is better than Henderson, we'll be fine at that position. Collado, Carter, Lewis, if he's moved back, Tillman, Henderson; and an improved Johnny Johnson gives the team a lot of depth at the corner spot.
 


--LBs Rallis was great in the spring game, Maresh has a nose for the ball and the ability to fight off blockers, Cooper had a nice INT--but wasn't as active in the spring game as I expect him to be this fall, lots of athleticism and depth in this crew
--D-tackle is going to be a strength. Lots of depth and Kirksey in particular looks like he's going to have a monster year.
--Safety--pleasant surprise position of the scrimmage. As many have noted Lewis lit up McKnight like a christmas tree on what looked like a sure catch downfield. Both Lewis and Watkins were all over the place.
--Corners--Collado was his typical high energy self--it's always fun to watch him in run support. One play he dove between two blockers to get an RB for a short gain. I also think he looks better in coverage this year. Carter looks like a big time lock down corner. He's put on some muscle and won't easily blocked or muscled like he was at times last year. In my lifetime the Gophers have never had a talent like him at corner.
--DEs--This group was solid in run support but I'm worried about the ability of our DEs to rush the passer. Hageman will be fine on running plays, but hasn't yet shown the technique to beat his guy. The door is open for guys like Wilhite and Garin to really step up
--I really liked what Jacobs did in the first open scrimmage. It'll be interesting to see if he plays more inside or outside come fall.

O-line--much improved. Bunders isn't very good, but everyone else has made big strides. It was great to see the O-line get some push on running plays and actually protect the QBs on passing downs (granted the D was vanilla, but still the improvement was apparent)

RBs--DB is a step faster than last year, still runs hard and with good balance. Eskridge looks to have improved his balance. Still, neither of these guys would have seen the field during the Mason years. One of the freshmen needs to step up if this offense is going to take the next step.

WRs--easily the most disappointing group of the spring game. Way too many dropped balls. I understand some of the throws were late and/or the DBs made good plays, but two hands on the ball should usually equal a catch. McKnight is the only guy who has shown the ability to go get jump balls. TS had a few nice plays as well.

Brandon Green needs to develop a sense of urgency and learn to fight for the ball.

QBs--Weber didn't short arm any throws and his accuracy was better. He still stares down WRs and forces it into traffic at times. However, he was smarter in how he threw the ball away. Gray has gotten hammered on here for how he played. He did make a couple terrible passes. Even so, he was 4-7 with one awful drop that was not his fault, including a nice deep ball to a wide open Hayo Carpenter. I wish Gray would have gotten more reps, as he compared more favorably with Weber in the previous open scrimmage.
Alipate throws a nice ball, but he moves like Cory Sauter in the pocket. Gotta work on that.
 


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