Spring Game

Well, the spring game was interesting. No one was amazing, but at least the guys who are supposed to be leading the team next year looked good. The D overall was pretty good too. The passing game sure had trouble getting going, so hopefully that's a good sign (for the secondary).

Joe Newton, Sabby, Wheat-Brown, and Marcel Love all had good days. Matt Moore looked decent and is very mobile after knee surgery. Dorian Smith was getting in the backfield a lot, but not really getting to the QB. However, sacks were hard to recognize because the QBs couldn't be touched. The linebackers looked good and I think we will have no problem at that position.

Gundy had a good day, but he was playing against mainly walk-ons towards the end. Canfield didn't look like he's ready to start, but definitely has some good tools.

All of the RBs looked pretty good. Polk played a ton and looked good. Fuller looked good early, but didn't play much after the 1st quarter (why?). And a walk-on from Bend, Stewart, had a really good day.

There were some interesting quotes from the GT on the game:

Defense rules the spring

“I think this spring our defense as a whole stepped it up,” defensive end Jeff Van Orsow said. “We’re starting to get back to where we were, on top of the Pac-10 (in defense).”

...

“Their intensity has so much to do with the way they played,” quarterback Matt Moore said of the entire defense. “The secondary is playing awesome, and they are going to be one of the best next year.”

Yea, the D was pretty good. But it's interesting that everyone is very high on the secondary and the D as a whole. That's a good thing and I hope we do have a top 2 or 3 D next season.

Going into the summer, the Beavers must develop the receivers. The players know it, so they plan to spend extra time working out on their own.

“It was hard all spring because we were missing Sammie and Anthony,” Moore said. “It’s a long summer. If we can do it last year, with working with me for a first time, and now the experience we have working together, we’ll be fine.”

Amen. That's probably the single biggest concern for the team, next to pass defense.


Anyone looking for a Pac-10 summary of spring ball, here's one from ESPN from a few days ago:

ESPN.com - NCF - Pac-10 team-by-team spring guide