Football Holds First Major Spring Scrimmage

FootballApril 03, 2009

Football Holds First Major Spring Scrimmage

April 4, 2009

By Ted Bryant - Media Relations Student Assistant -

The offense pulled out a narrow 60-54 victory at today's first full scrimmage of spring practice, held this morning at Faurot Field. Over the course of the three-hour practice, the offensive unit's successes came in doing the little things right as the defense held them to only a handful of big plays.

Quarterback Blaine Gabbert was impressive today, finishing 27-for-37 passing for 203 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. He made good decisions during the first team offense's two-minute drill, and as I predicted in my write-up of Thursday's practice, put a hard shoulder blow into linebacker Andrew Gachkar on a run to the sideline. Gachkar would get the last laugh, though, picking off Gabbert to cap the first team offense's second two-minute drill to end the day. Running back De'Vion Moore is a total workhorse. He does everything asked of him, and he does it well. He runs hard, makes tough catches, and as revealed today, he can make a clutch block when needed. He was the receiver of Gabbert's only touchdown pass, a 14-yard snag in the back of the endzone after the play broke down. He finished with six receptions for 50 yards and a touchdown, as well as seven carries for 40 yards.

Freshmen quarterbacks Ashton Glaser and Blaine Dalton took a lot of snaps today. Both are showing promise, but have very different styles. Glaser is more of a pocket passer and made some good throws, while also being involved in arguably the strangest play of the day. After having his pass batted back to him by defensive tackle Dominique Hamilton at the line of scrimmage, Glaser managed to grab the ball back and scramble for about five more yards. Even stranger? Gabbert did the exact same thing a few series later. Dalton, however, is very quick to rely on his feet to get up field. He is good at hitting quick, short passes and is surprisingly agile.

Running back Shawn Scott was the first to get on the board for the offense, breaking off a 50-yard run on a fake reverse to wide receiver Rolandis Woodland. Scott also punched the ball in from one yard out after wide receiver Brandon Gerau came down with an impressive catch on the goal line, despite being blanketed by cornerback Carl Gettis. Gerau's toughness will make him a fan favorite when he inevitably cracks the lineup. Earlier in the day, he got lit up by free safety Kenji Jackson, but hung on to the ball and proved that he is unafraid to go across the middle. His quick hands have also led to the coaches giving his reps as the team's placeholder, where he fielded a few high snaps but got the ball down in time for the kick.

The defense played with a head hunting mentality, absolutely flattening people at every opportunity. In one of the first series, linebacker Sean Weatherspoon hit running back Shawn Scott at full speed as he hit the hole, separating Scott from his helmet. Cornerback Munir Prince got in on the action when he leveled Jerrell Jackson immediately as he made the catch and really got the defense fired up. A big reason for the defense's success today was the overall play of the defensive line. Defensive end Aldon Smith is really pushing for increased playing time. He has a great combination of strength and speed, and is showing a knack for getting to the quarterback in a hurry. Defensive tackle Bart Coslet also made good use of his playing time and was constantly in the quarterback's face.

I was really impressed with the intensity of the entire defensive unit, especially the second team. There are quite a few players making big strides this spring, making these scrimmages that much more exciting. The Tigers will practice again Tuesday at 3:30 on Faurot Field if the weather allows.

Here's a quick recap of stats from today's scrimmage:

SCORING PLAYS

Scoring Description

· Shawn Scott 50-yard TD run

· Shawn Scott 1-yard TD run

· De'Vion Moore 14-yard TD reception from Blaine Gabbert

PASSING STATISTICS

Tiger Comp. Att. Yds. TD Int.

Blaine Gabbert 27 37 203 1 1

Jimmy Costello 14 30 127 0 2

Blaine Dalton 13 23 116 0 0

Ashton Glaser 12 23 98 0 1