Spring game

[zipboy]

Just got back from the spring game. My thoughts

1. Team is small but quick.

2. Getsy and Arthur was a draw to me. Ferguson also looked like he belonged with those 2 as well. Gesty is smoother with play actions and hand offs. Jabarri has a stronger arm and can run. Per the radio, it seems that Getsy is the guy. Not sure if I agree but I don't see practice every day.

3. Kennedy looked good. He may play is way into the #2 spot.

4. OL was better than I thought. Pass blocking is better than run blocking. The D will be the strength of the team.

5. Secondary looks good, a lot of depth. Antonio Samuels is a new name that impressed me. Anothony Showers may get some PT. Wasn't he a QB originally?

6. Looks like Rohr and Crouch are taking over as vocal leaders. I saw Crouch going off a few times after they kept sputtering. Too bad Rohr wasn't 10 lbs heavier, but he is a playmaker. Stokes looked good as well.

Names missing on the roster

Myron Howard - walk on from Glenville who had a track scholarship. Guess he stayed with track?

Jamail Jackson - the 1st JD recruit to leave?

Matt Pichardo - He was rated higher than Kasparek coming in. Kasparek looked tough by the way.

Gary Frisby - one of the 5 initial recruits before JD took over.

It would have been nice to see Benjamin, but it looked like he did not play. Did not see Donte Cloud either

Overall, a lot of work to be done over the summer. A 500 season is definitely within reach.

[Sergeant Zip]

Here is an article in the Buchtelite, (I know it is the Buchtelite), on the next QB. I hope JD has a better idea after today.

http://www.buchtelite.com/2005/0414/sports_01.shtml

[Sergeant Zip]

Zipboy,

No mention of Romeo? I guess that was all just for fun earlier...

[Hugh Cregg]

Defense was the story of the day. Much much more aggressive and overall better than in the past = lots quicker than any defense I have seen at Akron U in the last 20 years. Can they be int he right place at the right time? Time will tell as they are very young.

Lots, if not most of the new freshman signees were present. Both QB's - Jacquemain and Jackson were there. Both should have a chance to compete for the QB job this fall given the performances of the current QB's. Getsy's balls were all over the place. Arthur thinks to run first before staying in the pocket. Ferguson has some nice balls and some real ducks. Ferguson is not very good at all.

Many big linemen in the new recruit class, thick kids too.

Some other notes...

Travis made it through half of one practice before he quit. Playing at St. V and Akron U are very different, which he soon found out. The players I talked to had a good laugh about that and said he was back where he belonged.

Matt Pichardo - Transferred to UCF, may not even play FB again.

Brian Flaherty - Moved to TE after a second should surgery.

CJ Gruber - Medical Hardship due to bad shoulders, will not play again.

Gary Frisby - Never attended Akron, went to Wayne State last year.

Jamail Jackson - Never made grades.

Myron Howard - All-Ohio Relays were this weekend, track pays the freight so he is with track.

Cloud, Reid, Allman, Henry and Pace were all out with injury, will be back in fall.

Dennis Basch is done for his career due to multiple concussions, per his dad.

I agree with Zipboy - a 500 season is within reach, but in my opinion it is far far away from a given.

3-4 wins would be more in line with my thoughts after seeing this display.

What a great facility - a nice touch to have this in the fieldhouse despite it being a nice day. Always a gamble this time of year.

Good to see many of the former players back. Got a handout at the door that detailed all of the promotions fo the year and every game has a player reunion scheduled. Also bus trips to every away game are being offered. Finally. Would be nice to take a big crowd to the away games.

[Buckzip]

Dennis Kennedy is going to be a great player for UA.

[zipboy]

Thanks for the info Hugh Cregg. I heard Basch on the radio as I was coming in. He said that he would be ready to go for the Fall. Is that just wishful thinking on his part? He is a good TE. He and Kasparek make a great 1-2 punch. And the Basch family have been great supporters of UA Football. I hope he is healthy, but glad that he is taking care of himself.

[Zipsrifle]

Thanks for the info everyone. I guess I'm pleasently suprised at a few things. First, that the score ended tied. Was this kinda a planned thing or was it legit? I hope it was legit. Second, at the report that the OL wasn't as bad as feared and that the pass blocking was OK. The question I have now is.....Is our OL good at pass blocking or don't we have a good pass rush?

Some conflicting reports on Ferguson. I guess the most suprising thing to me was that Fergie lead the QB's statistically. I picked this up from the article on gozips.com. You would thing he wouldn't get a whole lot of PT with a QB Controversy between the top two. At least we're deep when it comes go QB's....we may need all of them. Kinda bummed that we don't have a clear cut QB yet. I thought that Getsy would lock this thing up no problem after the transfer. IMO, this is a good thing, the competition makes everyone better.

Sounds like Kennedy will be a nice additon this year. He's been mentioned a couple of times in the press releases during spring practices. Hope the OL learns how to run block, we could be dangerous in this area. More importantly....what happened to Biggs? He had 1 reception? Why didn't he play more? Is he hurt or didn't he play to avoid being hurt? Now that spring ball is over, does anyone know if Luke, Jabari, Dom, etc. are going to be doing player supervised summer practices this year? IMO, this is VERY important and now that 5 is gone, we need someone to step up and keep this going. Oh, yea, one final question....when does fall practice start?

[Buckzip]

Don't count Carlton jackson out of the QB mix just yet.

When he gets here in the fall, he may turn some heads.

[Dr Z]

Just got back from the spring game.  My thoughts

1.  Team is small but quick.

2.  Getsy and Arthur was a draw to me. Ferguson also looked like he belonged with those 2 as well.  Gesty is smoother with play actions and hand offs.  Jabarri has a stronger arm and can run.  Per the radio, it seems that Getsy is the guy.  Not sure if I agree but I don't see practice every day.

3.  Kennedy looked good.  He may play is way into the #2 spot.

4.  OL was better than I thought.  Pass blocking is better than run blocking.  The D will be the strength of the team.

5.  Secondary looks good, a lot of depth.  Antonio Samuels is a new name that impressed me.  Anothony Showers may get some PT.  Wasn't he a QB originally?

6.  Looks like Rohr and Crouch are taking over as vocal leaders.  I saw Crouch going off a few times after they kept sputtering.  Too bad Rohr wasn't 10 lbs heavier, but he is a playmaker.  Stokes looked good as well.

Overall, a lot of work to be done over the summer.  A 500 season is definitely within reach.

good post Zipboy. I agree with all your points.

To me Jabari looks like the QB that would give us the best chance to win.

But I wish someone would step up and make the decision easy.

What is up with the center position? Worst snaps I have seen throughout a game?

Kennedy impressed me. OL did not.

Do we run a swing pass to the right every third play or what?

I don't know about anybody else, but I would rather watch the spring game at the rubber bowl.

It was fun to see the new field, but that isn't a great place to watch a game.

Why in the world did that bag of (non) information NOT include a ROSTER???

[GP1]

To me Jabari looks like the QB that would give us the best chance to win.

Jabari was a disaster. He couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. The easiest pass to throw is the bubble screen because the receiver isn't far away and the blocker makes it almost impossible to intercept the ball. Each time, the receivers had to catch the ball around their knees.

Getsy needs to work on his timing, but that will come. His accuracy was good enough to make him starting QB. Remember the four most important traits of a QB:

1. Decision Making

2. Accuracy

3. Accuracy

4. Accuracy

[InTheZone]

A few quick thoughts on the game...

Unlike some of you, I was very impressed with the play of John Ferguson. I think you have to give him a chance in this QB battle. He's clearly a better QB than Arthur and Getsy was better but not all that much better.

Dennis Kennedy is going to be a player. He runs low to the ground and has great field vision. Reminded me of old school Brandon Payne.

Kasparek should have a monster year. He didn't get too many balls thrown his way, but he looked big and ran great. He could be the best TE in the MAC before he's done.

The O-line is god awful. I hope some freshman can come in and play along there or it's not going to matter who our QB is, because they won't make it through Purdue.

The D-line on the other hand impressed me. They seem small and young, lots of new faces, but they ran to the ball and made plays and shut down the run, while at the same time applying pressure in passing situations. What I percieved would be a weakness could be a team strength.

The Secondary is going to be great. Extremely deep and talented. Reggie Corner is awesome, and Antonio Samuels really impressed me, and according to the roster he's just a frosh.

That's how I saw it. Where's the Captain by the way??

[GP1]

Unlike some of you, I was very impressed with the play of John Ferguson. I think you have to give him a chance in this QB battle. He's clearly a better QB than Arthur and Getsy was better but not all that much better.

I agree ITZ. Ferg did look good. However, he was playing against the third team defense with some of the starting OL being forced to play with the third team. The question is whether he can do it or not with the first team. As you know, things get much faster when playing with the starters.

[Captain Kangaroo]

A few quick thoughts on the game...

Unlike some of you, I was very impressed with the play of John Ferguson. I think you have to give him a chance in this QB battle. He's clearly a better QB than Arthur and Getsy was better but not all that much better.

Dennis Kennedy is going to be a player. He runs low to the ground and has great field vision. Reminded me of old school Brandon Payne.

Kasparek should have a monster year. He didn't get too many balls thrown his way, but he looked big and ran great. He could be the best TE in the MAC before he's done.

The O-line is god awful. I hope some freshman can come in and play along there or it's not going to matter who our QB is, because they won't make it through Purdue.

The D-line on the other hand impressed me. They seem small and young, lots of new faces, but they ran to the ball and made plays and shut down the run, while at the same time applying pressure in passing situations. What I percieved would be a weakness could be a team strength.

The Secondary is going to be great. Extremely deep and talented. Reggie Corner is awesome, and Antonio Samuels really impressed me, and according to the roster he's just a frosh.

That's how I saw it. Where's the Captain by the way??

My annual golf trip to South Carolina cnflicted with the game. I tried to get UAM to move the game back a week or two, but the guy wouldn't budge!

From what I saw from last weeks practice, I think you're dead-nuts on regarding Kasparek. He's really bulked up, and was one of the hardest-working guys the entire practice.

That's interesting news that Kennedy is looking like a player? Early word on him was "bust?" Maybe that allows us to redshirt the kid from Ursuline, who is proported to be the #2 recruit in the most-recent class (behind Hight).

Is Ferguson really pushing for playing time, or it it simply the "Ben Ruhlin Effect" revisited? (a guy that leads the team in spring game yardage, then never sees the field again)

Thanks to all for your reports!

[InTheZone]

I had heard from coaches last fall that they had been very disappointed with Kennedy and weren't expecting much out of him in the future. Now the word seems to be that he was disappointed to be redshirted and on scout team last year, and didnt give much of an effort, but had a great offseason and is now really showing what he's capable of. Based on what I saw, that seems to be a lot.

JD needs to work Kasparek into the offense more. He never drops a pass from what I've seen and for his size he can run like a gazelle.

Ferguson seemed like the real deal to me, but if he never sees the field, he can never put up numbers. I think if Getsy doesn't clearly distinguish himself in the offseason and improve, Ferguson deserves a shot.

[InTheZone]

Unlike some of you, I was very impressed with the play of John Ferguson.  I think you have to give him a chance in this QB battle.  He's clearly a better QB than Arthur and Getsy was better but not all that much better.

I agree ITZ. Ferg did look good. However, he was playing against the third team defense with some of the starting OL being forced to play with the third team. The question is whether he can do it or not with the first team. As you know, things get much faster when playing with the starters.

From what I saw, my perception was there was no third team, just the one's and two's were rotating and coaches were sprinkling in 2's with the 1's and an occasional 3 with the 2's every now and then. I could be wrong though. I know that Ferguson was working against the 2 DB's though, I did take note of that.

[ZipsFan52]

I thought the spring game went well. There are a couple of things that need smoothed out like the line and just the overall offense. The defense looks like they will be hard to beat. Another thing is the line can't really show there blocking scemes all that much because of scouting from other schools so there is one thing to think about. I think the quarterback decision will go to Getsy will get the job. I think he did the best out of all the quarterbacks. They should move Jabari out to Wide Out to where he can use his size and speed to dominate out there. They played him at Wide Out some games last year and he didnt do to bad. I'm sure they'll keep him there for a good back up. Ferguson impressed me he has a good arm with good accuracy. Ferguson also drove the team down for one of its touchdowns of day with the clock winding down.