The Spring Game 2014

[lance99]

I know that this is a sub-topic, but I will start one anyway.

For those of you that was at the spring game this weekend: What did you think? I know that the Defense is always way, way ahead of the offense. However, other than one big run, I seen nothing, IMO.

Am I wrong? Are they holding everything close to the vest? Am I paranoid?

For the record, I have video of the game(I am surprised that noone posted this yet). Too early to tell?

Just wondering…..

The Game

[GP1]

Am I wrong? Are they holding everything close to the vest? Am I paranoid?

Yes

No. They don't show anything because spring is for experimentation. The finished product takes place in the fall.

Yes. It comes from the abuse the University has heaped upon Zips fans since 1986. It's not your fault...well, it is your fault if you know why you are paranoid and realize is it unwarranted, yet you remain paranoid.

[Dr Z]

Here are some low resolution images from the day. The day was well done by the U.

The biggest thing I got from the day, the tailgating.

Best attended tailgating for a spring game I have seen.

The anticipation for the season seems to be blossoming.

[GP1]

Thanks for the photos DrZ. The guys look in pretty good shape for spring football. Specifically, the physical development of they guys who are coming up to start next season looks good. A few more months in the weight room and they should look really good come August.

Lots to be optimistic about.

[a-zip]

At the end of the scrimmage, I liked seeing KP16 speaking to the team (maybe just the offense) after TB spoke. He seemed to have the attention and command of the team and also seemed a bit animated. Good to see the leadership coming out.

[UA1987]

A couple of things: 1) I'd be surprized if Isaiah Williams is not already over 300 lbs despite his GoZips weight. Hope he works hard in the offseason so as to come into camp at 315 lbs 2) Why can't Horner get up his weight? Special project for the conditioning room as we need him to be 230 lbs or higher by August.

[johnnyzip84]

Thanks for the pics, Dr Z!

Now with the spring game in the books, EA of the PD looks ahead to the 2014 season.

[Captain Kangaroo]

A few quick-hitters from Saturday's game -

Awesome day for spring football. And the community seemed to take advantage of it. I've definitely seen smaller crowds at actual Zips games.

Tailgating was great. Wish I had arrived earlier. Lot 9 was near capacity and rocking?!

Very nice job by UA Marketing. Autograph line was well organized, BEER sales!? And full-blown concessions?!

My biggest 2014 football concern was the potential drop off in the secondary. I thought the DB's played great. I foresee no drop off. They might even be better?

Hirschman looks ok, and will be a solid #2 option. Threw a nice 55yd completion, and didn't hop around the field to celebrate afterwards. Good step forward for him.

I think the OL will be fine once they aren't a split squad. Poor Rodney Carrol got the short straw being lined up against Okafor. The redshirt Fr. was beaten left, right and straight ahead by the heretofore unknown Senior DL.

Can Okafor repeat that performance in the Fall? Wow...what a gift if he can play like he did on Saturday. More than one person commented that #99's performance reminded them of another famous 6; 6", 230 lb #99 who played for the Zips a couple decades ago (#33 at that time).

Pohl is the man. No use wasting a scholarship on a 5th year transfer at QB. I can't wait to see what he can do with a two good wheels and last year's experience under his belt!

Woodson isn't ready to challenge for a starting QB job. But I like how he looks. Thick, strong kid. It will be fun to watch him and Kincade battle for the #2 spot next season, unless Woodson would want to get on the field faster than 2016 and convert to WR or defense (LB or S).

MTB continues to be an enigma. I don't know that he's one of our top 3-4 WR's at this time. Pratt looks very good. A breakout season looms.

Chisolm still appears to have no competition for the #1 RB slot. Neither Morgan, Lawrence or Jones showed much. But with a split OL, maybe they didn't get a fair opportunity. We'll see how it goes in the summer.

Our DL is pretty strong. Walking through the autograph line it was apparent that this will be the physically largest, strongest Zips team we've ever fielded. Keonte Hollis is a beast. Yet another player who can really dominate in the fall.

I agree that this Zips team should be bowl eligible in 2014. And anything less than 7 wins will be considered "underachieving."

Go Zips!

[ZippyFan]

I'm not sure what Kangaroo was watching.

Pohl was terrible. He locked in early on his receivers and was late on most of his throws. He didnt look very mobile either. I hope we see some vast improvements or we are in for a long year at QB.

I thought Pratt was not good either. Very inconsistent. most of the time he didn't look like he was putting in much effort

Wolf out shined all of the WR's by a mile. If this is a glimpse into what the future holds we are in good shape. We have him for 4 more years if we can find someone to throw the ball

Woodson was awful and the notion of moving him anywhere that requires any speed is funny. He is one of the few skill position players that you see with a lineman's gut. As bad as he was he looked like he belonged in the NFL compared to the young Hoyer.....Yikes!

Okafor was a beast! I hope we see a whole bunch more of that

MTB continues to drop balls and under impress. It's time that we start playing players because of their play on the field and not how much they run their mouth. I think he had a dozen catches last year and probably at least that many drops. Make him earn it

Hundley was unimpressive. I though Jones looked much better. That being said Chisolm was by far the best ball carrier on the day. Is he in the doghouse?

I dont understand why you run a continuous clock in the second half. It was a gorgeous day and you're taking away valuable time from young players. That doesn't make any sense. If you don't p[lay these young guys how will anyone prove themselves?

Here's a question for anyone that can answer? How many RB's do we have on scholarship. I read that the kid from Wadsworth was given a scholarship

Chisholm, Hundley, Lawrence, Morgan, Lauro and the kid from Wadsworth. Is Jones on Scholarship? Why so many RB's on scholarship?

[Zipgrad01]

I'm not sure what Kangaroo was watching.

Pohl was terrible. He locked in early on his receivers and was late on most of his throws. He didnt look very mobile either. I hope we see some vast improvements or we are in for a long year at QB.

I thought Pratt was not good either. Very inconsistent. most of the time he didn't look like he was putting in much effort

Wolf out shined all of the WR's by a mile. If this is a glimpse into what the future holds we are in good shape. We have him for 4 more years if we can find someone to throw the ball

Woodson was awful and the notion of moving him anywhere that requires any speed is funny. He is one of the few skill position players that you see with a lineman's gut. As bad as he was he looked like he belonged in the NFL compared to the young Hoyer.....Yikes!

Okafor was a beast! I hope we see a whole bunch more of that

MTB continues to drop balls and under impress. It's time that we start playing players because of their play on the field and not how much they run their mouth. I think he had a dozen catches last year and probably at least that many drops. Make him earn it

Hundley was unimpressive. I though Jones looked much better. That being said Chisolm was by far the best ball carrier on the day. Is he in the doghouse?

I dont understand why you run a continuous clock in the second half. It was a gorgeous day and you're taking away valuable time from young players. That doesn't make any sense. If you don't p[lay these young guys how will anyone prove themselves?

Here's a question for anyone that can answer? How many RB's do we have on scholarship. I read that the kid from Wadsworth was given a scholarship

Chisholm, Hundley, Lawrence, Morgan, Lauro and the kid from Wadsworth. Is Jones on Scholarship? Why so many RB's on scholarship?

2-10!!! 2-10!!!

[zippy5]

Did akzipper get banned and make a new account?

[Balsy]

100% agree with ZippyFan. What I saw Saturday was a far cry from what Captain saw Saturday. I'll throw the caveat in there that this is "only the spring game" blah blah, but we have to be at least somewhat concerned with Pohl's play.

I think we're all pulling for him, because he is by far our best option at QB, but that also doesn't excuse the obvious and glaring problems.

[Captain Kangaroo]

100% agree with ZippyFan. What I saw Saturday was a far cry from what Captain saw Saturday. I'll throw the caveat in there that this is "only the spring game" blah blah, but we have to be at least somewhat concerned with Pohl's play.

I am concerned about Carmelo Betancourt QB-ing our basketball team. I'm not concerned about Pohl QB-ing our football team.

[K92]

[skip-zip]

100% agree with ZippyFan. What I saw Saturday was a far cry from what Captain saw Saturday. I'll throw the caveat in there that this is "only the spring game" blah blah, but we have to be at least somewhat concerned with Pohl's play.

I think we're all pulling for him, because he is by far our best option at QB, but that also doesn't excuse the obvious and glaring problems.

That's a fair assessment.

Either blindness or alcohol tended to impair judgment on Saturday, apparently. Both offensive units mustered a combined 6 points, in a damn scrimmage? And some people are praising our QB who took quite a few of the snaps? I may not be as willing as some to place the entire problem on our lack of good QB play, but some of it was indeed glaring.

[zipproud]

That's a fair assessment.

Either blindness or alcohol tended to impair judgment on Saturday, apparently. Both offensive units mustered a combined 6 points, in a damn scrimmage? And some people are praising our QB who took quite a few of the snaps? I may not be as willing as some to place the entire problem on our lack of good QB play, but some of it was indeed glaring.

I don't disagree, I thought KP16 did a decent job considering it was a Spring game and he was limited on the amount of snaps he took. I thought CK18 was the next best QB. The kid can't know the offense yet, he just arrived on campus in Jan. He seemed very relaxed when he took snaps, it even looked like he checked out of a few plays. He just looks like a QB, I hope he learns the offense in camp and pushes KP16 to make him better. Competition makes everyone better. I also think if NH15 is healthy he can be a threat. Just doesn't look like he is healthy the way he is moving around.

8 wins and a bowl game!!!

GoZIPS!!!!

[LZIp]

Since there seems to be a wide range of opinion regarding the spring game, I suppose I'll inject my 2 cents to the conversation.

I'll start off with the hot topic. Pohl looked FINE. I don't recall any bad decisions. I would have liked him to check down less and take a few more shots, but its a friggin' spring scrimmage. Pohl played like a starter knowing he has the job. Hirschman played like someone looking for playing time (and wasn't impressive). Woodson looked intriguing. No idea what some are talking about, but it was nice to see him scramble and hit some guys. I don't recall him missing any throws he should have made. You can tell Kincade has a ton of potential. Hoyer did fine for his first ever D-1 experience. Not sure what some were expecting of him.

I was surprised Hundley started with the first team. I would have liked to see Jones get some more touches. Chisholm still looks like the starter, though.

WRs. Thought Pratt impressed the most of the first team. The kid from Lebanon (name slipping mind) had a nice catch or two. MTB continues to disappoint with all of the hype. I'd like to see less talk and more "walk" out of him. Others didn't do much, but I'm not going to overreact because it was a spring scrimmage.

I also tried to pay attention to the O-line and thought they looked pretty solid, at least their pass blocking.

As for defense..I have to be impressed. We know we may have the best group of LBs in the MAC. Capi played with a little bit of an "edge" that I didn't see from him last season. Okafor probably had the biggest day of the d-line, maybe even the whole defense. I realize it was against the 2nd team O. Pittman had class I heard. Wish I could have seen him. Is Jamel Turner still on the team?!

I have to say I was also very impressed with the D-backs. I was expecting a let down from losing Freeman, among others, but what I saw was tight coverage and no big mistakes all scrimmage.

Paul shanked a couple punts, but I'm not concerned and Stein still cant hit a 30 yard FG consistently.

I'm pretty damn pumped for the fall. Go Zips!!

[skip-zip]

I'll start off with the hot topic. Pohl looked FINE. I don't recall any bad decisions.

I'm pretty damn pumped for the fall. Go Zips!!

Sorry to keep getting back to the same point. But really, how are some people apparently satisfied with what they saw from Pohl when he was able to put 3 points on the board? Forget whether you personally think he's the man, or not the man. From a pure production standpoint, you have to admit that it's unacceptably horrible, right?

Quick Question: Would that also be "fine" if he "doesn't do anything bad" and puts 3 points on the board in September? Or, even 10 or 14 points?

I just don't get how a complete lack of scoring is not very concerning, at the very least.

[johnnyzip84]

I just don't get how a complete lack of scoring is not very concerning, at the very least.

It's not very concerning to me at the very least. It's not even concerning to me in the least, and here is why.

1. Spring game's are typically next to meaningless. This one was probably even more so. Since he was forced to scrub the last full contact scrimmage the Saturday before the spring game because of mounting injuries, TB seemed pretty determined to get past this spring game without any more occurring. The entire "game" was over in 1:45! Nobody really played enough on offense to get into any kind of rhythm.
2. A few of us saw the full contacts scrimmage two Saturdays before the spring game. KP16 had a couple of nice deep balls to LT Smith and several other nice throws in what I would describe as a MUCH more competitive environment than the spring game. His accuracy was VERY good (he's always had plenty of arm strength).

[UA1987]

'Bottom line' or 'at the end of the day' types would look at the score of the Spring game and think there's big problems with the O. Problem is, you can't cliff note Spring games. You have to look at the full story, which was adequately told by previous posters. I found it interesting that Coach Bowden commented that players here now are the ones that will be starting next August. He did have a qualifier in there as he said (most) somewhere in his closing motivational speech, so I do think we will see some blue shirts and this will be the big story for Zipsnation during the next few months. I'll be watching for big news here - Go Zips

[zippy5]

TB just tweeted to stay tuned for some big news from the program. Big recruit maybe?

[Balsy]

New Uniform official announcement?

[ZachTheZip]

Some good news is coming up soon.

[akzipper]

Don't think it will be uniform related. Since the helmets and some mockups have already been made public.

I seem to think the news will be pretty underwhelming....

Maybe future OOC opponents?

[zippy5]

Guess it can't be a recruit, he can't comment til they sign. Wonder what it could be