Nice Spring Football Notes

[Captain Kangaroo]

Some nice notes from Mike Rasor's Blog

[johnnyzip84]

Some nice notes from Mike Rasor's Blog

For those of you (like me) who cannot access blogs at work, here are the notes.FootballI dropped by practice today for a half hour. Here are some notes…J.D. Brookhart is using the spring to move players around in hopes to find another Jabari Arthur. Some notable “experiments” include: Bryan Williams (RB) playing strong safety, Andre Jones (S) at receiver, Gary Pride (WR) at running back and Jalil Carter (CB) at safety.The experiment most likely to succeed, in my opinion, is Williams at safety. The team lacks depth in the secondary. When Williams was coming out of high school in 2004, he signed with Pitt as a cornerback. Then you also have to consider the gobs of depth the Zips have at running back.As far as the other running backs go, they looked fantastic today. Dennis Kennedy broke two touchdown runs. Alex Allen had one of his own. Those two lead the pack so far, Brookhart said. He mentioned that he is looking for “a complete back.” That tells me that Andrew Johnson, while an outstanding runner, is not blocking like the coach would like.The real inquiry is at quarterback, where Chris Jacquemain and Matt Rodgers will duel for the next six months. Jacquemain played a little today, then got sick with the flu. Rodgers took most of the snaps while I was there. He looked terrific. The balls rifled from his hand in tight spirals. He showed strong pocket presence, even with the offensive line blocking like a turnstile. With his field vision, arm strength and accuracy, I don’t see a scenario where a healthy Matt Rodgers does not start at Camp Randall Stadium on Aug. 30.Despite my bold prediction, Brookhart said Jacquemain leads the race and suggested it’s not super close. The coaches have been impressed with both signal callers during the eight practices so far this spring. The problem has been providing time to throw. Injuries have kept linemen Zack Anderson (surgery), Mike Ward (pinched nerve) and Corey Woods (knee) off the field.Other injuries: Sean Fobbs and Da’Von Moore had surgery before the spring. Starting in the fall, the team will implement a new policy for injuries. Like in the NFL, the Zips will provide an injury report on Thursday. Brookhart will not comment on injuries unless they are season-ending. This comes as many college coaches are beginning to fear lawsuits from athletes whose pro prospects might be diminished by revealing injury details.Defensively, the strength appears to be up front. The line is getting great pressure and Ryan Bain is the reason. He “is a huge improvement for us,” Brookhart said. Another newcomer, Aaron Williams, has impressed the coaches at linebacker.Still, there is a need for playmakers, particularly at wide receiver. Deryn Bowser is on the way from junior college, but he won’t practice until fall. Jeremy Bruce, the transfer from West Virginia, is playing, but he has a ways to go. What about David Harvey? “I know nothing about it,” Brookhart said.

[w00t]

What about David Harvey? “I know nothing about it,” Brookhart said.

There's a surprise.

[Zipsrifle]

Uhhh. I think this year will probably be the LEAST excited I get about FB in about 10 years. Bain getting in the backfield simply means that whoever is the QB is going to get crushed again this year and though we've got a stable of RB, there won't be any holes for them to run through. We don't have a known quantity at WR so who knows what is going to happen there. Sounds like our secondary is suspect as well. So, it looks like we'll be good at defending the run, and everything else is an unknown. What's the deal with special teams???Time for JD to earn his cash! This is his 4th season, and he's got all of his guys and his system is established. I really hope that good things happen, but to be honest with you, I don't have high hopes.

[RACER]

zipsrifle i have to agree with you.i offense was terrible last year,and we lose our wr.the only rb threat williams is moved to db?then jd puts are best db jones at wr.i hope jd knows what he is doing.looks like harvey,and lindsey are not coming back.i thought if both of them came back that would help alott.hopefully rogers is alott better than cj,but if the line cannot block we are in trouble.i think our defense,and kicking game should be solid.i just dont see how this offense is going to score enough points against some of the teams in the mac.

[GP1]

I agree with both of you. This is actually JD's 5th season coming up. There is more athletic talent on the team than any other time in the history of the program and it MUST start turning into wins on the field.I'll say it for he 10,000,000th time....If UofA does not get a QB that can win games, they aren't going to win more than five games next year. At that point, UofA will be looking for a new coach and everyone in NE Ohio can look forward to five more years of rebuilding and building. That's what it's all about in the MAC after all isn't it? A constant state of building and rarely a state of performance.

[johnnyzip84]

I'll say it for he 10,000,000th time....If UofA does not get a QB that can win games, they aren't going to win more than five games next year.

That's an interesting statement. It sort of sounds like it contradicts itself, which is particularly amusing after the 10,000,000th time.

[gozips19]

i am pretty sure that they were looking at jones as a two way player and will be starting at fs. the carter experiment will kind of be like brandon anderson moving to ss last year as the safety spot is thin. i think ss will be fine once fleming comes in this fall and could see davis as jones back up. bain getting into the back field just means he's a beast. the line played well last year considering their youth and that the offense was one dimensional. with 3 5ths of the line out and working in a new center i'd expect the line to be a little weak. love the idea of pride at scat back. the more speed on the field the better. rodger's will start but j.d. can't come out an say that just yet. he needs jac as a solid back up and if he lost his spot this early his confidence could be crushed. this team has a lot of depth and will not tire out any more. if bowser and one other wr. steps up than this team could be really good. if not and jac is the qb......then they are only slightly better than last year.

[uafan]

,and kicking game should be solid.Our return games and placekicking should be good. But we need an answer at punter. Stec is not the answer! After 2 years as starter, he can only rank #90 in the NCAA? Unfortunately, spring ball will not give us any answers, as punters are told to "not kick hard" indoors. Don't want to hit any lights. Couldn't they schedule half an hout outside to get some work in?

[zippy5]

I'll say it for he 10,000,000th time....If UofA does not get a QB that can win games, they aren't going to win more than five games next year.

That's an interesting statement. It sort of sounds like it contradicts itself, which is particularly amusing after the 10,000,000th time.

If they don't get a QB that can win games, I'd guess we would win 0 and not 5...

[johnnyzip84]

I'll say it for he 10,000,000th time....If UofA does not get a QB that can win games, they aren't going to win more than five games next year.

That's an interesting statement. It sort of sounds like it contradicts itself, which is particularly amusing after the 10,000,000th time.

If they don't get a QB that can win games, I'd guess we would win 0 and not 5...

Precisely, zippy5!

[RACER]

U A fan i should have made my statment a little better.i was speaking about the kick off,extra point,fg.hopefully they can find a punter.the year before we had trouble making an extra point let alone fg.i think having a solid fg kicker is a big plus since our offense may not be that good.if we can get the ball inside the 30 at least we have a good chance to score three.

[Quickzips]

I hate hearing that the O-line looks like a turnstyle. I don't care who you have at QB, RB, WR, TE, FB, whatever. If the offensive line can't block you aren't going to do piddly on offense.

[Big Zip]

There has been a lot of talk about how deep we are at running back, but if Kennedy is starting that means the depth is gone. He was horrible last year -- you guys on here blast Jacq, but Kennedy was even worse. He looks like he's running in mud every time he gets the ball. I have a hard time believing OSU wanted him to gray shirt.

[RACER]

big zip i agree.niether kennedy,or allen has breakaway speed.the only guy that we have is williams,and he is now a db.i thought johnson was supposed to start ths year at tb? i

[GP1]

I'll say it for he 10,000,000th time....If UofA does not get a QB that can win games, they aren't going to win more than five games next year.

That's an interesting statement. It sort of sounds like it contradicts itself, which is particularly amusing after the 10,000,000th time.

Good point. I think after 10,000,000 times, everyone gets what I mean.

[GP1]

There has been a lot of talk about how deep we are at running back, but if Kennedy is starting that means the depth is gone. He was horrible last year -- you guys on here blast Jacq, but Kennedy was even worse. He looks like he's running in mud every time he gets the ball. I have a hard time believing OSU wanted him to gray shirt.

You're right about Kennedy, but he hardly played last year because he was only the third best RB on the team. The problem with Jacq is that he is in the game every play. The problem with Kennedy is that he likes to run east/west too much.

[Buckzip]

There has been a lot of talk about how deep we are at running back, but if Kennedy is starting that means the depth is gone. He was horrible last year -- you guys on here blast Jacq, but Kennedy was even worse. He looks like he's running in mud every time he gets the ball. I have a hard time believing OSU wanted him to gray shirt.

You're right about Kennedy, but he hardly played last year because he was only the third best RB on the team. The problem with Jacq is that he is in the game every play. The problem with Kennedy is that he likes to run east/west too much.

Kennedy has tailback size and strength, but fullback style and ability.Not a very good combination.He usually runs right into the pile and can't run over or outrun anyone.