Spring Game viewers - some questions

Submitted by Captain Obvious on

The open thread has gotten a bit unwieldy, so I thought I would ask some questions here (and allow others to as well).

1. Who ran the read option the best? How many omg who has the ball?? moments did we have? Any camera fake-outs?

2. How did Turner look out there?

3. How were the snaps?

lhglrkwg

April 17th, 2010 at 4:08 PM ^

1. Denard is most dangerous in the option definitely. There were a few where he kept it and fooled the D. Gardner actually had a keeper on the read option and coming around the corner there was no one within 20 yds of him. It turned into a 20ish yd run

2. Not sure

3. No fumbled snaps by Denard/Tate. One mishandled snap by Gardner, one by Kennedy

Captain Obvious

April 17th, 2010 at 4:13 PM ^

from the equation - is Denard still better with the read option? We need someone in there that will make the right read - even Threet could run it pretty well because he made some good reads.

Also, who surprised you the most, excluding Denard? Was there anyone out there previously under the radar that lit shit up?

gremlin

April 17th, 2010 at 4:16 PM ^

Denard is definitely better with the read option. I believe what you're missing, is the DE is going to think QB more often with Denard in the game, then with Tate/Threet in the game. Therefore you're going to see the defensive end hold his position, rather than crash down on the RB when Denard is in the game. Especially when the Defense goes against Denard day in day out, and thus being very familiar with his abilities.

Captain Obvious

April 17th, 2010 at 4:33 PM ^

but I am interested in the read part of the read option. No matter what the DE does, the QB has to read it correctly and make the split second decision correctly. Looks like Denard was the leader here as well, so he may be pretty damn dangerous come September.

EDIT: Can I assume these 2 negs are from the Forcier brothers? Don't worry guys, your brother has all summer to take back the starting position.

Blueskins

April 17th, 2010 at 4:12 PM ^

Denard looked best in every aspect, throwing, running, not fumbling snaps, clean exchanges (or keeps) on the read play. As for Turner, he was running with the 2s and that was with Woolfolk out. I'm just kinda surprised he can't beat out JT Floyd or James Rogers. And as for the fumbled snaps I expect that to improve upon the return of Molk.

gremlin

April 17th, 2010 at 4:12 PM ^

1. Denard is the guy.

2. If I were you, I'd attempt to lower your expectations for Turner. He isn't living up to his recruiting hype, but that doesn't mean he won't contribute at some time.

3. Snaps were much improved compared to when after Molk went out with his injury last year. It seems like almost a blessing that he is missing spring ball, to improve depth at the position.

BigBlue02

April 17th, 2010 at 4:17 PM ^

Denard looked like a completely different QB than last year. He looked to actually understand the offense better than Tate. In my mind, he solidified himself as the #1 on the team (although I have no idea how he will actually do in game situations, but judging by this scrimmage, he played just like a #1 should play). Tate did exactly the same things he did last year (wrong reads, careless with the ball).

Turner actually looked better than I thought he would. He also looked to be on his way to being a safety....he was a big guy. I was actually really surprised at how big Cam Gordon was though. He had a couple big hits, one on Koger (I believe) and looked very natural at safety. I was very impressed.

Snaps were completely fine (unless you are counting field goal snaps, at which point they were not good). Pace will be just fine.

Monocle Smile

April 17th, 2010 at 4:34 PM ^

Snaps were not all fine; Gardner especially had to dig a few out by his feet. Khoury did okay and I was rather impressed with Pace, but Molk's the guy.

I don't really think Tate made any horrible wrong reads; more often than not when he was on the field both him and the RB ended up tackled/two-hand touched. Remember, he was with the second team offense against first team defense. He still doesn't like tucking the ball, which is a problem, but he only had one turnover when JB Fitzgerald got out on him and wasn't allowed to tackle so he bitch-slapped the ball. Plus, RVB and Banks know exactly what the zone read entails and I don't believe Denard played more than one series against the first team defense. I thought Tate looked more patient out there than last year, though Gardner has the best pocket presence.

Turner's a big dude, but he's a pretty damn good cover guy. I really want Cam Gordon to succeed and you're right, he looked like a safety rather than a converted receiver. Vlad Emilien is still battling that knee injury, seeing as Roundtree didn't even have to make a move to leave him in the dust.

Gallon's fucking fast, but is way more buff than I thought he would be. T-Rob has nasty moves. Odoms looks even quicker than last year.
Caveat: CATCH THE DAMN BALL

Tight ends were probably the most impressive position compared to last year. All three had decent plays and Brandon Moore could be challenging for a starting spot depending on his blocking abilities.

amk7

April 17th, 2010 at 4:22 PM ^

1. Denard. No question on that one. There were a couple of good fakes, especially end around fakes
2. Turner played well, but wasnt outstanding. He just looks too big to be playing corner
3. Snaps were good for the most part, Khoury was doing pretty well

Captain Obvious

April 17th, 2010 at 4:25 PM ^

thanks for the responses so far.

How did Roh play in the new(ish) scheme? Anyone see him playing in coverage? I didn't see much on him in the open thread.

Did Mouton and Ezeh make any soul-crushing mistakes? Were they blitzing more?

Monocle Smile

April 17th, 2010 at 4:40 PM ^

Demens looked extremely athletic for a big guy and had excellent lateral speed and positioning, especially when you consider he was playing against the first team offense.

Roh looked like the fucking Rancor from Star Wars, but fast. He's decent with coverage and if put in bump-and-run man, he may break his receiver in half at the line. I was also impressed with Ezeh's improved run support and ability to put his cover zone in a non-meaningless area.

Will Campbell looked like a pretty authoritative nose tackle. He showed flashes of the ability to control the line of scrimmage and gets off blocks well. Watch out for him.

Taylor Lewan was pwning dudes all day. He played like a starter.

amir_al-muminin

April 17th, 2010 at 4:46 PM ^

I wasn't at the spring game, but I don't think we should rush to name Denard the starter at QB. Tate may not currently be injured, but it's likely that his injury hindered his development significantly. Give him a few more months of mental and physical preparation (with Barwis), and the competition at QB will heat up again in August.

Right now, it seems as though Tate is at least as good as he was last year. If Denard looks even better (not-even-close better, as some have said), then we should all feel pretty good about the offense in 2010.

AMazinBlue

April 17th, 2010 at 6:24 PM ^

both punting and FGs were weak to pitiful, especially the punting. I know Hagerup is coming in August, but from those that were in attendance how would you assess the kicking game at this point?

jmblue

April 18th, 2010 at 1:39 PM ^

Anything outside 40 yards will be an adventure.

Why does this seem to be the case like, every other year for our program? I want to know what OSU and Iowa are doing differently - they never seem to have poor placekicking.