CU Spring Game

[Buff]

I'm headed to the CU spring game this afternoon... I'll try to get some pictures and post them if I can, Darrell Scott's gonna be in the house (though he can't participate until he's graduated HS and enrolled).

I'm interested to see the new look hurry up offense similar to Mizzou's and KU's... Also want to see our new look giant O-line...

[MOtorboat]

Looking forward to the pics...best friend is in Lincoln right now...he's a Husker...

[BroncoJoe]

Looking forward to the pics...best friend is in Lincoln right now...he's a Husker...

If I could negative rep you, I would.

[MOtorboat]

If I could negative rep you, I would.

Why would you neg rep me...:confused:

Neg rep him...you can find him over at http://nebraska.rivals.com/default.asp as lawrencehusker...

[str8jacket]

I'll have my break down up in a bit (just don't shoot me :( )

[str8jacket]

Alright so heres THE lowdown of the lowdown :thumb:

I'll break this into Three parts, offense, defense and special teams as there is a WHOLE lot to talk about

Offense

Okay, so I will start by saying this. Kai Maiava did NOT i repeat did NOT play today. At all. He practiced, but did not warm up, so either this experiment may not be shaping out to what they were hoping or Hawk is keeping this a secret (as best he can)

Now, by position:

Quarterback

Cody Hawkins: Had a very solid practice. Looks as if he has added a bit of arm strength and is still VERY accurate, he did leave Moyd out to dry on one pass up high in the middle but outside of that he looked solid.

Matt Ballenger: What else can I say about this guy? He is HUGE. He looks leaner than last year, of course just as tall. He's at 230 however that fools you because he is very capable of moving around the pocket. There was a couple cases where either our blocking broke down or D brought the house and the line couldnt hold em back. He would roll out and pick up 5-15 yards easy. Rocket arm and still could use a bit of work on his accuracy, however he adds an element we don't have with Cody.

Nick Nelson: About the same as last year. Made a bone head play or two, overthrew Patrick Williams on a deep route that was a sure touchdown if it was within reach. Doesnt have much composure in the pocket and can't seem to know when defenders are coming. Not to knock on the guy but he is still very solid, I feel safe about our backups this year.

Kyle Black: Looks alright, a 4th guy basically. Can run the option well and thats about it.

Running Backs

Demetrius Sumler: Looked the best by far. 5-10 215, so he has lost some weight. Reminds me alot of Chris Brown with a somewhat upright running style. However he is alot shorter so he won't get banged up as much. Can catch the ball out of the outfield and even returned kicks. I like what I saw and if Scott can't/won't start I feel safe with this guy.

Brian Lockridge: Inactive:

Kevin Moyd: Somewhat a change of pace back. Can go get the ball when its thrown above his head (see Hawkins throwing 2 feet above the 5-7 Kids head). Alright at running the ball out of the backfield. Safe to say we are stacked at this position (and boy does it feel nice)

Maurice Cantrell: Played limited time. However the guy is a pure bruiser. I see him being used on the goal line in those situations (Think Lawrence Vickers at HB again basically)

Corey Nabors: Played a bit, can catch the ball out of the backfield and the type of back you would expect to see in either a blow out or in case of injury. Doesn't really blow you away but he is solid.

Wide Receiver

Josh Smith: Didn't do a whole lot really. Getting better with his hands however he did drop a couple, not trying to contradict myself but this time he caught the easy passes, and dropped a couple of brutal ones. Likes to smack his CB up a bit ;)

Patrick "Stone Hands" Williams: I use that name light heartedly of course. He is a nice contributer, however my dad and I started using that name after the ASU game last year :D. Looked probably the best out of any wide receiver there today. Caught a TD in the corner (if i remember correctly)

Markques Simas: Looked good, however I don't remember seeing him much (sorry, I was a bit distracted with some chaos soon to be discussed). Dropped an easy pass on a curl but redeemed himself with a 15 yard gain on a slant.

Kendrick Celestine: Sorry....but I can't remember seeing him a whole lot :/

Scotty McKnight: Had a helluva throw :eek: Didnt do a whole lot except catch 3rd down passes as usual.

Jason Espinoza: Don't remember seeing him outside of KR where he really didn't impress me all that much (sorry, he just didnt).

Cody Crawford: Looked alright, caught a TD pass from Ballenger (again, I think lol I don't have anything written and it was 9 hours ago)

FB:

Kai Maiava: Can't tell ya. Didnt do a whole lot. He looked fast out there in practice and has good hands. Other than that. Your guess is as good as mine.

Matt Burgner: Kind of reminds me of Brandon Drumm from a couple years ago. Doesn't quite have the size but the frame. Had a couple of good blocks.

Jake Behrens: Looked the best of the two. Ran it once or twice. Shined during blocking however. Had a couple of big blocks guarding the QBs blind side that would have gotten em killed.

Offensive line (as a whole): Looked solid, Ryan Miller did indeed play RT. Didnt always seem to get the push needed on the run and didnt open up lanes half the time. But when they did, they sure did lol. Pass blocking seemed solid. Its an enigma at this point because either at times it was really bad or our D was really fast.

[str8jacket]

Defense

Defensive Line:

As I said, either our Oline looked bad or these guys were on fire. Obi added an element we didnt have last year. He's fast, and very physical. Brandon Nicolas did not play. Hypolite looked like his usual self. Eugene Goree, a redshirt freshman is at an astounding 295 pounds as a DT, an absolute mammoth. Lucas looked like a solid opposite.

Linebackers

I'll do this by player since alot easier to keep track of whos in and whos out.

Michael Sipili: Very physical. Looked very lean and and athletic, somewhat small for an ILB however he is just vicious. I like that style of play. Not to mention he closes fast. There was a case of Moyd running down the left side ball in hand and Sipili closed from 10 yards out fast.

Nate Vaiomounga: Going to be a very solid situational player for us. He is very fast at coming off the edge and adds a great pass rush when he's on the field.

Brad Jones: One of our solid LBs with experience. He doesn't go for the big hit, just a nice solid tackle. Can cover very well.

Brandon Gouin: Didn't see him much outside of Special Teams. Made some HUGE tackles on Coverage. What a tough number to take up just a year after Dizon, he is now number 44

Jeff Smart: Another solid LB. Not very flashy he just goes out and does his job. And rather exceptional. I like him alot against the run, he's good at following the ball out of the backfield.

B.J. Beatty: Another pass rushing LB it seems as though. He is very fast at closing in on the QB.

Katoa: Inactive


Secondary:

Daniel Dykes: Was on the second team Defense if I understand the system from the day correctly. Looked about the same as last year, a bit of a liability out deep but can tackle.

Ryan Walters: Inactive

Jimmy Smith: Was the number one guy the majority of the time. Didnt get beat very often and played solid. Will do for a sophomore.

Gardner Mckay: The most impressive CB out of the bunch. Broke up a huge pass deep to Josh Smith by getting his hand in there.

Cha'Pelle Brown: Looks to be our number 3. Good closing speed and a great tackler.


Special Teams:

This is basically punting and kicking:

Aric Goodman: The most consistent of the group. However that isn't saying much since we were flat out atrocious (or good at blocking kicks). Not a very strong leg but he's accurate at least.

Matt Dilallo: had an AWFUL punt. However he had some very good ones too. Averaged 50 yards I think (no official stat). He had a 15 yard punt at one point.

Alex Metskas: He's a walk on, he's a mix of power and accuracy just not someone you want out there for a clutch kick in my opinion.

Jameson Davis: I see alot of Crosby out of this guy. He got a huge cheer a couple of times after a booming kick into the end zone on kickoffs. Strong leg but inaccurate at times. Luckily he can improve that. Impressed me the most since I was not expecting all that much. However, I will call him out on this one. He had an awful kick that maybe got 10 yards off the ground and 30 yards deep. Just sayin.

Tom Suazo: This guy can punt the ball. I could see him challenging Dilallo just because he had a 60 yard punt early out of the end zone.



Areas that need improvement are:
Coverage from safeties
Blocking in general
A clear cut kicker
Kai!! Where are youuuuuuu!?!?!


Ok, so the chaos.

I met Darrell Scott today, as he was at the game. Got a pick with him too :P. Very nice guy, signed for about an hour and chilled in the student section for awhile. He finally had to leave because of the amount of attention he was getting. Rock Star!

Major was there today, watching the game. So was Cunningham (I think).


A few recruits that were there:

Nick Kasa
Parker Orms
Steven Baker

Thats all I saw. Any questions feel free to ask, since I could give a close to what you want answer most likely :P

[str8jacket]

Also.............

Will have pics up soon.

We ran a bit of the 3-4 D.

The no huddle looked okay, but we did get mixed up with WRs and their route a couple times.

That offense still can be frustrating but its getting smoother.

[Buff]

Didn't take any pics because it was more crowded than in years past, so I was a little higher up than ususal...

Unfortunately, Ralphie provided the most excitement of the day-- When they were running her at halftime, one of the handlers jumped the gun a little bit, opened the gate early and one of the handlers got trampled, another 2 got outrun, and there was 1 lone handler clinging for dear life. It was pretty funny.

I thought the offense looked better than they had at the past couple of spring games... All 3 QB's looked serviceable, with no one really jumping out at you... Matt Ballenger looks the part, he appears to have the best arm too, but he doesn't look 100% comfortable in the pocket. Hawkins still looks like the best decision maker, and had a couple of good throws.

The team desperately needs Darrell Scott and Ray Polk to get here... The RB position is a little thin-- Lockridge was out with a hernia so Demitrius Sumler and Kevin Moyd got all the touches. Sumler will be ok for short yardage situations-- but I woudln't be surprised to see the two true freshman as #1 and #2 on the depth chart.

O-Line is definitely improved, though I've got to admit, I'm still yet to have Ryan Miller impress me. It seems like every time I watch him at RT he's fanning on a run block. Solder is huge and quick-- Once he adds some bulk at LT he's going to be tough to beat.

DL looked better than I expected... I think that could end up being an area of strength. BJ Beatty was a standout at LB, I look for him to score some serious playing time.

Other than that the biggest thing that stood out was how bad our special teams were. The kickers looked bad and the punters were terrible... Actually, I take that back, there were actually some good punts- but there were also 3 blocked punts... This is definitely going to be an area of concern.

[Rex]

Buff, I already miss you.

[MOtorboat]

Buff...since yesterday was 4/20, I thought you just got stoned and forgot about the pics...

[tubby]

How many people where there? Coach Mac was calling for 50 thousand.

[str8jacket]

How many people where there? Coach Mac was calling for 50 thousand.

In the area of 20 thousand

[Buff]

How many people where there? Coach Mac was calling for 50 thousand.

I think they said 17,600... But I have no idea how they came to that number, because there were no tickets, not turnstyles, and people pouring in from all ends of the stadium... So I assume that some guy just eyed the crowd and decided to call it 17-18?

[Rex]

I think they said 17,600... But I have no idea how they came to that number, because there were no tickets, not turnstyles, and people pouring in from all ends of the stadium... So I assume that some guy just eyed the crowd and decided to call it 17-18?

dont ignore me Buff.

[Buff]

dont ignore me Buff.

If my girlfriend posted here, would you ever talk to me again?

[Rex]

If my girlfriend posted here, would you ever talk to me again?

Of course. I see so much promise in you Buff. You are very much in the mold of a young cswil. Once we knock all the ******* off of you, we will probably take a Disney Cruise together after you marry that blond goddess and she squeezes out some kids.