I tweeted play by play of the game, so I won't be providing that level of detail here. Thanks again to OrangeEyes, OrangeXtreme and LurkerJohn, along with everyone else who helped me by serving as spotters. Also very nice to meet some posters I haven't met before, good to see the newbies sitting with the vets in section 116 as well. Want to encourage people on the board, including lurkers, to come to board events, meet the gang and feel free to become part of the group. We want new people on board and everyone is welcome to join us.
Some general thoughts on the game...
Crowd ended up being around 5K. About the same as recent years, perhaps a little bigger than the last couple.
Didn't like the way the teams were set up. The North offense went against the South defense most of the time, so they had a huge advantage scoring over the South offense against the North defense. Not a surprise they struggled to move the ball. This setup also ensured Hunt played with the best OL, RBs and WRs most of the game. Really big dropoff with the second team at OL in particular. But playing against 2nd team defenders made things easier for Hunt for sure. Nassib vs West was a mismatch all game long.
So Hunt easily looked like our best QB out there, but he had some major advantages (like having an OL that could pass block), so I think you have to take this with a grain of salt. But Hunt did play well, made some tough throws, showed some composure out there and in terms of body language, looks like he belongs.
West was dominant at WR but he was often covered by walk on Nassib, so don't nominate him for All ACC just yet. Still, he looked good. Thought Alvin Cornelius looked promising. Needs to get stronger but he gets open a lot, makes catches and has some moves after the catch. Kobena had some good moments as well. Running well, killed on a reverse and his hands looked better than in the past. Flemming had moments but something seemed to go wrong everytime they threw it to him. Funderburke barely played, similar to last week. No idea why but he appears to be in the doghouse right now.
If the season started tomorrow, I would expect Chris Clark to be the 2nd WR. Really skinny, is going to have problems against press coverage but he runs well, gets open and showed solid hands again.
At TE, Wales had a fine game. as a lot of experience and it shows. Made catches, played physical, might be our go to guy in 3rd and 5 type situations. Paris had a couple of moments but right now, Green looks like a more polished WR and I think with Sugar Bear out, he is our 2nd best bet as a receiver at TE. Good hands, good speed. Proto type H back. Provo will prove to be a similar player, I think.
The OL stayed the same all spring. Hickey, Trudo, MacPherson, Robinson, Foy. Palmer has a bad knee, was limping around and looking messed up but was one of the backup OGs. For the record, Knapp was playing OT today whenever I checked on him. Emerich remains the backup center. Anyaegbunam is the other backup OT. Not sure who the other OG was on the South team.
At RB, Smith looks good. Seems to get solid yardage every time he touches the ball. Haven't seen him catch the ball much, doesn't look like he is going to be an every down back. The Pistol uses a 2 RB formation, so it looks like we will use a lot of 2 RB lineups. Good, because we have serious depth here. PTG has cut his hair but will remain a force to be reckoned with. AAM looks like a solid power back who will back up Smith at that position. I assume Broyld might get some snaps there as well.
PTG will fight for PT with 2 young players for the fleet back position in the pistol. George Morris had a big of a coming out party today. Runs in an upright position with a distinctive stride. OrangeOnions compared him to Eric Dickerson, and there is some of that there. I see some young Reyes in there too. Fast, cuts really well, makes great reads and is really dangerous in the open field.
Then there is McFarland, who I am told is the fastest of the bunch. Really patient, waits for holes to develop, gets to daylight beautifully, also looks like a gifted receiver. Certainly the best stable of RBs Syracuse has had in many years.
On defense, there were a lot of impressive players. Sloan dominated play for extended periods against the North OL, which is a really impressive feat. Welsh remains our best pass rusher at DL and keeps making plays. Robinson appears to be our 2nd best DE right now, looks improved and was a force on passing and running plays. Bromley is, well, Bromley. Raymon broke into the backfield a number of times and put heavy pressure on the QB a number of times. Zian Jones was a little quieter than last week but still held his own out there. Manley was banged up and limped everywhere he went. Didn't do much but was clearly not 100%. Crume didn't play but looked really spry out there, catching punts and pretending to run them back for TDs, etc. He is an athlete for certain. But the biggest surprise might have been Coleman, who was all over the field, got involved in a lot of tackles and has a motor that just doesn't quit.
Speaking of non quitting motors, Josh Kirkland has one. He was flying all over the field. Great speed and desire is going to make him tough to keep off the field. Another guy who was all over the place was Julian Whigham, who also took snaps at WR. Playing mostly Okie, he was in on many plays and looks like our next top coverage guy. I think the Okie position will probably go to one of these guys. Both should hopefully get a lot of playing time. Love big guys that can run.
Spruill was solid at the MIKE. Luke Arciniega was in on a ton of plays at MIKE for the South unit. It is going to be tempting for the coaches to move Spruill back to outside LB to get Luke on the field, which would also make the team a lot bigger and better against the run. But that would take Davis or Lynch off the field, which will be tough to do. Lynch made his usual bushel of good plays out there...of course Davis is out all spring with his injury. Still like watching Coker out there...he is a threat to decapitate someone on any play. Though I have to say it was Kirkland who almost was an axeman today.
In the secondary, I think 6 guys are going to play a lot: Reddish, Anderson and Lyn at CB (all were excellent today) and Eskridge, Wilkes and Morgan at safety. Desir also looks good out there but Morgan is the backup making a move to win a starting job. Really fast and anticipates well. Wilkes will have to man up to keep Morgan off the field. Whigham is the 4th CB and like I said, at this point, looks to be almost a starter by virtue of him starting for now at the Okie position.
At punter, thought Dixon was better last week, thought Fisher was better today. Not a good day for Riley. Fisher was solid.
Krautman was also solid. Doesn't have a monster leg but he was striping his kicks down the middle and he has range to at least 50 yards. Norton has amazing leg strength, looks uncomfortable kicking FGs in game situations right now but I think he will be fine when his time comes after Ross leaves.
Dixon has taken over as the holder. Again they want people who can concentrate on these tasks, which is why Carney was Krautman's holder for a couple of years.
The crowd ended up at about 5K. Lots of incoming recruits on the field after the game, some 2014 recruits as well. Really positive feeling about the program after the game. I think it extremely likely we will get a verbal or two over the weekend.
You can't get really high or low watching an intersquad scrimmage. I think it is a crap shoot trying to determine what units are really good and which ones are bad. But I can say with conviction that our depth is much better than it has been in recent years and I am quite sure the overall speed is improved. I liked what I saw today. Think the future appears bright.
Can't wait for August 31st. See a lot of you out there then.
