FWIW: My comments on the Spring Game

[Jim Johnson]

1) Way to show up Bulls fans.  4,423 -- the largest Spring game ever.

2) We need a kicker.  Sure, a lot of the problem was the snapper(s).  But to make 1 of 2 PATs and 0 of 3 FG attempts??  OH, and I found out that CJL turned away kickers who wanted to try out for a walk-on slot... didn't even let them kick.  (Of course, it may have been only 1 kicker not all kickers, but I was told he actually said "I don't need any kickers. Go home." To at least one kicker who wanted to try out.

And when Jerome Murphy ran in and blocked one -- it was funny.  In this game, the defense wasn't supposed to try to block kicks... so the OL didn't block.  Murphy was hit in the hip by the kick, that is how far he made it from the end of the line.

3) I actually thought Petrov had improved his punts... until his last one -- from the endzone.  Looks like another season of Justin Teachey kicking off, punting, and serving as PK.

4) USF has a running game.  Aston Samuels has some blazing speed.  Mike Ford has some good power.  Ben Williams did a great job as usual.  Ricky Ponton kinda puttered, but didn't get many carries.  And we have some other unknowns... Who is Shawn Cannon (#24 White tonight) - he looked as good as Samuels and Ford.

5) Say a prayer for Matt Huners.  I was sitting in front of his family tonight.  He tore at least one tendon (ACL) maybe 2.  He's a tough kid, so hopefully he can make it back... but these kinds of injuries usually last a year - 6 mos of rehab, 6 mos to get back to the same strength.

6) Our defense will be amazing next year. Robinson, Selvie, Buie, Clebert, Moffitt, Peguese, McKenzie, Jenkins, Allen, Williams... with Cray, Verpaele, Murphy, and more coming off the bench... WOW.

7) Colby Erskin is fast.  The first half ended with a cool "hook and lateral" play (see State, Boise).  Erskin running left across the field caught the pitch from Taurus Johnson - ran to the left sideline, got cut off, ran back across the field, all the way, got cut off, reversed his field again, running back left... to be finally tracked down by Selvie.  It was funny and fun.

8) The final score of 7-6 sounds bad ... but it was one-hand-touch on the QBs.  Many times, Grothe and Gregory could have "broken the tackles" and done more -- but the play was stopped for safety.  Grothe scored a touchdown on a naked bootleg, then pulled up with a cramp.

9) Did I mention we could use a kicker??

10) This was great to get my football fix.  I am excited about this season.

Thanks to USF for continuing the new tradition of having the Spring Game at Ray Jay.  It was nice to be on the WEST side this year... last year we were on the East side -- and there was some sun in our face for the first part of the game.  This way, we were in the shade at "kickoff" and it was nice and comfortable.

What did everyone else think??

[Kyle]

Petrov has a hard time dealing with the rush, so dont expect him to punt anytime soon.

[Joe]

As my old football coach told me, low scoring spring games usually mean the OLine needs some work (because the defense is usually in base)

Hopefully we can correct the mistakes for fall, because Auburn has some atheletes in their front 7

[USFan]

I thought it was Petrov that had trouble with catching the ball.

Jim, don't forget that our starting PK (Alvarado) was hurt.  I believe it's his ankle according to Josh from the chat session with Greg.

I'm going to say that Petrov will be our punter.  Plenty of time to practice his "catching"

[ProudBull]

I agree Jim we need a kicker, it was ugly.  Was it just me or was Benzer bigger than the 195 they have him listed as?  Samuels and Cannon were overall the best looking backs for the game.  Ford looked okay, especially during the touchdown drive, but the rest of the time he didn't do anything amazing.  Does anyone know what the deal is with Ponton?  Why is he always listed as backup at the Rb position?  I don't remember any time that he has really shown off his talent.

I think Gregory needs some more practice.  I know his recievers droped more than their fair share, but he was off much more than he should be.  All in all the game kinda of felt like the last half of the papajohns.com bowl....lots of defence, very little offense.  

[JoeB]

Jim, nice to finally meet you and some of the rest.  ET, you are a madman...........   But, I'm with you during the season................ ;D

[windbane]

I thought Ford and Samuels looked the best, but honestly I wasn't watching for that Cannon guy.  Anyway, Ford's speed and power is unprecedented at USF imo. He didn't show it until the 4th quarter but that's when he got all but 1 of his carries I believe.  Then Samuels answered on that next drive leading White down the field.

Petrov punted it 60 yards a few times, so if he does catch the ball he's the punter.

Alvarado needs to heal because if he can't make kicks either we're gonna be the UF of this year (winning a national championship without a kicker, heh).  Hopefully the holding gets better and the FG trys weren't exactly close, but geez.

[USFan]

 Hopefully the holding gets better and the FG trys weren't exactly close, but geez.

I think it was more the snapping than the holding.  That's what I saw from press pass and that's the same thing the announcers saw.

[Bullhonkey]

I thought Robinson was MVP.

[Cubanbull]

remember that Samuels and Cannon were playing with the better OLine