Just returned from the Spring Game...

[MrMustang1965]

Nice turnout. Great weather (except for the wind!). Good to see some high school players in the stadium, as spectators. Good to see Jerry LeVias and Bobby Leach in the stadium, too.

Couldn't really say anyone in particular was a 'standout' player today. But it was good to see the Mustangs on the field again. Can't wait until September 3!!!!! GO MUSTANGS!

[PK]

For thems that were worried, looks like Phillips has some good mechanics back in his passing motion...no sidearm passes, all over the top of his shoulder. Had a nice soft touch on that long pass for a touchdown.

[JasonB]

I wasn't able to stay the whole time, but here are my commets of what I saw:

1) Still worried about size at LB. Starters were Lee, McCray, and Nnubuife. In my mind, that is a small MLB and two weak side linebaker-sized players. Cox and Carrington had solid games on the second team, hopefully they can pull up to the first team.

2) Did Cleveland play at LB?

3) What is most important are the differences between this and last year's spring game:
- Last year they played a straight 4-3 with a weak, loose nickel package on D. This year, the D was tightened up, making it more difficult to pass.

- In last year's spring game, the first team dominated in both directions. The first team offense, in particular, was able to bully the second string D around and just push them down the field. This year, that did NOT happen. We actually have some sizeable depth on both sides of the line for the first time in I don't know how long.

4) Phillips had a pretty strong game, but all the QBs made some bad decisions.

5) Massey had a nice long run, first time I have seen that. Coaches seemed to get on him a bit for running out of bounds at the end.

6) Turner and Henderson both hesitated at the line when a hole was there, I don't think either are ever going to be every-down backs. Martin, Massey, and Dorsey will fight it out.

7) Two players I really liked: Theiron and Bey. Theiron had nice size, and had a big play where he blew everything up in the backfield. Bey also looks bigger than I ever have seen him, and more importantly: He exploded off the line and hit his O lineman in the mouth (not literally). There were several times he was in the game, and you could hear a "pop" when he came off the line and exploded into the lineman. I really, really, really liked that. We haven't had defensive ends that physical in a long time. He is not huge by any stretch, but man did he go after it. Theiron and Bey on the ends for the second team gave us taller bookends than I have seen for a while. Them, along with last year's JUCO transfer at DT made that second team DL look like a real college line size wise. Really liked that.

In summary, we are going to have some problems at LB again unless we get some size there. Either Cox win the spot, or DD Lee needs to slide over. We saw what lack of size at LB did for us last year. That said, a bigger D line will help them out, and that certainly is a positive coming out of the spring. All of those d-linemen look like men now.

[davidsmu94]

anyone got the stats? all I saw was a scoring summary.

[Diehard Pony]

Nice summary JasonB. I appreciate it as I was not able to attend. Was it a scrimmage or did they play a game? Also, how did the special teams look?

[Hoop Fan]

the difference in the depth really stands out. We have a lot of guys who have either started or played significantly in their careers. I counted over 35 on the roster with legit game experience. That doesnt include the jucos either. The wind was tough on the qbs today, but I thought Phillips demise has been greatly exaggerted. Still looks to me like the guy can play. And the scrimmage rules took away his ability to break tackles and scramble. Several receivers made plays including Pellerin and Chase who looked like the bigger targets we need out there. Kennedy looked good too. Some guys I didnt notice were: Makinde, Darrin Johnson, Vincent Chase, Desmond Jones (team rules I think). Did I just miss them or what?

[Ponymon]

Vincent Chase did not dress out for the game. He was on the west sideline with his jersey on, however.

[mustangbill67]

Makinde was dressed number 34 for the blue team. As far as i could tell he stood by himself on the sideline and did not play. I wonder if he has an injury.

[DallasDiehard]

For thems that were worried, looks like Phillips has some good mechanics back in his passing motion...no sidearm passes, all over the top of his shoulder. Had a nice soft touch on that long pass for a touchdown.

Were we watching the same game? The long TD pass to Hawkins was beautiful -- that's true -- but he still sidearmed a bunch of passes. Of course, I can't complain too much, because he completed a lot of them. Considering the wind, the quarterbacks all threw pretty well. Remember how lost they looked last spring? They've come miles -- they were pretty impressive.

Others who impressed:

The running backs - Dorsey didn't carry the ball as much as I thought he would. Massey, Henderson, Martin and especially Fred Turner ran well.

Brandon Bonds - he's a shadow of his former self. I believe Coach Faucette's comments about BB losing 25 pounds. He looked a lot quicker.

Ryan Kennedy - he didn't get many balls thrown his way, but he looks impossible to tackle.

Tony Hawkins - what did he have, 6 or 8 catches? He pushed off a little on the TD catch, but hey, that move got Michael Irvin to the Pro Bowl a few times. Rey Pellerin also looked good.

Randall Goode - looked fast, and tackled well.

Johnnie Fitzgerald - when did he move to CB? He looked pretty good out there. For the position, he's got great size and strength, and very good speed.

The defensive ends - Kyle Griffin, Troy Therien and Jamar Bey all looked decent, which was impressive considering it looked like the coaches didn't call a single blitz all day. They got to the QB a lot (of course, in the "don't kill the QB" spirit of spring ball, whistles were blown quickly when someone got a hand on them. And it should be noted that while the QBs completed a good percentage of their passes, they also weren't being hit.)

Darrin Johnson sat out. I think he rolled his ankle again in practice last week.

Was Paulius Ritter there? I didn't see him.

Who was the tight end wearing #44 who laid out for a pass in the last minute or two (but didn't catch it)? I thought maybe that was Ritter, since the only #44 on the roster was Clayton Cox.

[PK]

Nice summary JasonB. I appreciate it as I was not able to attend. Was it a scrimmage or did they play a game? Also, how did the special teams look?

It was pretty much a game except there was no rush on punts, kick offs and field goal attempts. There were no run backs on punts or kickoffs and no rush, so special teams play could not be observed. Anytime the QB's rushed, a touch was a tackle, but other than that it was 4 quarters of play. If they didn't make a first down, the ball went over to the other side. There were no situational plays, etc.

[Col. Nathan R. Jessep]

Just got back from the game, & a couple of things stood out:

Receiver corp did well despite FB floating around in Gale winds;

Kennedy cannot be stopped;

Eckert made some good, quick reads (he took the lead @ QB);

RB D. Martin (Allen HS) will give us a complimentary head-on rushing alternative to the quick "hideaway' smurf backs;

Defense showed definite signs of improvement with some big hits

Larger crowd than last season;

Noticeable improvement in the number of HS recruits...

[DallasDiehard]

.... Larger crowd than last season ....

Agreed - nice to see.

.... Noticeable improvement in the number of HS recruits...

No kidding - there was an army of guys. I went through their section and scribbled down some names. I'm going to search to see if I can identify them, after which I'll post on the recruiting board.

[Stallion]

Chris Phillips was easily the best QB on the day even without his ability to scramble due to the quick whistle-you people that think he can't throw are full of _____. He put the ball on the numbers on at least 3/4th of his passes. If he sits SMU ain't going anywhere. Further, if you can't take a QB that talented and turn him into a great QB then you probably shouldn't be a head coach in Division 1A Football. The future of SMU Football rides on Chris Phillips shoulders-you heard it here first.

[PK]

For thems that were worried, looks like Phillips has some good mechanics back in his passing motion...no sidearm passes, all over the top of his shoulder. Had a nice soft touch on that long pass for a touchdown.

Were we watching the same game? The long TD pass to Hawkins was beautiful -- that's true -- but he still sidearmed a bunch of passes. Of course, I can't complain too much, because he completed a lot of them.

I missed about half of the 2nd quarter waitng in the consession line so maybe that was when Phillips was doing his side arm passes, because I never saw him throw one. Also I was not always focused on just the quarterback.

[PK]

Chris Phillips was easily the best QB on the day even without his ability to scramble due to the quick whistle-you people that think he can't throw are full of _____. He put the ball on the numbers on at least 3/4th of his passes.

I agree, I thought he looked really good out there.