I haven't seen the spring game yet, but give me your honest thoughts..
- Thread starter Bugeater
- Start date
My first Spring game and wasn’t really sure what to expect. 86k+ in the stands—incredible. Visited the Osborne Complex lobby Friday eve. Many players were coming out and you could just sense the enthusiasm and see the change in attitude. Almost every player said hello and many thanked us for coming. I got the feeling this staff isn’t messing around. Having said that, SF did say after the game that it took until the fall his 2nd season at UCF for things to really “start clicking” but hoped it would happen sooner in Lincoln.
My take on the “game”:
When Martinez trotted out and ran his first few plays, I had that same feeling I got the first time I saw Turner Gill. The kid looked like the real deal. Smooth, confident, and big-time talented. Wish we could let him grow up a bit before giving him the keys but he’s just so freakin’ good.
Gebbia looked good at times and not-so-good at times. He does throw a nice longer pass but appeared to throw behind his receiver a few times. That can also be the receiver not running the right route. Overall I think he’s very capable.
Tyjon Lindsey really impressed me. Dude is ripped.
Running backs all looked good today. They looked stronger. I think we’re in good shape here.
O-line looked decent—Tanner Farmer stood out to me.
Mike Williams is going to be a great addition. Other players that stood out to me: Ben Stille (going to be a beast), Austin Allen & Justin McGriff are big targets. Can’t wait to see how Guy Thomas develops. Dedrick Young was all over the field.
Barret Pickering no doubt looked like a scholarship kicker. I think we got a good one there.
My take on the “game”:
When Martinez trotted out and ran his first few plays, I had that same feeling I got the first time I saw Turner Gill. The kid looked like the real deal. Smooth, confident, and big-time talented. Wish we could let him grow up a bit before giving him the keys but he’s just so freakin’ good.
Gebbia looked good at times and not-so-good at times. He does throw a nice longer pass but appeared to throw behind his receiver a few times. That can also be the receiver not running the right route. Overall I think he’s very capable.
Tyjon Lindsey really impressed me. Dude is ripped.
Running backs all looked good today. They looked stronger. I think we’re in good shape here.
O-line looked decent—Tanner Farmer stood out to me.
Mike Williams is going to be a great addition. Other players that stood out to me: Ben Stille (going to be a beast), Austin Allen & Justin McGriff are big targets. Can’t wait to see how Guy Thomas develops. Dedrick Young was all over the field.
Barret Pickering no doubt looked like a scholarship kicker. I think we got a good one there.
Martinez is a stud! Sure doesn't look like a kid that could still be in high school. Wilbon has definitely been hitting the weights. He is freaking huge! Receivers are really good. Our TE's are young but matchup nightmares. DL should be much improved with good depth. Linebackers are tough and fast. Safeties should be ok. The only position groups that concern me are still the OL and cornerbacks. Hopefully Decker will return fully healthy and help. We really need Lamar to put it all together by the end of fall camp.
Great! Excited to start winning games and champions early and often.
I'm still real worried about the defense and the OL. Talent wise and depth wise, we just aren't there. Hopefully, the defense looks better when you add in mick and gifford. I keep waiting to really see something big from the Davis twins and it never seems to happen. Davis and Neal seemed to be more disruptive rushing the passer than anybody else.
I think TG and AM are both going to play if I had to guess now. Bunch third and I'm hoping that was a down day for Vedral as he didn't look too good.
Real encouraged by our WR and TE. TL, McQ, McGriff, Williams to go with Stan and JD...that will do. Allen, Rafdel, and Stoll all seem ok to play.
OL....worrisome, conrad and decker hopefully are two of the top 5.
I think TG and AM are both going to play if I had to guess now. Bunch third and I'm hoping that was a down day for Vedral as he didn't look too good.
Real encouraged by our WR and TE. TL, McQ, McGriff, Williams to go with Stan and JD...that will do. Allen, Rafdel, and Stoll all seem ok to play.
OL....worrisome, conrad and decker hopefully are two of the top 5.
Some notes after watching the game a second time with a closer eye.
The QB race is far from over. I like Adrian Martinez, I think he could be special, he shows great burst and looks really athletic running that Inside Zone with a bubble (We ran that about 20 times during the game), Really impressed me when he manipulated the defense with his eyes and banged the seam to McQuitty for the touchdown, could stand to hold his eyes a bit longer and throw was a bit behind but for a kid who should be getting ready for Prom and coming off an injury, color me impressed.
Don't count out Andrew Bunch. He and Vedral were not getting much help from the Whites and Bunch marched the second team down the field twice in a row against the number 1 defense. He made a special play to evade pressure and flip it to Ozigbo in the flat for a 20 yard broken down play. Those are the kind of plays that can win you games in the fall. Has a super quick delivery and made some really crisp passes, I will say he made a few mistakes on the zone read but overall I was really impressed by him.
I was not impressed by Gebbia. A lot of dropped snaps and under thrown balls. Mike Williams burned a corner on a Go route and Gebbia threw it way behind, he got bailed out by the corner running into Williams and the Reds got a PI but against a B1G starter that's a pick. Also after he made a great read and manipulated the D with his eyes he threw it way behind Austin Allen and a would be touch down pass was incomplete. Gebbia really is not well suited to this offense, he would flourish in a system like Riley's or an Air Raid, where he can just grip it and rip it, but he looked very uncomfortable with riding the zone read fakes, which Frost has them doing about 85% of the snaps. Don't get me wrong he did some good things but he definitely needs to tighten things up if he wants to start in September.
Vedral did better than I originally thought. Threw some good balls and looked comfortable back there considering he was getting zero help from his Offensive line and receivers. It was like every time he made a nice play a receiver would either drop a ball or they'd pick up a penalty. Although he does hold the ball too long, he had his RB wide open in the flat and waited way too long to hit him which resulted him getting picked off.
At this juncture I would go 1a) Martinez 1b) Bunch 2a) Gebbia 2b) Vedral
It's going to be Running back by committee. All did some good things but none are a complete back. Bell and Wilbon ran the ball great but were getting creamed in pass protection. Ozigbo and Bradley are probably the most complete backs but neither of them have the burst that Bell and Wilbon do. Things will get even more interesting when you add Mo Washington to the mix.
We are in pretty good shape at Tight End. We have a lot of guys that can catch the ball and good thing because Frost is going to throw to them a lot. Stoll, Rafdal, Allen, even Snyder will all contribute this year.
Lindsey is going to flourish in this offense, as is Mike Williams, those kids can fly. Couple them with JD and Stanley and we are going to be putting up some points this fall. McQuitty has all the tools to be just as good as Stanley, needs to get more agressive blocking on the edge but I liked what I saw from him. McGriff looked like a high school Senior out there, not surprising because the staff kind of took him on as a project, but give him a few years to grow into that frame and he's going to be hell on wheels.
Offensive Line. Oh boy, I hope we get Decker and Conrad healthy because it wasn't pretty at times. I'm hoping it's because we are banged up and having to have two lines spread us thin, but we cannot afford to play like that in the fall. Jerald Foster was the stand out of the group in my eyes.
I spent a lot more time watching the Offense but there were some guys on D that definitely caught my eye.
Dedrick Young was very impressive, there were a handful of plays he blew up all by himself.
Ben Stille and Daishon Neal were the stand outs on the DL. Neal has got great length and size, I'm hoping for a breakout year from him.
Will Honas and Breon Dixon were all over the place for the white squad.
We are extremely thin at DB. If we take any grad transfers at all we need to grab them at DB. Lamar Jackson has improved, he doesn't look terrified to tackle any more. For a 4 star he sure has been a project though.
I like what I saw for the most part. We'll definitely win more than 4. I can see anywhere from 5 to 8 wins, depending on whether or not we stay healthy.
The QB race is far from over. I like Adrian Martinez, I think he could be special, he shows great burst and looks really athletic running that Inside Zone with a bubble (We ran that about 20 times during the game), Really impressed me when he manipulated the defense with his eyes and banged the seam to McQuitty for the touchdown, could stand to hold his eyes a bit longer and throw was a bit behind but for a kid who should be getting ready for Prom and coming off an injury, color me impressed.
Don't count out Andrew Bunch. He and Vedral were not getting much help from the Whites and Bunch marched the second team down the field twice in a row against the number 1 defense. He made a special play to evade pressure and flip it to Ozigbo in the flat for a 20 yard broken down play. Those are the kind of plays that can win you games in the fall. Has a super quick delivery and made some really crisp passes, I will say he made a few mistakes on the zone read but overall I was really impressed by him.
I was not impressed by Gebbia. A lot of dropped snaps and under thrown balls. Mike Williams burned a corner on a Go route and Gebbia threw it way behind, he got bailed out by the corner running into Williams and the Reds got a PI but against a B1G starter that's a pick. Also after he made a great read and manipulated the D with his eyes he threw it way behind Austin Allen and a would be touch down pass was incomplete. Gebbia really is not well suited to this offense, he would flourish in a system like Riley's or an Air Raid, where he can just grip it and rip it, but he looked very uncomfortable with riding the zone read fakes, which Frost has them doing about 85% of the snaps. Don't get me wrong he did some good things but he definitely needs to tighten things up if he wants to start in September.
Vedral did better than I originally thought. Threw some good balls and looked comfortable back there considering he was getting zero help from his Offensive line and receivers. It was like every time he made a nice play a receiver would either drop a ball or they'd pick up a penalty. Although he does hold the ball too long, he had his RB wide open in the flat and waited way too long to hit him which resulted him getting picked off.
At this juncture I would go 1a) Martinez 1b) Bunch 2a) Gebbia 2b) Vedral
It's going to be Running back by committee. All did some good things but none are a complete back. Bell and Wilbon ran the ball great but were getting creamed in pass protection. Ozigbo and Bradley are probably the most complete backs but neither of them have the burst that Bell and Wilbon do. Things will get even more interesting when you add Mo Washington to the mix.
We are in pretty good shape at Tight End. We have a lot of guys that can catch the ball and good thing because Frost is going to throw to them a lot. Stoll, Rafdal, Allen, even Snyder will all contribute this year.
Lindsey is going to flourish in this offense, as is Mike Williams, those kids can fly. Couple them with JD and Stanley and we are going to be putting up some points this fall. McQuitty has all the tools to be just as good as Stanley, needs to get more agressive blocking on the edge but I liked what I saw from him. McGriff looked like a high school Senior out there, not surprising because the staff kind of took him on as a project, but give him a few years to grow into that frame and he's going to be hell on wheels.
Offensive Line. Oh boy, I hope we get Decker and Conrad healthy because it wasn't pretty at times. I'm hoping it's because we are banged up and having to have two lines spread us thin, but we cannot afford to play like that in the fall. Jerald Foster was the stand out of the group in my eyes.
I spent a lot more time watching the Offense but there were some guys on D that definitely caught my eye.
Dedrick Young was very impressive, there were a handful of plays he blew up all by himself.
Ben Stille and Daishon Neal were the stand outs on the DL. Neal has got great length and size, I'm hoping for a breakout year from him.
Will Honas and Breon Dixon were all over the place for the white squad.
We are extremely thin at DB. If we take any grad transfers at all we need to grab them at DB. Lamar Jackson has improved, he doesn't look terrified to tackle any more. For a 4 star he sure has been a project though.
I like what I saw for the most part. We'll definitely win more than 4. I can see anywhere from 5 to 8 wins, depending on whether or not we stay healthy.
I thought Martinez made the offense look like it was supposed to and Gebbia did a nice job with some of his passes. I thought Geb was impatient at times. I thought Bunch looked good.
We don't really know how good of a passer Martinez is yet. At least I don't. He was very efficient yesterday, but it's not enough for me to really know. How durable will he be?
Bell looked very good. Better than all the other backs. I guess they are going to use Wilbon as the #2, and he had a bit better performance than I've seen before, but there is still a big difference to Bell. Bradley needs more time. Ozigbo, while tough, didn't produce much, but caught a nice pass.
Receivers looked very good.
I thought the defense played with a lot of passion and flew to the ball pretty well. There were a few busts here and there, but a lot of times they were in the backfield pretty quickly.
Part of me thinks this was by design, as the coaches may have wanted to stress the QB's and Oline. I liked their aggressiveness.
Special teams are special all right, and not in a good way. Missed kicks are bound to lose you a game or two next fall. They need to fix that.
If you had to put an offensive team together based on what we saw, you have to put Martinez, Bell, & Tyjon together in the backfield. That's a bit of a triple headed monster to try to defend.
Learn the name Jacob Weinmaster at defensive linebacker. When he got in during the second half, he was pretty much in beast mode.
I also thought previously we might be good enough for 9 wins this year, but after watching and considering the schedule, I'm also dialing it back to 7.
While I like the aggressive nature of the defense, we had big busts too, leading to quick points. I would rather see a bend-don't-break approach, but realize that may not be the scheme the coaches want.
We don't really know how good of a passer Martinez is yet. At least I don't. He was very efficient yesterday, but it's not enough for me to really know. How durable will he be?
Bell looked very good. Better than all the other backs. I guess they are going to use Wilbon as the #2, and he had a bit better performance than I've seen before, but there is still a big difference to Bell. Bradley needs more time. Ozigbo, while tough, didn't produce much, but caught a nice pass.
Receivers looked very good.
I thought the defense played with a lot of passion and flew to the ball pretty well. There were a few busts here and there, but a lot of times they were in the backfield pretty quickly.
Part of me thinks this was by design, as the coaches may have wanted to stress the QB's and Oline. I liked their aggressiveness.
Special teams are special all right, and not in a good way. Missed kicks are bound to lose you a game or two next fall. They need to fix that.
If you had to put an offensive team together based on what we saw, you have to put Martinez, Bell, & Tyjon together in the backfield. That's a bit of a triple headed monster to try to defend.
Learn the name Jacob Weinmaster at defensive linebacker. When he got in during the second half, he was pretty much in beast mode.
I also thought previously we might be good enough for 9 wins this year, but after watching and considering the schedule, I'm also dialing it back to 7.
While I like the aggressive nature of the defense, we had big busts too, leading to quick points. I would rather see a bend-don't-break approach, but realize that may not be the scheme the coaches want.
Very good post sir! I most respectably disagree with the defense.....bend-don't-break doesn't impress me at all. Haha....but so what?
But I 100% agree with Martinez, Bell & Tyjon.....wow.....it would be a riot!
I'm sticking with 8 wins this year. We'll see! But year two could be much, much better.
Agree. We saw this with Pelini. It works well against passing teams (like in the Big 12) and teams that rely on chunk plays, but not against teams that are content with pounding the rock and taking their 3-6 yards each play (Wisconsin, Iowa).
I must be the only one who thought gebbia looked good.
I couldnt believe how well he ran that zone read after 13 practices. Set up the rbs for some nice runs and had a few himself.
Threw some real nice balls. Found open guys.
Martinez looked great too.
I think we are in good shape but dont people be countin gebbia out yet.
I couldnt believe how well he ran that zone read after 13 practices. Set up the rbs for some nice runs and had a few himself.
Threw some real nice balls. Found open guys.
Martinez looked great too.
I think we are in good shape but dont people be countin gebbia out yet.
No problem.. my main thinking behind that is that you force the offense to go the whole length of the field and you also force them to be successful over and over again, to keep getting first downs.. the odds of that happening are less.. you're really making them earn it.
When you have an attacking style of defense, one busted play can easily result in a score. If you have 3-4 busted plays a game, well it doesn't seem fair that the other team has that many points.
This actually happened to Banker his first year.. he brought the attacking style of defense, and we just got torched. The second year, he very quietly changed the scheme calls to more of a bend but don't break.
For sure, I don't know what Chinander's style will be, but for the most part last year at UCF, their defense did well. Towards the end of the year, they started getting scored on pretty heavily.
Its def attack. Gonna give up a few plays but gonna get some turnovers too.
The kicking game will be fine. Pickering will be the kicker (for XP and FG) ----he's just technically a better kicker than Frahm. I think the FG miss by Pickering had a snap/hold problem -- he still should have made it; but to use a golf analogy, he missed it on the "pro side" -- again, technically, he's sound.
Great post, a little rough on Gebbia, he throws a great ball. Love the competition at QB. Also, OL looks much better conditioning wise, as does everyone.
It takes time to learn a new scheme and the OL/Defense are going to lag learning it. Qb/Rb and Wr look like they love it, and are turned loose, and it shows. Thank God we have the skill position talent to put up some points next year because we might have to outscore teams to win some ballgames. GBR
Our LBs lack sideline to sideline speed. I didn't see anyone who really stood out athletically and that needs to change with more conditioning/development and recruiting. GBR
Exactly.
Smashmouth teams run over that defense like a Mercedes Benz over a paper-clip. Sadly, as we've seen so many times....
Nice catch on Weinmaster. He and Neal might surprise this year. By no means are they an afterthought, and showed up this Spring Game for sure. GBR
Oh sure, you're right....there's pros and cons either way. Different strokes....different folks.
I can't say I was impressed either because he had quite a few mistakes in that game but the play you explained here IMO was a TD if the PI didn't happen. The PI was a good play by the DB because it gave up 15 yards instead of a TD.
Easily this was very disappointing to watch. The offense was very fast and confusing, no runs up the middle to set up 3rd and long, too many plays where the linemen blocked several yards down the line, Tyjon Lindsey got the ball, the screen game was tough to watch. Lots of issues.
The defense though was fine.
The defense though was fine.
Yeah I dont mean to disparage the kid. Him in this offense reminds me of Tommy Armstrong in Riley's, could he do it? Sure but they are gonna have to change what they do to make things easier for him. He reminds me a lot of Patrick Mahommes. Can grip it and rip it with the best of them. If he completes those balls to Mike Williams and Austin Allen and doesnt drop those 4 or 5 snaps. Everyone would be talking about him today.
I think the play he is talking about is where Williams had beaten his defender soundly, and because Gebbia underthrew it the DB was able to catch up to interfere. If Gebbia’s pass is deeper it’s a TD and the DB couldn’t stop it.
Brion Dixon and Will Honas stood out.
Watch 34 again. We better hope he is eligible.
Last year in the Spring Game Gebbia had nothing to lose because it was a given he was going to RS. He looked like the best QB on the field last year - by far. He was really winging it and ran for a score too. POB looked tight a a drum and had problems I attributed to nerves/trying too hard. Lee actually didn't look much better, he threw a couple balls that should have been picked as I recall, but he had the touchdown from midfield to Spielman, so everybody anointed him as the guy. This year seemed like the opposite. Martinez was out there doing his thing and (IMHO) TG was tight. I couldn't believe he threw behind those two receivers, that is just not like him. Also, and I haven't watched the tape yet, he seemed to have a different set of plays called for him, longer, slower-developing plays. On a couple of them the protection wasn't great and he was sacked a few times as well.
Which brings me to my overall assessment from sitting in the stands. It is hard to tell much from a Spring Game due to matchups and all that, but I left the stadium not drinking the Kool Aid, and concerned. And if you are familiar with my posts you know I am a Kool Aid drinker usually. I feel at this point good defenses will be able to stuff the run, just like the last 3 years making the 2018 team one-dimensional. Then the D can bring the heat and our O will shut down. On the other side, the first few White drives looked way too easy against the #1 D. It seems winter conditioning leaned a bunch of guys out. Summer conditioning will hopefully will put some more size on many of them. I still do not believe we have a dominating OL at this time. I hope if this fall is rough people will keep the faith and not go nuts.
But like I said, I haven't watched the tape yet and you can't tell much from a Spring Game.
Which brings me to my overall assessment from sitting in the stands. It is hard to tell much from a Spring Game due to matchups and all that, but I left the stadium not drinking the Kool Aid, and concerned. And if you are familiar with my posts you know I am a Kool Aid drinker usually. I feel at this point good defenses will be able to stuff the run, just like the last 3 years making the 2018 team one-dimensional. Then the D can bring the heat and our O will shut down. On the other side, the first few White drives looked way too easy against the #1 D. It seems winter conditioning leaned a bunch of guys out. Summer conditioning will hopefully will put some more size on many of them. I still do not believe we have a dominating OL at this time. I hope if this fall is rough people will keep the faith and not go nuts.
But like I said, I haven't watched the tape yet and you can't tell much from a Spring Game.
We need A LOT of help on the back end, Front 7 we should be fine, but I'm hoping and praying we find some grad transfers to beef up our secondary.
OL is a major concern of mine as well, I think we have the skill guys to win 9 or 10 but the interior guys to win 5 or 6. We absolutely have to have Conrad and Decker come back and get healthy. that will sure up the inside but we are young and thin at Tackle right now, hopefully Jaimes and Farniok take a big step this year.
I find it interesting to read these posts - Honus did not impress or he REALLY did impress. Everyone could tell the players were so much more fit through the jerseys and pads, and faster too. We seem to buy into the hype we have heard or read and that influences how we see the game.
I am not sure there is much to be learned by us fans watching this scrimmage. Some things were obvious to the most casual observer, Adrian is smooth on his feet, Gebbia has a nice arm but had his troubles with bobbles in shotgun. Bell has some obvious potential but he dances a bit too much sideways - the announcers even talked about that trait and it showed. Dixon is the real deal, getting him eligible will be a big help. Wilbon is heavier and looks good, Bradley could do well in this O with his cutback abilities. If you want pure straight ahead power, Ozigbo is the man. None of the RB's looked bad, a good group overall. Top WR's caught what they should have. Impressed with TE's make some difficult catches and even showed some wheels.
What I don't get is how anyone can make a comparison on our O against our D or vica-versa when so many have concerns about our D? The varsity should always look good compared to the JV and can be very deceiving. Just a guess but Frost said it would be "vanilla which I assume means on both sides of the ball.
This O does present some interesting looks. Players are crossing all over the place. On one play I saw two linemen pulling to the right and the play went left by design. I know that is nothing new as it takes away the keys from the LB's. It was just fun to see for a change.
I am not sure there is much to be learned by us fans watching this scrimmage. Some things were obvious to the most casual observer, Adrian is smooth on his feet, Gebbia has a nice arm but had his troubles with bobbles in shotgun. Bell has some obvious potential but he dances a bit too much sideways - the announcers even talked about that trait and it showed. Dixon is the real deal, getting him eligible will be a big help. Wilbon is heavier and looks good, Bradley could do well in this O with his cutback abilities. If you want pure straight ahead power, Ozigbo is the man. None of the RB's looked bad, a good group overall. Top WR's caught what they should have. Impressed with TE's make some difficult catches and even showed some wheels.
What I don't get is how anyone can make a comparison on our O against our D or vica-versa when so many have concerns about our D? The varsity should always look good compared to the JV and can be very deceiving. Just a guess but Frost said it would be "vanilla which I assume means on both sides of the ball.
This O does present some interesting looks. Players are crossing all over the place. On one play I saw two linemen pulling to the right and the play went left by design. I know that is nothing new as it takes away the keys from the LB's. It was just fun to see for a change.
The misdirection by the OL is one of my favorite aspects of offensive football.
I saw a play like that, Jaimes and Foster pulled right and it was a swing pass to the left, H back I think. It would have been a big gainer, but the corner held his own on the WR block and forced the receiver toward the sideline.
My thought that Martinez looked good. But Gebbia didn't lose the position either. I think that Gebbia has a higher ceiling, especially if you want to throw the ball. Gebbia is just learning this offense. Imagine what he'll look like after a summer of reps.
Similar threads
