...I can tell you nothing about the guys in the trenches.
...I can tell you nothing about what happened in the first quarter which I missed.
(I did get in free though.) So these observations are for only 2/3 of the game
(since the second half is played with a running clock).
Gold, with Orton and all three available starting linebackers, but not a lot of
experience at WR, won 27-14. There were a lot of turnovers.
Orton looked good on a couple of lasers but generally faced a lot of pressure and was
hurried a lot. I don't think guys were getting open.
Kyle Smith ran a lot on scrambles, with success. A couple of times he committed to run
for little or no gain on a scramble when he could have pulled up and looked around more.
Also looking good IMO: Brandon Jones, Montrell Lowe.
There were a number of successful passes to running backs on screens and dump plays.
Harris didn't do much when he ran but I think had a couple of nice RAC plays.
Huddleston had his named called a lot and ended up with a pick and a FR and I thought
a 2nd FR that the PA guy credited to someone else.
Charles Davis looked very solid. Gets open when the play breaks down makes the catch.
He is one big guy. There was one curious play where Morales got behind the defense and
K. Smith put the ball in the right place in the endzone, but Davis was also behind his
man and everybody sort of converged, the ball hung a bit, and the defenders (maybe
Davis' defender?) barely broke it up. Davis walked away slapping his helmet with one
hand which I interpreted as "my bad." But the curious thing was that the play started
on the 45 or 40 so it was surprising that the TE ended up deep in the end zone.
Leimberger laid a good hit on Jones on a running play.
There was one spectacular one-handed catch by Standeford, and one great catch each from
Evans (going high for a TD in traffic) and Noel (on a low Orton laser that he had to
lay out for). James caught a long ball for a TD on a play very reminiscent of at least
one 2000 or 2001 play in Ross-Ade where he got open long but missed the catch. Chambers
is not tall at all I saw him catch one pass and return one KO, not enough to form any
conclusions. He was on the Gold team but didn't see a whole lot of action at WR when I
was there.
Lacevic tried 3 40-yarders all with plenty of leg (making 2) and badly missed a 58-yarder.
I was very disappointed that the FG and punt teams did not attempt to block or rush and
every punt had to be fair caught. Why is this not considered as important to practice as
every play from scrimmage? For a program that has had problems in these areas, and is
breaking in a lot of new players this year, it seems very odd.
The most "fun" play of the game came in the 4th quarter with the black (coached by Spack)
trying to get back in the game. A razzle dazzle play was called where Smith swung a lateral
pass over to Stubblefield for what was disguised as a bubble screen. Stubblefield pulled
back and looked to pass back across the field but was quickly hemmed in by defenders. He
scrambled a few steps back toward the middle and then inexplicably tossed a little wounded
duck laterally while falling down (worse than the Brees mistake against OSU). It settled
into the hands of a surprised and grateful defender in the middle of the field, Antwan
Harris, who had only 35 yards of grass between him and the endzone -- and began running
the wrong way (for only a few steps before he was brought down). This created quite a
stir in the crowd.
Well, I'm sure I've missed plenty, but this is what I remember.
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