Four Small Impressions From The Spring Game

McKinneyMiner · April 17, 2011

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My daughter and I attended the game yesterday and got heavily sunburned (or at least I did)...

There were four small things that left an impression with me...

1) I actually liked the white helmets with no stripe... I prefer green, but if they are going to remain white, lose the stripe...

2) The flea flicker touchdown that was called back was absolutely perfectly executed... It had 2 instances of flawless misdirection before the pass that you will ever see... A thing of beauty (if not for the penalty)...

3) The offensive line for the White team was really bad... I hope that is not a reflection of our OL depth...

4) Derek Thompson looked really good... He made some really nice throws like the one to Carey in the back of the end zone... I think he is poised for a big year...

And now it is just a matter of waiting to see which seats I get in the new stadium and waiting for the season to START...!!

Can't wait...

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UNT90 · April 17, 2011

And now it is just a matter of waiting to see which seats I get in the new stadium and waiting for the season to START...!!

Can't wait...

Seat selection info should be in everyone's mailbox tomorrow.

Just a reminder.

MDH · April 17, 2011

I wish we had been playing our games at CH Collins the last few years. Does that tell you how bad Fouts is?

McKinneyMiner · April 17, 2011

One other impression...

Please, please, please when you make out a roster sheet for a spring game include the CLASSES of the players...

I hate not knowing a player's class status during the spring game...

NT03 · April 17, 2011

My face got burnt like no other. After the game I went over to watch the girls play softball , couldn't even make it past the 1st game

GrandGreen · April 17, 2011

My impressions from the spring game with the every present caveat; that you can't really tell anything from a spring game. The defense was much better than the offense. The first team defensive line of Obi, Akpunku, Cantly and Boutwell controlled the line of scrimmage. The second team defensive line of Abbe, White, Bellizan and Gaines did not look bad either. Of course that was largely due to less than stellar offensive front. The starting offensive line was Johnson at center with Johnson, Y'barbo, Tomlinson and Fortenberry. Anyiam was moved to the first team when Tomlinson was hurt. The only offense of the day was really generated by Thompson at QB and one long run by Byrd. Outlaw and Carey looked real good at receiver. It appears that Power was behind Prior at te. Sean January was maybe the biggest surprise, he had some of the biggest hits as second team middle linebacker. Jeremy Brown is really small but started for the second team offense at rb although with both Hamilton and Dunbar out, Byrd was the only ship rb.

In a way the spring game was encouraging inasmuch as the defense dominated. The offense should be ok as the offensive line solidifies as long as Thompson is healthy. Thompson really looked good but Osborn had an awful game. I am sure Osborn is much better than he showed, but the two incoming freshmen may give him a run for second team QB. Overall the team looked a lot more fit than in the past, not near as much fat on the field. Not sure the DT issue has been solved, but Cantly did dominate the inside. Boutwell looked very small out there but did well. Look for battle for the second interior spot between Boutwell, McCoy, White and Abbe and maybe the incoming freshmen. It is probably going to be NT's weakest defensive position but I don't think it is going to be ultra bad.

SilverEagle · April 17, 2011

My face got burnt like no other. After the game I went over to watch the girls play softball , couldn't even make it past the 1st game

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SilverEagle · April 17, 2011

My impressions from the spring game with the every present caveat; that you can't really tell anything from a spring game. The defense was much better than the offense. The first team defensive line of Obi, Akpunku, Cantly and Boutwell controlled the line of scrimmage. The second team defensive line of Abbe, White, Bellizan and Gaines did not look bad either. Of course that was largely due to less than stellar offensive front. The starting offensive line was Johnson at center with Johnson, Y'barbo, Tomlinson and Fortenberry. Anyiam was moved to the first team when Tomlinson was hurt. The only offense of the day was really generated by Thompson at QB and one long run by Byrd. Outlaw and Carey looked real good at receiver. It appears that Power was behind Prior at te. Sean January was maybe the biggest surprise, he had some of the biggest hits as second team middle linebacker. Jeremy Brown is really small but started for the second team offense at rb although with both Hamilton and Dunbar out, Byrd was the only ship rb.

In a way the spring game was encouraging inasmuch as the defense dominated. The offense should be ok as the offensive line solidifies as long as Thompson is healthy. Thompson really looked good but Osborn had an awful game. I am sure Osborn is much better than he showed, but the two incoming freshmen may give him a run for second team QB. Overall the team looked a lot more fit than in the past, not near as much fat on the field. Not sure the DT issue has been solved, but Cantly did dominate the inside. Boutwell looked very small out there but did well. Look for battle for the second interior spot between Boutwell, McCoy, White and Abbe and maybe the incoming freshmen. It is probably going to be NT's weakest defensive position but I don't think it is going to be ultra bad.

If anyone wanted to get a representative look at what this group of football players can really do on their best day, they should have attended the first two scrimmages. Yesterday looked like (with a few exceptions) a bunch of guys who were tired of the grind of spring practice, and were ready to get things over with...with as few injuries as possible.

The defense was much more "intense" than the offense, but not as intense as they were a few weeks ago. Like Grand Green said, Sean January showed us that he was ready to step up and contribute.

I was pleasantly surprised at the DL. Cantley, White, and Abbey are finally looking like real tackles. They have shed a noticable amount of weight and they all were moving around much better than they were last fall. Boutwell and McCoy are doing well for undersized D-linemen and I hope they put on a bit more weight by this fall.

I finally got a glimpse of what Andrew Power (will this guy please make up his mind what number he is going to wear?) can do, when he took one pass and turned up field with almost WR speed. He has a lot of potential, but right now, I favor the hard working blue collar guys like Miller (#24) and Prior (#89).

The running backs looked like they were going at about 75-80%...including Jeremy Brown...who was a real ball of fire the first few weeks.

Right now I would rate the RB's as LD #1, Brandin Byrd #2, and Jeremy Brown #3.

I rate the WR's as Carey, Chancellor, Outlaw, Olawale, Taylor, Johnson, and Stradford.

I rate the QB's as Thompson, Baine/Dodson, Osborn and Wood. Mr. Osborn had better spend his off season getting more comfortable with the offense. At the game yesterday, he was making the same mistakes that he was making during the first scrimmage....with the same frequency.

Edited April 17, 2011 by SilverEagle

GreenStreet · April 17, 2011

Seat selection info should be in everyone's mailbox tomorrow.

Just a reminder.

I have a feeling I will be like a little kid waiting on a birthday card. This has been a long time coming.

GreenStreet · April 17, 2011

If anyone wanted to get a representative look at what this group of football players can really do on their best day, they should have attended the first two scrimmages. Yesterday looked like (with a few exceptions) a bunch of guys who were tired of the grind of spring practice, and were ready to get things over with...with as few injuries as possible.

Yesterday was just for the fans. They did a few fun things, but I am not walking away thinking the players were tired and we didn't improve practice from last year. Even if someone says the guys played at 50% I still enjoyed it.

Side Show Joe · April 17, 2011

Our O-line scares me. Watching Tomlinson go down didn't help either. Does anyone know how serious his injury is? Also, too many offensive penalties. on the line.

On the bright side, our D-line looked better.

I think Will Wright will be a solid OLB. He's fast, seems to have a nose for the ball, and likes to hit. If he plays under control, he should cause lots of trouble for other teams in the Belt.