All-Turk Post Spring Game Report
To enjoy the recap, first appreciate the reports on the pre-game setting at Ryan today, then the play by play including punts, then notables in attendance, Unit breakdowns including player breakdowns, post game injury report, All-Turk Awards and the Spring Game's MVP, i.e., Mr. All-Turk. Then the scoop from Nevin's where only Die Hard NU Football fans join for Cat talk, & Suds & eats.
Item 1: Pre Game setting.
Sunny 65. It was gamelike with concessions open, Goose Island free beer at TD terrace, Band playing, approx 2,000-3,000 fans [best spring game attendance in a while I thought]. Scoreboard, announcer, etc.
Thanks to Murphy and Rock and all others involved that made this a really enjoyable gamelike experience.
Item 2: Play by Play
First off, the official NUsports recap contains errors. While it is fairly accurate in yardage , it is not chronologically correct. For instance, Brewer did not lead the offenses 3rd possession to a TD. The offense didn't score until the 6th possession which was lead by CJ. A few other minors but you get the point. This play by play report is accurate. Also, many of the tackles were assisted so I only logged the obvious ones or solo ones I was sure about. Also, there was a mixture of 1's and 2's on both teams and it stayed that way until the end. FWIW: There might be some newbies so just to let you know, I don't make crude comments about our players since the players are 'sacred' on this site BUT I do report the good, bad, and ugly of their play. If you want just the 'good highlights' then go elsewhere.
First Drive: Brew at QB
1st down: Roberson 2 yards
2nd down: Brewer 8 yard completion...to ward I believe?
3rd & 2: Brewer 2 yards strong in small off tackle hole for first down.
1st down: Brewer screen pass complete to Roberson for -5 yards. Cole TFL, nice hit.
2nd down: Roberson 3 yards
3rd & 12: Brewer pass....incomplete
4th down: Larscheid punt...Cole on return. End of series.
Second Drive: Kafka at QB
1st down: Shanks 1 yrd gain....Hit and solo by R Johnson
2nd down: Kafka to Frymire for 5 yards
3rd & 4: Kafka run 15 yards...ran through a miss tackle by Dinard. First down.
1st down: Roberson 1 yard....nice stop by David O.
2nd down: I missed but nothing significant on this down.
3rd & 6: : Kafka 5 yard pass to Ward
4th Down: Punt...forgot to check who punted but I think it was Larscheid. Cole return.
3rd Drive: CJ at QB
1st down: Roberson 2 yards
2nd down: Roberson 3 yards...nice hit by Dinard.
3rd & 5: CJ incomplete pass to TJ....Bad pass into coverage down the east sideline....R. Black and Heinz both tried to pick it.
4th down: Punt Villarreal nice punt
4th Drive: Brew at QB
1st down: Roberson 2 yard loss....Nice TFL by Warren Anderson
2nd down: Brewer 4 yards
3rd & 8: Brewer 2 yards
4th Larscheid end over end.
5th Drive: Kafka at QB
1st down: Roberson 2 yards
2nd down: Roberson 2 yards
3rd down: Kafka flushed out by Koehn...tackle by I believe C Black...no gain
4th down: Punt Kyle Dailey...huge punt. B Smith return. First fan ovation of day because of great punt.
6th Drive: CJ at QB
1st down: CJ pass to Frymire...12 yards....David O bad coverage.
2nd down: CJ pass to I believe Ward for 43 yards. Safety breakdown of #45 and #47.or possible breakdown in backer coverage. R Johnson on tackle.
1st down: CJ 7 yard run
2nd down: CJ pass to Roberson 3 yards. R Johnson stop
1st down: CJ pass to Abernathy for 4 yards....Touchdown.
7th Drive: Brew at QB
1st down: Shanks 3 yard run
2nd down: Brewer 3 yard run....nice stick by Heinz.
3rd & 4: Brewer 9 yard run
1st down: Brewer pass to Cheatham for 6 yards
2nd down: Brewer 39 yard run
1st down: Brewer pass to Roberson for 3 yards
2nd down: Brewer 2 yards
3rd down Brewer Throws away on purpose
3rd or 4th down? Roberson 4 yard run....TD....Nice strong run moving pile at goal.
Xtra Point: skipped to holder....good. This was the 3rd skipped snap of the day so far, one on a punt. Herbert was the holder and did a fine job all day.
8th Drive: Kafka at QB
1st down: Kafka to TJ for 8 yards. Really nice throw.
2nd down: Kafka incomplete on out pass. Hunter real nice PBU. Hunter appears to be playing a 'rover' position.
3rd & 2: Kafka to ? 5 yards. R Johnson nice stick
1st down: Kafka to Frymire for 8 yards.
2nd down: Kafka 20 yard run
1st down: Kafka no gain....nice hit by Arrington.
2nd down: 2 QB Set [BigZ63 was right] with Kafka...Brewer next to Kafka standing up in shotgun behind Guard/Tackle. No tailback. Brewer pitch for 2 yard loss.
3rd & 12: Kafka nice throw downfield to Ward who didn't catch it. In coverage but should have been caught. real nice throw maybe a tweak high.
4th down: Bounced snap 4th bad snap.
9th Drive: CJ at QB
1st down: Roberson 2 yards. Hurt. Needed assistance off the field.
2nd down: CJ INT to C Black. Aweful throw.
10th Drive: Brew at QB
1st down: Brewer Bounces through Hunter for 12 yards.
1st down: Brewer again for 12 yards.
1st down: Brewer 35 yard run to 11 yard line
1st down: Brewer TD pass to Ward
11th Drive: Kafka at QB
1st down: Kafka pass tipped at line....Roach INT.
12th Drive: Kafka again at QB
1st down: Kafka pass 8 yards to Cheatham
2nd down: Kafka incomplete to Abernathy [behind]
3rd & 2: Kafka incomplete
4th Villarreal bad punt. B. Smith return....Fumbled punt and recovered by punt team. If a real game it would have been a TD against us.
13th Drive: CJ at QB
1st down: CJ pass incomplete. Black nice PBU.
2nd down: CJ to Shanks 5 yard completion. R Johnson stop.
3rd down: CJ outside screen to Shanks 9 yards
1st down: 2 QB set. CJ and Brewer both standing up...no Tailback. Brew outside screen 25 yards.
1st down: CJ pass incomplete. Really nice 38 yard pass to Lane down the middle at the goal but Lane slows and then drops pass.
2nd down: CJ 9 yard run
3rd down: Shanks 4 yard run
1st down: CJ 25 pass complete to Lane [who bobbled it]....Touchdown.
14th Drive: Kafka
1st down: Kafka 50 yard pass downfield intended for Lane but Lane held by defense and couldn't get to it. Nice throw. Note: This pass to Lane was with both Cobb and Abernathy in TE formation or one of them lined up at FB in front of Shanks.
2nd down: Kafka 50 yard run off a passing play. Runs down east side heading south...ran by Malleo or Malleo missed him.
1st down: Kafka Incomplete
2nd down: Kafka sacked -6 yards by Cambpell Black.
3rd down: Kafka pass...INT Cole. Aweful Pass not sure if Kakfa got rattled from previous play sack.
End of Game
Game Stats By Turk:
QB: Name Att Comp Yrd INT TD Rushing att Rush yard Avg Series TD
CJ 12 8 128 1 2 2 16 8.0 4 0
Kafka 12 5 33 2 0 6 97 16.1 6 0
Brewer 8 6 19 0 1 11 126 10.7 4 0
RB: Name Rushing Attempts Yards TD
Roberson 10 19 1
Item 3: Notables in Attendance
Many former players including Jason Wright
Item 4: Unit and Player Breakdowns of plays
DB: Other than Smith, Heinz, Cole Cat, and perhaps Black, every other CB/Safety on the team has got alot of work to do. Just didnt see it today from David O, Chad Richart, Ben Rothrauff, Dious. David O did have a nice stop though.
Cole Cat & Heinz looked the best from the DB's. Heinz provides nice run support and had a nice stick on Brew. Cole played solid. R Black wasn't bad, still needs to work it out but not a bad day. Peterman was injured prior with a concussion.
LB: Roach was fine. I wasn't too high on R Johnson coming into this spring game as I felt he really needed to step up his play or underclassmen were going to pass him by. But R Johnson surprised me and IMO I thought he had the best backer play in the game. Malleo is learning. I noticed C Black's play today. Didn't really notice Dinard in on many tackles today.
DL: Kinda plugged up traditional runs but again, had really hard times getting off blocks. Not one of our DL impressed me today with getting to the QB or down the line pursuit. We need more from this group to help secure a fair defense. Washington I believe was pissed afterward. Waterboy zoomed in with the binoculars on Washginton's meeting with his Linemen after the game around midfield. Washington's group was the last meeting group off the field. I'm concerned about the DL. It's not that they aren't good but rather they are so very young and have plenty to learn, they especially are locking up with offensive lineman.
Special Teams: Yikes! We need a long snapper and consistent punts. Nice to see Cole Cat & B Smith returning punts. Both can be game breakers.
Defensive Coordinating: A few blitzes, not much pressure, defense breaks down bigtime when a QB decides to run. Brewer and Kafka would still be running if the game continued. Against Traditional running from the Tailback slot our defense did rather well on. Deep coverage with Smith was fine. Coverage on corners were 12 yards off the ball and even at that the corners took their first steps backwards. Got the feeling 7 yard out and stop pass would have been pitch and catch most of the day. Not when Cole Cat was in though. Our CB's depth drops considerably.
Offensive Coordinating: No wrinkles except 2 QB set....which is a big one. Not one time did I see a 2 RB set except for Cobb lining up as a full back once.
Wide Receivers: Ward looked the best today. Lane was so so. Deceptively quick but had a drop and a bobble.
Thompson wasn't passed to I think. TJ caught one or two. WR didn't really do anything noticeable today. I didn't notice Herbert playing. Frymire was second most active next to Ward. Really can't tell much in the springtime.
QB: Brewer's stock increased. CJ's stayed the same. Kafka same. They aren't coming down the stretch yet but at this point nobody is ahead of anyone today. Brewer actually played the smartest ball of the 3 and had less mistakes. If the season started today I would go with CJ but not because of this spring's performance. Kafka and Brewer are there bigtime. CJ has the nicest pass IMO but he had some real duds today also. His 'safeness' is what makes him ahead right now and if he loses any of his safeness then the others are there to take advantage.
RB: Roberson had a hard time breaking tackles. had alot of 2 yard gaines, etc. But looked great on his TD run when he fought through a tackler at the goal line for a TD. Dunno, just didn't look impressive today, would like to see him make someone miss or for him to break a few more tackles.
OL: Tripodi continues looking impressive. I've been saying this for the past 3 weeks and I'll say it again, he's the most improved player this spring in my book.
Keenan played alot and looked strong, surprising since he has been recuperating. Diaz, Tommy B, Mattes, and Compton all looked pretty decent. Our line will be in good hands the next 3 years with these solid dudes.
All Turk Awards
Offense: Brewer,
Defense: Johnson
Spring Game Mr. All-Turk: Andrew Brewer
Spring Season Most Improved Player: Joe Tripodi
Spring Season All-Turk Fan: Dave from Texas who flied all the way up from Houston just to see the Spring game and then meet us afterwards at Nevin's.
Post Game Nevins Report:
Diehard fans Cary, Waterboy, Astro, Turk, David all showed up for Eats & Suds at Nevins to talk Cat Football. Darnell Autry showed up at Nevin's and stopped by our outside tables and we chatted with him. FloridAlum missed it, Waterboy picked up the total tab. Thanks Waterboy!