Last week the defense dominated the first scrimmage of Spring Ball up on the Hill. Today, the Offense answered. I did see some stand-out performers on defense but first the offense.
Just my observations-
Both quarterbacks looked good in this one. Arceneaux
definitely has spent some time in the weight room (finally), he's also
putting more touch on the ball. He threw some nice short passes over defenders
and his intermediate balls had nice zip. He did miss a wide open Johnny
Lundy for a sure TD - Lundy was running a fly route.
If I was going to pick a 1st string guy, I'd pick Croshaw. No he's still a near statue in the pocket but the guy moves the team. On the Utes first possession, Croshaw led the Utes 80 yards for a score. Croshaw hit three or four different receivers in the drive and Fortune and Crockett had nice runs - Crockett scored from five yards out to complete the drive.
That brings me to the running backs. Thomas Fortune looked really good today. He broke off several nice runs and showed great toughness. Crockett had the longest run of the day, but he came up lame with what appeared to be an ankle sprain at the end of the run. These two guys look real good and give defenses two distinct looks - Fortune is a straight-ahead type runner (although he showed some elusiveness at the point of attack a few times). I wouldn't call Crockett a scatback - he's put on some size; but he showed some speed around the end a few times.
I didn't see any other runner do anything remarkable but it seemed like the offense was working on the passing game. The running backs didn't get a lot of carries as a group. Two receivers really jumped out at me today. Johnny Lundy had a terrific scrimmage. He has a terrific burst after the catch and it showed today. He had a couple of touchdowns. Chris Christensen also looked good - the guy runs great routes. He had several catches today.
One of the great plays of the day came from Dennis Smith (yes the Dennis Smith who redshirted last year and should have played more for Majerus). Dennis took a short pass from Arceneaux and turned it into a 25-30 yard gain. The pass was perfectly placed over the out-stretched arms of a linebacker, Smith turned and juked a defender that I thought was going to deliver a blind-side hit. He eluded two more tacklers before going down.
A note about the offensive line. I honestly wasn't watching either line close but the O'Line dominated. Now how can I say that when I just said I wasn't watching closely? Rarely were running plays stopped at the line of scrimmage and the QBs had nice protection given the number of times they threw.
A few individuals on defense that looked impressive/interesting. Garret Smith had the defensive play of the day. Croshaw, in the face of a blitz, threw a ball over the middle that Garret Smith tipped and caught. Garrett had stayed at the line of scrimmage on the play to cover a back. It was a terrific play. In a game, he takes it back for a touchdown Arceneaux also threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown by a D. Davis (don't know his first name).
Two other guys stood out. Marcus Jones has terrific speed at the DE position. He and Arnold Parker pursue very, very well. At the DB spot today, Marcus Gaines made a few plays. He had two very nice breakups.
That's it. I apologize for the length of this post but I wanted to provide as much info as possible.
One other note. There was one basketball player
working out in the weight room the entire scrimmage - Jacobsen. I like
to see that. Reminds of the times I used to watch Utah scrimmage in the
Spring and Fall a few years ago and find Keith Van Horn doing squats in
the weight room.
'biq
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