Spring Game Recap for Joe/Bob
Today I got up and went to the Spring Game for the Wake football team. You obviously can't tell a lot from scrimmages, but I was glad to see us not using the 3 man front on D except in clear passing situations. I was also happy to see Magruder not playing corner. He looked like a stud his r-Fr year and since then has been burned in almost every game he's in which he has participated...which has been all of them. Riley Swanson has better size and hopefully better smarts. It'd be nice if we didn't have to play 10 yards off of opposing receivers. The four man line should help this since the corners shouldn't have to worry about stopping the run as much as they have in the past when we could only manage a 3 man front.
On offense, Ben Mauk stole the show. He led the second team offense against the first team defense. He had one nice deep pass, a couple of nice passes on the scramble where he had to work through some progressions to find the open man, and two nice runs. He's got some speed. I still think we'll start Randolph at QB early in the season, but Mauk is making him work for it and may assume the starting role before the midway point of the 04 season.
Other highlights were our field goals and kicking game in general. 41 yarder, 53 yarder...both good from Wisnosky. The 53 yarder was assisted by some wind, but he had plenty of leg on it. The 41 yarder went into the wind. The best thing about the kicks was that they had a very safe trajectory carrying them well over the LOS. In the past, both he and Plackemeier had low kicks that got blocked (see: the UNC debacle). Kickoffs were deep and Plack can punt the heck out of the ball, which we've come to expect.
Otherwise, Kevin Marion has blinding speed. If he can get into the open field, good luck catching him. He's two steps faster than Idlette. He's tiny, though. Maybe 5'9" and maybe 170. Of course, Barclay is smaller than me and he's rushed for 1000+ for each of the past two years in the ACC.
Anyway, we're obviously faster, deeper, and more talented than past years, but I don't know how much it will matter given our schedule next year.
On offense, Ben Mauk stole the show. He led the second team offense against the first team defense. He had one nice deep pass, a couple of nice passes on the scramble where he had to work through some progressions to find the open man, and two nice runs. He's got some speed. I still think we'll start Randolph at QB early in the season, but Mauk is making him work for it and may assume the starting role before the midway point of the 04 season.
Other highlights were our field goals and kicking game in general. 41 yarder, 53 yarder...both good from Wisnosky. The 53 yarder was assisted by some wind, but he had plenty of leg on it. The 41 yarder went into the wind. The best thing about the kicks was that they had a very safe trajectory carrying them well over the LOS. In the past, both he and Plackemeier had low kicks that got blocked (see: the UNC debacle). Kickoffs were deep and Plack can punt the heck out of the ball, which we've come to expect.
Otherwise, Kevin Marion has blinding speed. If he can get into the open field, good luck catching him. He's two steps faster than Idlette. He's tiny, though. Maybe 5'9" and maybe 170. Of course, Barclay is smaller than me and he's rushed for 1000+ for each of the past two years in the ACC.
Anyway, we're obviously faster, deeper, and more talented than past years, but I don't know how much it will matter given our schedule next year.