Spring Game

[law_bee]

I am not sure how much you could tell, however it looked o.k.

I think the MAIN issue is QB play and we were all watching that VERY closely. Bilbo's first throw was an interception and you here the sigh's in the crowd.

However he settled down and played pretty well from then on. He had 3 GREAT throws. 2 of them were across his body and FEW QB's have the strengh to throw deep across their body. He had one deep throw that was on a line that was perfectly thrown. He had one deep route that he missed the receiver, however it looked liked bridges cut the route somewhat.

Suggs looked pretty good as well. We will have best backup in the ACC. If Bilbo struggles do not be surprised to see an early hook. This will not necessarily be a bad thing alla David Woodley and Don Strock. Bilbo is a Sophmore and you need to look at lil Joe's sophmore numbers before you get all over Bilbo. There will be some mistakes this year, but hopefully his "Great' plays will overcome these.

Levon had some drops. The line play looked sketchy (but we are missing a couple there).

Running backs looked good. PJ is a player, but I knew that next year. If the line plays well we will be OK there even if Holling cannot make full recovery in enough time to help us.

I am sure many will offer a better summary and there will probably be a chat tonight I would guess.

 

[huntnbee]

on behalf of the out-of-towners, thanks for the report! could you tell if any of the redshirts are gonna help us this fall, especially matthews at fullback?

 

[law_bee]

I believe Mathews made some plays. He is a wide body and believe he was in the game awhile.

I am sure others will post more on mathews

 

[mississippi_jacket]

Thanks lawbee. I haven't heard anything about Nate Curry. Did he have a good game? Anyways, I appriciate it lawbee.

 

[ThomsonJacket]

Thanks for the insight Law-Bee

 

[GoldZ]

AJ looked a lot like he did last year to me and I believe a quick hook will be very damaging, just like the no hook was last year. Sampson and Daniels really looked sharp as did Tugboat on D. Hated to see Jordan on crutches. THWG

 

[JoltinJacket]

I'll try to pick up on some things that Law Bee didn't comment on.

Mark it down. April 12, 2003 - a date which will live in infamy. AJ Suggs threw a beautiful touch pass, hitting Levon Thomas right in stride from about 40 yards out.

Bilbo's TD looked like a replay of AJ's for about 35 yards.

PJ Daniels had a couple nice runs after shifting around and breaking some tackles a la Gordon Clinkscale last year. The big rushing highlight was Michael Sampson streaking down the sideline for a 65 yd TD. He broke the first wave and he was long gone - the D didn't come close to catching him.

The game came down to the final play. After the D took the lead 25-24, Brian Camp led the offense down to about the 15 yard line in the 2 minute drill. With :05 left, PK Christian Schroeder (he looks like a mini-Sebastian Janikowski) had a chance to win the game, but Reuben Houston came streaking in and blocked the kick. Reuben also had a pick earlier in the game. He is gonna be a stud for the next three years.

We need a punter to step up. None of the kicks looked good except for the last one by Andy Thomson that went about 50 yds. The rest were shanks.

OTOH, Schroeder has a cannon for a leg. They let him try a 59 yd field goal and it had the distance, but missed wide left. Dan Burnett also tried one from 57 - it was right on line but came up about 3 yds short.

That's about all I can think of...if anyone has any questions about what any players did, let me know I'll see what I can remember. Pictures are coming soon.

 

[JacketFanPCB]

THANKS MUCH all who contributed their thoughts and insights on today's game. Couple of questions:

1/Any word on Nate Curry?? He seemed to be tearing it up at practice a coupla weeks back.

2/How about Hatch?? Did he get many touches?

3/How much did Bilbo play? AJ? Camp? Just a good percentage guess would do.

4/How about our LB's? I've only heard things about Wilkerson and Tubboat.

THANKS!!!

 

[JoltinJacket]

1/Any word on Nate Curry?? He seemed to be tearing it up at practice a coupla weeks back.
He played a little, but IIRC, he didn't make a catch (much like last year when he played in 5-6 games but never touched the ball).

3/How much did Bilbo play? AJ? Camp? Just a good percentage guess would do.
Bilbo and AJ alternated series in the first 20 minute half. I'm guessing they each had 6-7 drives. Camp and Al Pena alternated in the 2nd 12 minute half. Pena had one good scramble and they seemed to keep his playbook really vanilla. The times he did throw, he threw to the tight end or dumped it off the tailback. Same for Camp. He looked good in the two minute drill getting us in scoring position on the final drive.

 

[ahsoisee]

I did not meet any Stingtalkers at the game, but I briefly met two at the Varsity after the game.

Both GT33 and Casbah62 introduced themselves in brief moments at the varsity as we passed each other with trays of food. Thanks to the two of you for identifying yourselves to me. It is always good to be able to place a face with a name.

My take on the scrimmage:

First, I made a huge blunder by leaving my field glasses at home and could not tell, with these old eyes, the players making the plays on many of the occasions.

The two most athletic looking players on the field by their physique are Dawan Landry and George Cooper. The best looking group of athletes, as a group, appeared to be the defensive backfield.

Bilbo can be very accurate with his passes, but he is inconsistent at this time. He is not a runner in the mold of Joe Hamilton or Shaun Jones. He is more mobile than Suggs, but he is not a great threat as a runner. He is basically a passing quarterback with some agility.

Suggs is good mechanically with his passing, but is not very agile, and does not appear adept at quick decisions. He does have streaks of success, but has a huge problem getting out of jams. I agree, he could be a good backup quarterback.

Unless things change, we do not have the overpowering dominant quarterback at this time, that can take the game on their shoulders and have the confidence to overcome the odds. Maybe after the fall practice, Bilbo will be more consistent and have more confidence.

The defensive backfield is a good looking group of players phisically. I watched them warm up in front of my view. I watched their faces, their interaction with each other, and their poise. They appear to be a confident and close group of players. I believe they will be a strength of the team.

PJ Daniels and Michael Sampson are two good halfbacks. Both run hard and can get loose for good yardage. Ajenavi Eziemefe is okay for a few yards, but has to learn to be quicker and get through the first wave of tacklers. He appears strong, but seems to lack the burst of speed to elude the initial rush.

The tight ends had a few good catches up the middle, but were open on other occasions and overlooked by the QBs.

We have a good group of receivers. They can get deep and they can make receptions that are difficult. However, they also had lapses where they missed throws that were gimmes.

I believe the defense will be stronger this year. The rush on the passer was pretty good and consistent.

We have big play potential on offense, but will have to cut down on the mistakes to score on sustained drives.

Since there were no kickoffs nor punt returns in the game, there is little to report on special teams. There were some good punts and some average punts, but no returns allowed.

Several 50+ field goals were attempted with poor results. One medium range field goal was made, and one short field goal on the last play of the game was blocked.

Brad Brezina had a few good plays that I noted, but I did not watch the line play much because I did not have my field glasses.

I did not see Jimmy Dixon. Did he play, or is he injured?

 

[GTTerrific]

Dixon broke his ankle early in spring.

Thanks for reports everyone! Enjoyed reading all this! Was unable to attend today because of work related activities that came up during the week.

 

[oldfoggy]

Thanks mucho guys for the info still don't like what I read at the QB spot. Fall is not so far away.

 

[ahsoisee]

OldFoggy, some additional comments:

Since today was my first and only trip to Tech practices, I do not have the cumulative knowledge of others attending many practices this year.

Just from this one practice, I see three areas that need improvement:

1. Bilbo needs to be more consistent. With fall practice, he should improve, how much remains to be seen.

2. The mental mistakes causing penalties will have to be reduced drastically.

3. The receivers will have to improve on the easy catches they take for granted. It appears they make most of the tough catches, but let up on the easier catches.

The remainder of the aspects of the game looked pretty good. Even on the two long passes for touchdowns, there was good coverage on the receivers. The two passes were thrown perfectly and the receivers caught them in perfect stride.