As the driving sounds of Cream’s Ginger Baker and Eric Clapton blared Crossroads across the McCue Center field turf, Saturday’s final open spring practice was filled with drills and more drills. For the 300 or so fans that braved the chilly temperatures and gusty winds, Foreigners Cold As Ice was more apropos for the early morning event that featured a heavy concentration on the passing game.

Back-up Quarterbacks Taking Advantage of Opportunity

When we talked to coach Al Groh on Friday morning, the expectation was that we’d get to see a lot of quarterback Jameel Sewell on Saturday. His workload, due to both circumstances and the practice schedule itself (Friday was a big special team’s workout), had been light this week and Groh said he expected Sewell to be available for plenty of action on Saturday. It may have been the cold or the wet turf but for whatever reason that was not the case.

The good news according to Groh, Sewell has had a much more active spring than the coaching staff was led to believe he would be able to do in December after his surgery. Still, Groh said Sewell was never expected to participate in contact drills this spring and that he would “smile and cheer” during Saturday’s Spring Game.

When asked if Sewell could play in a real game next Saturday, Groh said from a throwing standpoint, the sophomore signal caller could play. But Groh tempered that news with the fact that he would not relish the possibility of his Freshman All-American quarterback being chased by players like Chris Long and Jeffrey Fitzgerald .

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