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Coach Mike London spent the 2011 spring game behind the line of scrimmage, observing his team at work. |
After a freak hailstorm threatened to rain all over coach Mike London’s parade, the sun came out for Virginia’s Spring Game, which featured Orange vs. Blue. The team had a chance to test its skills and preparation in a more game-like atmosphere. This year, the game used a 10-minute quarter system with the 40-second clock between downs. The Blue team defeated Orange 17-7, and London and his staff have plenty of film to analyze heading into the last week of spring practice.
Fans and press alike were clamoring for a glimpse of UVa’s four quarterbacks as they fight for position on the depth chart. Still, no one man has distanced himself from his peers. Sophomore Michael Rocco saw time on both teams, and threw two touchdown passes, one for each side. Three quarterbacks threw interceptions on Saturday; the lone man without an interception was freshman David Watford , though he only attempted five passes on the day total for both teams. Watford showed his inexperience, however, with two delay of game penalties in his first three snaps.
“I was trying to get the guys playing behind the first team offensive line, second team offensive line,” London said. “There were some third team guys that were in there. We wanted to keep everything relative. It’s easy to evaluate one guy that’s playing behind the first O-line all the time. I wanted to even the playing field as much as possible and evaluate from there. I’ll be able to look at this with the staff and be able to give some definitive answers later.”
The quarterback corps was run ragged in the backfield, as the offensive lines gave up a collective 19 sacks on a day when the quarterbacks were ruled down with a two-hand touch. Junior DE Bill Schautz accounted for three sacks for the Orange defense, while teammate Steve Greer led the Orange with 9 tackles, including two sacks of his own. Both defenses overall were the premier units on Saturday.
“Defensively we played, on both sides of the ball, both units did a nice job. That’s what we were kind of looking for, we’re looking for the transition from the 3-4 to the 4-3, guys being able to play the run, safeties understanding that the linebackers are now the run fits, defensive linemen understanding that we go from the two-gap scheme to on the edge,” London said. “Coach [Jim] Reid has done a nice job so far in spring with implementing some more aggressiveness. We’re light years ahead of where we were.”
Not only did the defense generate plenty of sacks, but the front seven also worked well stopping the run from both sides. The Blue and Orange offenses combined for just 41 yards on the ground, and the longest runs of the day were only 8-yard efforts from Blue’s Perry Jones and Orange’s Khalek Shepherd .
While the passing game netted the greatest yardage for both teams, there are still plenty of kinks to work out. Most noticeably, UVa’s three most experienced receivers were all sidelined on Saturday, leaving lesser-known players to pick up the slack. Kris Burd , Tim Smith , and Matt Snyder all missed the game due to injury. On the Orange team, juniors Johnny Pickett and Eric Thornton along with redshirt freshman Zach Swanson were among the offense’s leading receivers, while redshirt freshman Brendan Morgan caught the team’s only touchdown pass. Perry Jones caught Blue’s only TD, a 15-yard strike, while senior Ray Key had two catches and freshmen E.J. Scott and Miles Gooch caught a pass each.
Although the quarterbacks were throwing to less experienced players, as sophomore Ross Metheny said, “It doesn’t matter. You play with the guys you have.” It may make a difference, however, when the more experienced players are back running the routes. There was some miscommunication on offense, leading to a couple of illegal formation penalties, and a few issues with timing between the quarterbacks and receivers that may have led to some crucial interceptions.
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Dom Joseph is relishing his new role at corner. |
Senior Dom Joseph has been seeing plenty of time at the cornerback position this spring, making the switch from strong safety. Joseph was a terror in the secondary on Saturday, picking off a telegraphed pass from Michael Strauss and taking it the distance for a score. “I enjoy playing corner,” Joseph said. “I’ll play wherever the coaches need me to, and where I can have the biggest impact on the field.”
LoVante Battle, seeing time at safety after moving from linebacker, brought aggressiveness to the Blue secondary by breaking up a pass and recording two tackles. Safety Rodney McLeod and corner Rijo Walker shined for the Orange secondary, breaking up passes and making key tackles. Corners Chris Broadnax and veteran Chase Minnifield recorded an interception each.
On special teams, players on both sides dropped the ball, literally. Perry Jones muffed a punt for the Blue squad, giving Orange the ball, and his teammate Kevin Parks dropped a return but managed to recover. Punter Jimmy Howell , consistent as ever, averaged 41 yards on nine punts for both teams. Placekicker Robert Randolph was perfect on PATs for Blue, and added a 40 yard field goal after going wide right from 35. For the Orange team, sophomore Drew Jarrett nailed the only PAT. Like last season, Chris Hinkebein handled the kickoff duties, averaging 62 yards per kick.
This year, the Spring Game doesn’t mark the end of spring practice. The Hoos have another week to look at the tape form this weekend and try to improve on the weaknesses exposed by the full-contact format.
“We’re way ahead of where we were this time last year,” Perry Jones said. “We can look at this come Monday and get better from here.”
