In the spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours.
- Mark Twain, writer
This iteration of the spring game recap series includes notes from spring games that occurred between April 25 and May 2.
These teams include: ARK, ORST, BSU, OU, AU, AKRON, ARKST, UNCC, FRESNO, IOWA, NM, NMS, SMHU, TXST, WSU, WMU, WYO, UW, UCF, UCLA, & SDSU.
You can find the previous version here:
One thing to note is that the quality of intel coming out of these games highly varies per program. Some places have a lot of coverage, and some don’t. And even when intel is available, some coaches use these games primarily to see what young players are capable of, whereas others prefer to treat it like a pre-season game which is more informative.
Nonetheless, I’ve found that throughout the years there is always at least one interesting nugget that turns out to be useful from these spring game reports.
Also, now that we can embed tweets into Substack articles again these are going to be so much better going forward. Cheers.
Arkansas
QB:
KJ Jackson - 9 of 13 | 129 yards | 1 TD
AJ Hill - 9 of 17 | 95 yards | 1 INT
Braeden Fuller - 0 for 2
Cade Trotter - 5 of 11 | 40 yards
Leading the White team, Hill was unofficially 9 for 17 (53%) for 95 yards and 1 interception. His completion percentage would have been higher if not for drops by receiver Chris Marshall and a few other teammates.
RB:
TJ Hodges - 8 for 17 yards
KJ Jackson - 1 for (-6) yards
Jasper Parker - 5 for 25 yards
Cam Settles - 7 for 57 yards, 1 TD
AJ Hill - 2 for (-11) yards
Braeden Fuller - 2 for (-10) yards
Cade Trotter - 1 for 6 yards
Braylen Russell - 6 for 35 yards
Perhaps the offensive player of the game was sophomore running back Cam Settles, a Little Rock native who led the White rushing attack. Settles had 7 carries for 57 yards and 1 touchdown, along with 2 catches for 15 yards.
Hill and Settles were responsible for the White team’s touchdowns — a 1-yard keeper by the quarterback in the first quarter and a 7-yard rush from the tailback during an untimed portion of the second quarter.
“Cam certainly has an arrow going up,” Silverfield said.
WR:
CJ Brown - 3 for 83 yards, 1 TD
Chris Marshall - 3 for 35 yards
Ty Lockwood - 3 for 15 yards
Antonio Jordan - 2 for 34 yards
Jamari Hawkins - 2 for 33 yards
Cam Settles - 2 for 15 yards
Jaden Platt - 2 for 10 yards
Matt Adcock - 1 for 1 yard
Blair Irvin - 1 for 14 yards
Braylen Russell - 1 for 3 yards
Dequane Prevo - 1 for 6 yards
Donovan Faupel - 1 for 11 yards
Sutton Smith - 1 for 7 yards
Jasper Parker - 1 for 2 yards
Oregon State
QB:
Not that there was truly a debate once Murphy chose to stay at OSU, but any notion of him not being the starter in the fall is absurd. He’s clearly the most physically talented quarterback on the roster, with the best arm talent, and his understanding of the offense is evident.
JaMarcus Shephard can drag things out until August 22, or later, to officially name Murphy the starter but it’s a formality. Houston is not going to be remotely caught off guard by the obvious.
Murphy is the guy, but it’s not because Brady Atkinson did poorly. The Mercer transfer had a fine outing in the spring game and connected on a few big plays in earlier scrimmages. Projecting the QB group into the future, it’s not out of the question for Atkinson to be the starter in 2027.