The CFB Degenerate's Newsletter: Spring Games Recap
A summary of the relevant details emerging from last weekend's spring games/scrimmages.
Nothing ever seems impossible in spring, you know?
- L.M. Montgomery, writer
Pigs, gather in. For today’s article, I figured—in the absence of any headline news in CFB—that I’d use this opportunity to put in notes on the relevant details from the spring games that kicked off this past weekend.
This’ll also be helpful because my draft for the April monthly recap article is already at 5500+ words, meaning that I can’t make it much bigger without risking it not being able to reach some inboxes, and the current date as of writing this is April 6th. So, I don’t know what I’m going to do with that recap article, but this article should at least take some of the stress off that one.
I will just update this one and republish it as we go along, recapping the various spring games that occur throughout April. If you don’t want to miss any spring game updates, I recommend joining the pigpen 👇👇👇
AUBURN
True freshman WR Cam Coleman had a huge day. He finished the game with four receptions for 92 yards and a touchdown, including a spectacular diving catch off of the arm of Hank Brown.
Georgia State transfer WR Robert Lewis finished his day with five catches for 73 yards.
Payton Thorne finished going 9-13, 133 yds, 1 TD; 4 rush, 20 yds.
Overall, the Auburn defence was able to stifle the offence when it mattered. Here’s a headline quote from an Auburn beat writer:
The red zone was the dead zone for Auburn’s offense.
There was also this tidbit about another WR, Camden Brown:
The talk surrounding the receiver unit this spring has been centered on true freshman Cam Coleman and Georgia State transfer Robert Lewis. Both players posted solid numbers on Saturday, but another player to watch this season will be Camden Brown.
Brown hauled in three of four targeted passes for 45 yards in Saturday’s A-Day game, and shows that he can be a valuable target for Thorne this season.
BOISE STATE
As suspected, Ashton Jeanty and Jambres Dubar look to be the top two runners for BSU headed into 2024. What I’m interested in is how much of Jeanty’s carry share does Dubar cut into? Only time will tell, here’s a snippet from a recap article:
Running backs Ashton Jeanty and Jambres Dubar — presumably this season’s top two backs — sat out on Saturday. There’s no indication of injury. It appears to have more to do with managing their workloads and keeping them healthy after Danielson said the team was going to be smart about Jeanty’s workload this spring.
From the same article on the QB position:
Taking care of the ball was a big part of it,” Danielson said. “Malachi did a good job today. He made some good decisions and some nice throws. CJ (Tiller) did some good stuff today, too.”
Nelson threw what Danielson called one of the most impressive passes of the day on a 5-yard touchdown pass wide receiver Latrell Caples caught in the back corner of the end zone.
The final stats for the QBs were:
Malachi Nelson completed 7-of-10 passes for 73 yards and a touchdown
CJ Tiller completed 12-for-21 passes for 117 yards and an interception
Colt Fulton, a lefty, who walked on at Boise State in 2021, went 11-for-19 for 108 yards and threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Austin Bolt.
WR Prince Strachan appears to be having a good spring:
Strachan was the star of the Broncos’ passing game on Saturday. He gave Boise State fans a glimpse of what he can do last season with three catches for 128 yards, including a 74-yard touchdown, in a win over New Mexico. He showed Saturday that he’s still a deep threat.
The 6-foot-5, 212-pound native of the Bahamas, led Boise State’s receivers with four catches for 71 yards. He finished last season with 12 grabs for 274 yards and two touchdowns. Bolt added three catches for 37 yards on Saturday, and Danielson praised the duo for their ability to put pressure on the defense with deep routes.
CLEMSON
Bryant Wesco Jr. continues to impress, and could earn some reps come the fall. From a Clemson recap:
Bryant Wesco has been the talk of the spring, and he showed off his skills with his nine-yard touchdown in the first quarter.
The 6-foot-2, 170-pound receiver made a spectacular over-the-shoulder catch on a pass from Pearman in the left corner of the end zone. The true freshman, who enrolled in school in January, laid out for the catch.
Though his numbers were modest — three catches for 26 yards — the skills Wesco displayed with his touchdown catch gives Clemson hopes that it found a playmaker at wide receiver.
Fellow incoming WR TJ Moore doesn’t arrive until summer. Antonio Williams looks to be picking up where he left off pre-injury.
Cade Klubnik was 13 of 26 passing Saturday for 158 yards and one interception. Chris Vizzina was 14 of 25 for 108 yards and two picks.
NC STATE
QB Grayson McCall completed 16-of-20 passes for 205 yards with two touchdowns. He didn't play in the second half.
Freshman QB CJ Bailey continues to impress:
Early enrollee CJ Bailey missed a couple open receivers, but he also made some impressive plays, including a 67-yard run and 23-yard dart to Wesley Grimes for a score. To say the progress he's made in his first three months on campus is impressive would be an understatement. Long story short, barring something unforeseen, Bailey is going to be really, really good.
On the RB rotation:
Leading into the spring game, running back Jordan Waters had been one of the stars of spring ball, and it carried over Saturday. He had seven carries for 69 yards and a score. State has other really talented backs, but Water just looks different physically, and runs with an impressive combination of speed, quickness and power. Given the weapons State has on the outside, it should open up the Pack's run game this fall, and Waters is going to be a handful for defenses. Like McCall, he didn't see second-half action.
The WR room sounds very promising, and this offence should be bananas this year so long as McCall can play at (at least) an average ACC-QB level. One thing that stands out to me with this update combined with updates from spring practice is that TE Justin Joly sounds like he’s in for a big season with the Pack. He’s going to be high on my TE board in my Q2 rankings report.
What a difference year makes at receiver. Again, it was against primarily third-teamers, but the upgrade in talent on the outside is staggering. Noah Rogers, who had six receptions for 120 yards and a score in the first half, is going to be a problem for ACC secondaries. He's everything you look for in an outside receiver: big, dynamic, explosive, natural pass-catcher -- you get the picture -- and he's still nowhere near his ceiling.
Rogers, Dacari Collins and Wesley Grimes have as much potential as any State outside receiver group in a long time. FlexY Justin Joly also impressed, finishing with three catches for 58 yards in the first half. He's a really tough matchup and should be a dangerous weapon. Grimes and Terrell Anderson also caught touchdowns passes in the second half. I haven't even mention All-ACC slot receiver Kevin Concepcion. In a half of action, he had two catches for 16 yards and 34-yard run.
Final rushing stats of the game:
*** Hollywood Smothers: 8 carries for 75 yards
*** Jordan Waters: 7/69
*** Kendrick Raphael: 3/39
*** Kevin Concepcion: 1/34
*** Duke Scott: 3/24
*** Demarcus Jones II: 1/4
*** CJ Bailey: 2/1
*** Grayson McCall: 2/-5
UAB
QB:
Returning starter Jacob Zeno took a majority of the snaps in the scrimmage and finished 15-of-21 for 147 yards and an interception. He also had a rushing score but was sacked five times. The Blazers focused more on their running game while Zeno was under center but the senior signal-caller led a scoring drive early in the second half and was 4-of-4 for 56 yards on the series.
RB:
Lee Beebe and Lee Witherspoon split running back duties and combined for 146 yards and a touchdown each on 10 carries apiece. Dylan Peterson added 13 yards and a touchdown on five attempts and tight end Terrell McDonald bulldozed his way out of the backfield for a 37-yard gain on the third series.
WR:
Kam Shanks was without a doubt the star of the game, offensively speaking, as the redshirt freshman hauled in six receptions for 116 yards and a pair of touchdowns. His touchdown receptions went for 37 and 33 yards and his legendary speed was on display throughout the scrimmage.
Last season’s breakout freshman, Amare Thomas, led the team with nine receptions for 80 yards and a score, and redshirt freshman Corri Milliner brought down two receptions for 85 yards. T.J. Jones had two catches for 41 yards, tight end Bryce Damous brought down a 35-yard reception and Brandon Buckhaulter had two catches for 28 yards and a touchdown, along with a 41-yard run on a reverse.
UNLV
QB:
The quarterback competition really hasn’t begun yet, as presumptive starter Matt Sluka is still at Holy Cross and won’t officially transfer to UNLV until this summer. But [Hajj-Malik] Williams did his best to make his case on Saturday, showing deft command of the offense and producing some big plays.
In addition to the 79-yard strike to McDaniel, Williams also piloted the best drive of the afternoon. Opening the second quarter, Williams took the offense the length of the field by hitting 4-of-4 from the pocket for 68 yards, including a 25-yarder to sophomore receiver DeAngelo Irvin and a 29-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wideout Corey Thompson.
Williams handled six drives and finished the day 14-of-22 for 227 yards, with three touchdowns and no interceptions.
Junior returner Cameron Friel headed eight drives and completed 11-of-17 for 116 yards and a touchdown. He did not throw an interception but did lose a fumble on a strip-sack.
WR:
Ricky White is one of the best receivers in the nation, and senior Jacob De Jesus is a proven weapon out of the slot. They drove the passing game last year.
On Saturday, however, it was the rest of the pass-catching corps that really stood out. While White caught four balls for 57 yards and De Jesus had three catches for four yards, Corey Thompson and Damien McDaniel turned in a bevy of big plays, and their presence threatens to make UNLV’s offense even more explosive in 2024.
RB:
Odom said there are five current running backs worthy of playing time if the season started today, and that’s with highly-rated freshman Devin Green still waiting to join the team over the summer.
TULSA
An interesting nugget from a recap of Tulsa’s spring game was that WR Braylin Presley was diagnosed with blurred vision at the end of the 2022 season, and after being plagued by drops in 2023, it sounds like he might have found a solution:
A few weeks ago, again, Presley was encouraged to try contact lenses. This time, he forced himself to learn how to become comfortable with them. The result: “I’m catching the ball a lot better,” he says.
Presley had several receptions during the TU’s Spring Game at H.A. Chapman Stadium, and one in particular was a striking example that he does seem to see the ball with more clarity.
“That’s one thing I’ve tried to work on – the focus on just making the catch,” Presley said. “Don’t worry about anything else. You know (defenders) are always going to be around the football, so you can’t worry about that. Just make the catch. If you get hit, you get hit.”
“(Braylin Presley) is playing with more confidence and catching the ball much better,” [head coach Kevin] Wilson said. “He should have a pretty positive role in what we’re doing. He’s had a good spring.”
And now there is Presley with 20/20 vision and a clean look at any football that has been fired in his direction. He marvels at the difference in his eyesight.
“The first time I tried to put (contract lenses) in, I fought with it for two hours,” Presley said. “I don’t struggle with it anymore. At first, I wore them only on practice days. Now, every day.
“It helped more than I thought it would.”
WR Kamdyn Benjain also returns and is likely to be in consideration for the WR1 role, but Presley could be more involved this year if he can catch the ball consistently.
Note: head coach Kevin Wilson said WR Malachi Jones will be converting to DB.
TOLEDO
In typical MAC style, there was not much information given out on individual players’ performances from the spring game. The head coach did speak about the QB competition, failing to mention any names, of course:
"Today was a little different in that we were outside for the first time. It was windy. The elements are a little different than being in the comfort of the indoors. So it was good to get out there and watch them throw the ball around a little bit and compete.
They've had great competition since we got back here and started in January. Everybody was locked into what that would look like. We had good leadership from the front and getting guys into the indoor to practice and get throwing sessions in. We're excited with what that looks like moving forward."
A beat writer weighed in on the QB competition:
The obvious conclusion for most UT observers is that Tucker Gleason is the guy. But John Alan Richter has been a curiosity since he stepped foot on campus two years ago and, according to sources, redshirt freshman RJ Johnson III has turned heads this spring.
Gleason took a bulk of the reps with the first-team offense throughout the spring. The same story unfolded on Saturday [spring scrimmage].
SMU
Defence dominated SMU’s spring game, but it sounds like WR Jake Bailey was impressive:
On a night when the defense mostly dominated, one offensive player really stood out in the form of [Jake] Bailey. After making a key third-down catch, in which he had his facemask held and grabbed before still picking up more yards he came to the sideline yelling, ‘I’m still here.’
Yes he is. SMU’s leading receiver in terms of catches and yards from a year ago showed no signs of slowing down. He had at least two third-down catches and made several other plays to make a big impact for the Blue team’s offense.
Fellow slot receiver Roderick Daniels Jr. also had some nice catches in the middle of the field and Jordan Hudson made some plays. Romello Brinson got things started with a couple of catches early in the game.
I’m guessing this’ll be a WR1 by-committee type of situation like last year.
SOUTH ALABAMA (scrimmage)
This wasn’t Southern Alabama’s spring game, but a scrimmage instead. They play their spring game on the 20th. Nonetheless, there’s some good notes here:
QB
Gio Lopez and Bishop Davenport split time with the first-team offense, while Davenport and true freshman Jared Hollins both worked with the second team. Lopez, a redshirt freshman, finished the day 13-for-19 for 192 yards passing, with a touchdown and an interception.
Davenport, a redshirt sophomore, went 13-for-23 for 129 yards, also with a touchdown and an interception. Hollins was 5-for-11 for 45 yards with an interception.
WR/RB:
The first-team offense got into the end zone on its second series, with Lopez finding Jamaal Pritchett open inside the 5 for a 42-yard touchdown. Davenport later hit Shamar Sandgren on a 40-yard TD strike, while Kentrel Bullock rushed for two short touchdowns during the red-zone period.
Bullock and Braylon McReynolds combined for 74 yards rushing on 19 carries and also totaled seven receptions, but Sandgren was the day’s big playmaker. The senior from Savannah, Ga. — who joined the South Alabama program as a junior-college transfer last spring — totaled 121 yards on seven receptions, with catches of 40, 40 and 24 yards.
NORTH TEXAS
It should be noted that QB Chandler Morris doesn’t arrive until Summer, and Stone Earl is QB1 in his absence. The RB position sounds like it’s pretty banged up, and there isn’t a name that has emerged there.
TE:
It wasn’t long ago tight end Oscar Hammond was competing for Division II Central Oklahoma. Now he’s not just a member of an FBS program, he’s already become the top option at tight end for the Mean Green.
“That kid just continues to impress,” Morris said. “He fits in the mold we want offensively because he has more receiving skills than any of the other guys we’ve had around here and he’s 245 pounds, to have that size and the quality...and give us a threat down the field is something we’re excited to use this year.”
Hammond started the afternoon with a major contested catch along the sideline he managed to bring down and rumble 41 yards inside the 20-yard line.
Tight end Oscar Hammond caught four passes for 60 yards and a touchdown.
WR:
Mason Ferguson, a wide receiver who enrolled early, continued to receive rave reviews.
UNT is still a long way from determining who its playmakers are going to be offensively this fall.
The Mean Green have a lot of suspects, including several who missed the spring game.
Wide receiver Jeremiah Aaron didn’t play due to injury after impressing early in spring. The Mean Green were also without running back Ikaika Ragsdale, who missed most of last season, and wide receiver Landon Sides.
Wide receiver Damon Ward will be a key player.
UNT will have to wait until the fall to see how those players fit when they’re on the field together.
NEW MEXICO STATE
QB:
No quarterbacks — among them, transfers Deuce Hogan, Brandon Nuñez, Parker Awad — were made available after NMSU's spring game. This was by design, because in the eyes of the coaching staff, nobody is ahead in a quarterback battle that's now set to carry over at least into fall camp.
All are looking to replace Diego Pavia, last season's Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year. Pavia entered the transfer portal after Kill's resignation. Both Kill and Pavia are now with Vanderbilt.
With no official stats, (mostly) even reps among Hogan, Nuñez and Awad and shifting personnel (Hogan received reps with the second-team offensive line, Nuñez with the third, etc.), Awad probably had the most productive day, throwing a pair of touchdowns against what looked to be the third-team defense. As with Hogan and Nuñez, some of his throws fell victim to unrelenting gusts that whipped in and out of Aggie Memorial Stadium.
VANDERBILT (scrimmage)
Clark Lea commented on the offensive performance after a recent scrimmage, focusing mostly on the QB position, from a beat report:
WR Quincy Skinner:
"For me, it's a little bit conflicted, but I love the way the offense finished," Lea said. "I thought (Quincy) Skinner made a couple of really tough catches today, showed his strength. ... I probably have a little less bigger picture view from my seat on the sideline as the d-coordinator but it looks like some some good tough catches and we got to continue.
QB:
I thought Nate (Johnson) was really good on that first drive to get the ball out in time, doing that with confidence. And obviously he's going to be able to extend plays with the legs also. So some stuff there to build on."
In evaluating the quarterbacks, (Tim) Beck also saw good and bad. He said Johnson didn't take enough care of the ball, and he felt that Berlowitz didn't score when he could have on a run play near the goal line.
Part of that is communication, as Beck felt the team wasn't getting in and out of the huddle quickly enough. That's one area that Vanderbilt hopes to use the remaining two spring scrimmages to address.
"The biggest thing that I'm disappointed in is that we didn't take care of the ball like we need to," Beck said. "So we turned the ball over which we just absolutely cannot do. We can't turn the ball over and we had too many misalignments and missed assignments, but saw some bright spots and saw some things that we can build on and absolutely feel like our offensive line's gotten better."
The IHOP Quiz of the Week
For the inquisitive pigs who want to test their knowledge this week, here is a challenge for you. You can always look it up ahead of time, but where would the fun in that be?
Conclusion of the VP March Madness Pool
Special thanks to the subscribers who participated in this year’s VP march madness bracket challenge. Normally, I’d congratulate the winner, but seeing as it was me, there’s not much to say here.
I didn’t get a chance to watch a lot of the tourney this year, but UConn definitely looked to be the best team in my opinion, so it’s fitting that they would come out victorious in the end. Purdue became a favourite of mine during the tourney. Zach Edey is a beast (and Canadian!).
Till next year, Pigs.
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