M&W Highlights

[Agnlaw]

I wasn't able to go.:sad: So... :rep: for whoever can put together a report.

[Agnlaw]

Here's a pretty good summary (note the pic... is that a facemask?: http://www.statesman.com/sports/content/sports/stories/other/04/20/0420aggies.html

TEXAS A&M
Aggie running back corps shines

By Randy Riggs (rriggs@statesman.com)
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Sunday, April 20, 2008
COLLEGE STATION — As is typical in spring football games, for every positive there was the nagging doubt of a negative.
For the estimated 32,000 Texas A&M fans watching the first Maroon-White game of the Mike Sherman coaching era at Kyle Field, the dilemma Saturday was this: great running backs or not-so great rushing defense.
If nothing else, the Aggies proved they have an abundance of skilled ball carriers, led by rejuvenated Mike Goodson. Redshirt freshman Bradley Stephens and sophomore Cornell Tarrant also showed flashes.
While the second half Saturday was devoted to situational work (red zone, two-minute drill, overtime, goal-line), the first half was conducted under relatively game-like situations. That gave the backs numerous chances to shine, and they did.
Goodson, who rushed for 711 yards last year, gained 58 yards on eight carries. Tarrant picked up 59 yards on four rushes, 40 coming on a scoring burst. Stephens, one of the pleasant surprises of the spring, added 41 yards on five carries.
Sherman wasn't too worried about the defense, which he said was kept "plain vanilla" for the scrimmage. But he loves the look of his running back corps, especially Goodson.
"I wanted to see if what we thought we had, we have. We have some pretty good running backs.," Sherman said. "(Goodson) is a very dangerous weapon, and I'm glad he's on our team. He's certainly a guy that needs to have the ball in his hands a lot of times. I think he proved that."
Projected starting fullback Jorvorskie Lane, the 285-pound converted tailback, didn't play, watching from the sideline after being stricken by a stomach virus earlier in the day.
While the ground game was impressive, the passing attack obviously needs work, especially in getting the ball to the wide receivers. Quarterback Stephen McGee completed 5 of 8 throws, but none were to a wideout.
The leading receiver under game conditions was junior E.J. Shankle with two catches for 19 yards. Tight ends, expected to play prominent roles in Sherman's pro-style offense, had several big catches — projected starter Jamie McCoy grabbed two passes for 31 yards, including a nifty 25-yarder on a seam route from McGee, while redshirt freshman Harold Turnage caught a 30-yarder from freshman Tommy Dorman.
The backs also were active in the passing game, with Goodson and Stephens combining for three catches for 27 yards. Anthony Vela, a 239-pound sophomore from Round Rock McNeil, caught a pair of passes out of the backfield for 22 yards.
Notes: Linebacker Von Miller and defensive end Paul Freeney missed the game for what Sherman called "personal issues." The coach declined to say if the pair were held out for disciplinary reasons. . . . Billy Chavis, moved last week from linebacker to tight end, will remain on offense, Sherman said.
rriggs@statesman.com; 445-3957

[Agnlaw]

And another: http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/aggies/entries/2008/04/19/spring_game_tidbits.html

Spring game tidbits (http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/aggies/entries/2008/04/19/spring_game_tidbits.html)

By Randy Riggs (http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/aggies/entries/2008/04/19/spring_game_tidbits.html#postcomment) | Saturday, April 19, 2008, 09:40 PM
A few odds and ends from Saturday night’s Maroon-White football game at Kyle Field that capped the first spring under new coach Mike Sherman:
— Linebacker Von Miller and defensive end Paul Freeney missed the game for what Sherman would only call “personal issues.” When pressed if the pair was held out for disciplinary reasons, Sherman wouldn’t bite, referring again to personal issues.
— Billy Chavis, who was moved from linebacker to tight end late last week, will remain on offense, Sherman said after the scrimmage.
— Walk-on fullback Nick LaMantia, who started Saturday because Jorvorskie Lane was sidelined with a stomach ailment, was voted the honorary 12th Man for the season opener against Arkansas State. It’s not exactly a new honor for LaMantia. He was the designated 12th Man in all 13 games last season.
— The scrimmage ended when Chevar Bryson intercepted a pass from redshirt freshman quarterback Ryan Tannehill and returned it 100 yards.
— Sherman wouldn’t say if incumbent Stephen McGee or Jerrod Johnson has the edge for the starting quarterback job. But he would allow that the last thing he wants to do is alternate the two. He wants a starter and a backup, period. But which is which? Stay tuned.

[Burnetaggie99]

Didn't miss much. They only played till halftime and then the rest was like drills. This was the by far the worst Maroon and White Scrimmage. Also the offense didn't impress me much either. Yes our RB's looked good but the over all scheme was no better than the option offense of Fran's. We threw 2 deep passes and one of them was before halftime on a hail mary to Shankle that fell incomplete . Most of the passes I saw were 5 to 10 yard outs or slants. The RB's run middle curls or 5 to 8 yard outs out of the backfield. When we did go spread formation and shotgun we only still threw short passes. Longest pass was to the TE on a seam route. We came out and ran the ball 8 straight times before even putting up a throw. The Spread offense is way more explosive. Also the QB's who can make plays with their feet are not used at all in this offense. They called one bootleg run for McGee on the goaline but other than that this WC offense dosn't impress me very much.

[Agnlaw]

:rep:

[Burnetaggie99]

Also Stephen is by far the better QB and I'm not saying that because I know him. Stephen looked better running the offense, made better throws, and also moved them down the field better.

[Agnlaw]

Also Stephen is by far the better QB and I'm not saying that because I know him. Stephen looked better running the offense, made better throws, and also moved them down the field better.

Yep. I humbly renounce my bold prediction on the subject. McGee is the man.

[Loftin]

MVPs of the game (IMO):

Offense: Cornell Tarrant
Defense: Michael Bennett
Special Teams: Justin Brantley

[Superaggie79]

Didn't miss much. They only played till halftime and then the rest was like drills. This was the by far the worst Maroon and White Scrimmage. Also the offense didn't impress me much either. Yes our RB's looked good but the over all scheme was no better than the option offense of Fran's. We threw 2 deep passes and one of them was before halftime on a hail mary to Shankle that fell incomplete . Most of the passes I saw were 5 to 10 yard outs or slants. The RB's run middle curls or 5 to 8 yard outs out of the backfield. When we did go spread formation and shotgun we only still threw short passes. Longest pass was to the TE on a seam route. We came out and ran the ball 8 straight times before even putting up a throw. The Spread offense is way more explosive. Also the QB's who can make plays with their feet are not used at all in this offense. They called one bootleg run for McGee on the goaline but other than that this WC offense dosn't impress me very much.
I don't see how you compare it to the option offense. It's a pro-style offense and even though they weren't airing it out how often do you see them air it out every other play in the pros? To me the biggest thing was that you'd see more variety in the fact that the defense couldn't sit and watch what the motion was and figure out where the option was going and the offense would force the defensive backs to be more honest. Now I missed the first 40 or so minutes of the game so I only saw limited amounts but that's just my take. Also I'd like to see the game film to see if on those short throws if there wasn't a receiver going deeper and the choice was to go short.

[4thgenerationag]

Also the offense didn't impress me much either. Yes our RB's looked good but the over all scheme was no better than the option offense of Fran's.

A couple things to keep in mind - Sherman's offense is newly installed. And Fran's offense is...well completely different.

[whitelightnin_23]

Notes: Linebacker Von Miller and defensive end Paul Freeney missed the game for what Sherman called "personal issues." The coach declined to say if the pair were held out for disciplinary reasons. . . . Billy Chavis, moved last week from linebacker to tight end, will remain on offense, Sherman said.

have heard of Miller, but is Freeney also in the same situation (kicked off or suspended)??? :spy:

[WesTxAg]

Also Stephen is by far the better QB and I'm not saying that because I know him. Stephen looked better running the offense, made better throws, and also moved them down the field better.
absolutely gotta agree with you...jerrod just doesn't look like a passer to me, he looks like a thrower and there's a HUGE difference. I would compare jerrod to just about where jon chiles is at. stephen looked good and i was so glad he looked comfortable in the new offense...everyone already knows he's a good leader and decision-maker, it was really nice to see him look good out there. there's no qb controversy about it, stephen is the guy

as for your take on the pro-style offense, i don't see how you could've taken the spring practice as an indicator for what you'll really see in a real game. he started out with 8 straight runs, then passed it for the rest of the practice. in a real game, i see it being more 60/40. Everything depends on the run game, which with the RB's we have, sounds like a solid strategy. I loved the play action, TE's across the state should be salivating! Then you're going to get kids like fuller & goodson & holland & (hopefully) cyrus the ball on short, quiick, high-percentage passes. I thought this was a starting point and still looks like the first year in a new offense, but overall i felt encouraged about our new coaching staff

[Burnetaggie99]

Sherman said we will throw the rock but also go vertical in our pass routes. I didn't see that and even if your running a plain offense, you still are going to have those plays. They threw the ball vertical twice. Also Sherman has failed to take advantage of our dual threat QB's. I didn't see any plays that could put a defense on it's heels expect the bootleg that was called once for McGee on the goalline. To me thats not taking advantage of your QB's mobile skills. In college the mobile QB is a big factor. To me it looked like for the most part our passing routes about 80% of the time are going to be short routes with maybe taking a few shots down field if the running game is working. I'm just saying a Coach/OC that knows how to run a Spread offense was take over this team, we would be unstoppable. To me it looks like the offense Sherman was running for the Texans not the Packers.

[bb-]

Guys,
You've got to realize.. It was the spring game. Sherman would be stupid to expose too much. He's got a new system and he's a brand new coach. Our opponents know this also. It's college football, so I promise there was coaches there, or at least scouts looking at what we're doing for game plans. Just chill out till the actual season. Then we can judge.

[WesTxAg]

i dont think many of the starting WR's actually played much yesterday....


....as far as what burnet was saying tho....i think the vertical passing game is a product of where the QB wants to throw the ball....at GB, Favre loved to throw the ball downfield and take chances....if there's one knock against stephen it's that he doesn't let his playmakers go make plays with deeper passes and riskier throws

[Agnlaw]

Guys,
You've got to realize.. It was the spring game. Sherman would be stupid to expose too much. He's got a new system and he's a brand new coach. Our opponents know this also. It's college football, so I promise there was coaches there, or at least scouts looking at what we're doing for game plans. Just chill out till the actual season. Then we can judge.



:cool: well put.

[Pumchavas28]

MVPs of the game (IMO):

Offense: Cornell Tarrant
Defense: Michael Bennett
Special Teams: Justin Brantley


I would add Jamie McCoy since no one could cover him & if the QB's wanted to, they could have thrown him the ball every play....

I'm just hoping that other defenses have the same problem...

[aggie07]

On D.
I would have to give that award to Chevar Bryson for making a name for himself and to survive the final cut.
Michael had two or three tackles. He got pancaked a few times too.

[dragonag517]

I agree with Burnett's assessment. I read that the defense was playing plain vanilla so that gives me a little relief to know we have more available to use during a game. So, if the D was playing Vanilla then I'm worried about our offense a little bit. I know it's Spring but on some of the situational plays in the second half the O was unable to punch it in the end zone.

Obviously the coaches had specific things they wanted to look at and set up the game that way. I read a quote from Sherman that said over the next couple of weeks he's going to look over the Spring films and make an assessment of what the team is capable of doing and will presumably throw out those things we can't do from his playbook and focus on those things we can in August.

Either way, I hope the coaches saw what they wanted to see and overall the Spring practice was a success.

[Loftin]

On D.
I would have to give that award to Chevar Bryson for making a name for himself and to survive the final cut.
Michael had two or three tackles. He got pancaked a few times too.

I don't know if stats were released, but Bennett was on nearly every play. He had WAY more than "two or three" tackles. Remember that every time he touched the QB and they stopped the play, it was a sack.

[Burnetaggie99]

Please read this article. If pro scouts can scheme against the WC so can College scouts. At least with the Spread it's still unstoppable if you call it right.


http://www.slate.com/id/116984/

[Mezentius]

Two pieces to the percieved blandness of the game:

I would bet there are a ton of things not implemented yet...especially blocking scheme wise.

Point two:
I think what must be remembered is that with all the minor but nagging injuries that have been piling up that he probably kept the playbook pretty conservative (especially in the passing game). Not only for the WR's sake but also the sake of the DB's.

I think we didn't see many roll outs from Stephen because again he doesn't need to be taking hits and Sherman probably knows he wouuld lower the shoulder once the "game" got going.
JJ doesn't need to work on rolling out/running around/scrambling...its the pocket, 3 step and throw he needs the work on.

I disagree whole heartedly about the spread being unstoppable when called correctly...I watched our DC totally shut it down with scheme (not talent which has always been how OU and tu have stopped Tech's version of it) when he was at Alabama. Not kind of give it trouble, but essentially pitch a shutout against one of the better offenses Leach has put on the field.

At the end of the day the two teams that have won national titles running the spread really did on the backs of absolutely dominating defenses...OU in 2000 and Florida two years ago. Name an OU player from the offensive side of the ball in the NFL...how about on the defensive side...ditto for Florida...In fact Florida got a once a century performance this past season out of their QB and looked terribly average in many games.

I'm not saying its not viable, but its just a scheme like any other...it has its weaknesses. Yeah its explosive but when you get in tight games against similiar talent it becomes low reward and high risk. Ask Oregon how the spread worked out for them when their one QB on campus that could run it went down...national title contendor to the bag o' crap bowl in about 3 minutes.

Give me no option, no smoke and mirrors, solid fundamental football and Stephen getting his throws off in time without getting the crap knocked out of him every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Most of all I will not miss that f'ing smoke draw on 3rd and twelve after the option was stuffed on first down and the fake option roll out where stephen has to take a mammoth hit after trying to throw to one of 3 recievers running routes that make no sense and having the pass fall incomplete.

I won't miss 1400 carries by our QB against Nebraska for whatever reason.


I agree completely that McGee has no competition this year as the starter...shoulder looks pretty healed, he got his work in, avoided hits and should have a good year. I hope to see JJ get some reps, not just in blowouts, but as a change of pace and especially early in the year in a series or two early in games just for experience sake.

[whitelightnin_23]

Sherman said we will throw the rock but also go vertical in our pass routes. I didn't see that and even if your running a plain offense, you still are going to have those plays. They threw the ball vertical twice. Also Sherman has failed to take advantage of our dual threat QB's. I didn't see any plays that could put a defense on it's heels expect the bootleg that was called once for McGee on the goalline. To me thats not taking advantage of your QB's mobile skills. In college the mobile QB is a big factor. To me it looked like for the most part our passing routes about 80% of the time are going to be short routes with maybe taking a few shots down field if the running game is working. I'm just saying a Coach/OC that knows how to run a Spread offense was take over this team, we would be unstoppable. To me it looks like the offense Sherman was running for the Texans not the Packers.

(except)

...and I'm pretty sure we scored on that play...I'd say it was a good call...

like bb said...I doubt Sherman's focus was to reveal ALL of his cards...

[Mezentius]

Agreed, we all know stephen can run...we also know he'll take hits, we also know his shoulder is coming off surgery...we all know he doesn't need to be taking hits on that shoulder.

I think getting reps in and working specific situations without injury was the focal point of this game.

On an unrelated note I'm intrigued to see Lane in at FB in game situations with the catches he's making and his ability to plow over people blocking and in short yardage.

[Pflugerville Ag]

I really wish Lane would have played. I wanted to see him clear some holes for Goodson.

[whitelightnin_23]

I really wish Lane would have played. I wanted to see him clear some holes for Goodson.

yeah...I was looking forward to that as well...(as I'm sure were the scouts from other b12 teams...;))

[MarylandAG]

I agree with what bb posted, its a spring game, mostly a reward for the kids for working hard during spring practice. Why expose to much. Sherman is smart, keep them guessing as long as you can. Wish I could have been there.

[12th man fan]

The M&W game is completely meaningless from the standpoint of what next year will be like. It's a great teaser for the fans, it lets the kids know we're rooting for them, and it builds some anticipation (and needless anxiety) for next season. That's about it.