Canes Spring Game..

**burton2019** · April 14th, 2006, 10:16 PM

On Comcast Sports South tomorrow at 11am. Gotta have Charter or Comcast cable, I presume, to watch it.

I am anxious to see how Wright and the offensive line looks.

**imported_mega** · April 14th, 2006, 10:23 PM

anything less than 10 sacks and Im declaring them national champs. [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] j/k

By all reports, the front 7 looks great, the oline so-so. The corners have been so-so(had to replace 2 great ones), the safetys are the best in the country.

Leggett has been the star of the spring, Moore has looked good, Jenkins is hurt(sprained ankle), and Khalil Jones is getting most of the reps as the slot receiver.

Reports on the oline so far are they are pass blocking better but not run blocking well. Keep in mind frank, the defense knows all of the plays and the new OC doesnt want to show much so if you dont see many multiple sets and many men in motion tomorrow to utliize mismatches, then you definietly havent seen what they will be running in the first game against the noles.

Nonetheless, Im excited for some football.

**imported_mega** · April 15th, 2006, 03:31 PM

Bland Bland Bland, Vanilla even. They showed nothing today, honestly though I dont blame them. I would have liked to see Wright play more than a couple series though. The o-line looked better today than they did a year ago, I'll give them that. They were missing a starting guard too. It was ugly I'll admit, but the offense seems like it will be alot better than last year without a doubt.

**Unchained** · April 15th, 2006, 04:43 PM

We all knew the O would look better with nimrod gone (kinda like going 0-10-can only improve).

**imported_mega** · April 15th, 2006, 04:52 PM

here ya go man, in case you didnt get to see the game.

CaneSport.com Staff

For fans hoping to see Miami's revamped offense, the Spring Game did not deliver much.

With the offense and defense both playing vanilla, it was defensive domination most of the time at the Orange Bowl April 15.
Quarterbacks combined to hit on 16 of 34 passes for just 85 yards with two interceptions (both of Kirby Freeman) with no touchdowns. There were a few dropped passes, and there was a lot of defensive pressure that hindered them.

The running game netted 119 yards on 39 carries, an average of 3.1 yards per attempt.

The offense had no touchdowns and one field goal in the scrimmage, which was played in front of an estimated crowd of 9,000.

"We're pretty dominant on defense," coach Larry Coker said afterward. "We played a lot of defensive players and did an awfully nice job defensively. Offensively we ran the ball, did some nice things there. We have to have a great summer. Certainly we've got a lot of work to do offensively."

Quarterback Kyle Wright had limited reps as Coker said there was no need to get him extensive playing time. He hit on eight of 14 passes for 45 yards.

Freeman made good on six of 17 passes for 26 yards, and he also scrambled for 25 yards.

"It was a little herky-jerky at times, but that happens when you're running pretty vanilla stuff," Wright said. "We came out, there were some good things, some bad things. I'm glad we're making mistakes now instead of later on down the road. That's what spring practice is for."

Freeman added, "I was excited to be out here playing. We've got a lot of work to do. I feel comfortable with this new offense. We've got the guys to make some plays, there's no doubt about that. We have a young offensive line, and we came out today showing we have potential. It's our job through the summer to work together and pull our own weight. We're going to go have a hard summer workout, get into two-a-days and get ready for that FSU game on Labor Day.

Freeman said he still does not have a decision on transferring but said he is "leaning" toward staying at Miami.

Leading the running backs in the scrimmage was Derron Thomas, with 14 carries for 47 yards. Charlie Jones rushed nine times for 38 yards; Andrew Johnson carried seven times for 19 yards.

Offensive coordinator Rich Olson said the team only had in eight running plays for the scrimmage, not showing many different looks.

Ryan Moore led the receivers with two catches for 26 yards; Greg Olsen added four catches for 19 yards.

The offense didn't get its opening first down until 9:54 remained in the second quarter.

"It's kind of disappointing to end the spring like that," Wright said. "We were up and down, had some penalties that kind of killed us.

"Both (offense and defense) were running their vanilla stuff, keeping it simple."

With an early fumble by Jones that was recovered by Kenny Phillips and an interception by Bruce Johnson of a Freeman pass, it was a 17-1 defensive lead (based on a scoring system that rewarded everything from touchdowns to turnovers) with nine minutes left in the second quarter. The first six offensive series ended in three-and-outs, and the offense did not cross midfield until 24 seconds remained in the first half.

The halftime score: Defense 18, offense 9 (Freeman led a final first half drive that ended with a 28-yard Jon Peattie field goal, the only score of the scrimmage).

The second half began much the same as the first half, with the offense not moving past midfield until under three minutes remained in the third quarter -- and that was with third team walkon QB Matt Perrelli in the game and the Canes not throwing any passes. Lovon Ponder had an interception of Freeman early in the third quarter.

The offense began its fourth quarter possessions at the 50, and it got inside the 10 on one possession when Derron Thomas broke off a 30-yard run. But that drive ended on a failed fourth down.

The final scrimmage score: Defense 31, offense 14.

Sacks came from Calais Campbell and Luqman Abdullah. The leading tackler was Willie Cooper, with six. James Bryant, Vegas Franklin and Kenny Phillips each had five solo tackles.

It was defensive domination.

"We dominated the offense, but we still have to fix some things -- better tackling," safety Kenny Phillips said.

Linebacker Tavares Gooden added, "We work hard every day, so it paid off. The defense, we're real old, experienced this year. And the offense, they're young pups. We played like we're supposed to today."

Guard Derrick Morse said of the day's work that "I don't know what happened. It definitely doesn't reflect what we've done the last 14 days, so it's frustrating."

* Several offensive linemen were sporting new haircuts -- Mohawks.

"Me, (Anthony) Wollschlager, (Alex) Pou, (Joe) Girardi, (Matt) Pipho, (A.J.) Trump and (Tyrone) Byrd, we just thought it would be fun," Derrick Morse said. "We're just doing whatever fires us up."

* P Brian Monroe played receiver and had one catch for six yards.

He had a couple of other opportunities where he beat the defensive back downfield but could not come up with the ball on tough catch opportunities.

Coker said Monroe could also line up at receiver in the fall.

"He's really close to being a good receiver," Coker said. "You'll see him continue to get better throughout the summer."

"I'm hoping (to play in the fall), but it's all up to the coaches," Monroe said.

* Wright was asked his take of the offense this spring.

"As an offense as a whole we came out and had good energy this spring," Wright said. "I'm pleased with how we did overall."

* In injury news, DT Teraz McCray did not participate due to a knee injury. He is scheduled for an MRI.

LARRY COKER POST-SPRING GAME PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Did you feel you got everything done this spring that you wanted to?

Coker: Well, you know, you never do. When you have situations like this, you get exposed. I don't think you ever get everything done.

Q: How do you think Kirby Freeman did today?

Coker: I think Kirby did well. I think both quarterbacks did just fine. We didn't make plays for them at times. Both quarterbacks have performed really well.

Q: Kyle Wright's reps were limited. He only played in a few series.

Coker: And Greg Olsen. We don't need to see a lot more of Kyle. We want to see more Kirby. Greg Olsen, the opportunities he had you see how impressive he can be. We limited him, didn't play him in the second half. We limited Kyle and Greg Olsen.

Q: Assess the receiver play. There were some dropped passes.

Coker: You assessed it for me. You can't have dropped footballs. Against good teams we have to make those plays.

Q: With the injuries on offense to Tyrone Moss, Andrew Bain and Darnell Jenkins, is it only natural the defense would be ahead at this point?

Coker: You would really hope they would be anyway, but there's no doubt about it -- that's just another reason for the defense to be dominant.

Q: How would you assess where you stand at CB?

Coker: I think we'll be fine in the fall. They got a lot of snaps this spring. I think we'll be good there. With Glenn Sharpe there, I think we'll have a great corner in Sharpe. All in all, if our corners hold up, you can see what we can do with our front, our linebackers and our safeties.

Q: Is James Bryant a linebacker and fullback in the fall?

Coker: It's still in flux. We're going to play him where we need him to help us win football games. He can make plays at linebacker. He's very aggressive, physical. He just needs to learn what to do at the linebacker position.

Q: What about Darryl Sharpton's progress?

Coker: Sharpton's going to be special at MIKE.

Q: Talk more about Freeman's performance -- he didn't throw for many yards.

Coker: He handled himself well. He knew what to do with the football, had some plays that weren't made for him. We had a drop down the boundary that would have been a big play, Monroe's catch would have been a big play.

Q: What do you do these next few weeks and months?

Coker: Evaluate, for one. We have our spring recruiting that will start in a couple of weeks. We'll go out and evaluate talent, will have seven coaches out every week. We'll evaluate the spring, where we can go (from here).