Spring scrimmage ends up being a highlight reel
Junior quarterback Diondre Borel threw for 320 yards and three touchdowns as he led the Blue team to 533 yards of total offense and the win, as they defeated the White team, 45-30, Saturday.
Borel was 12-23 on the afternoon and threw no interceptions as big play after big play electrified the crowd on hand of roughly 5,000.
“Both sides did well, all the quarterbacks did pretty well and I thought I did pretty well,” Borel said. “Everybody is making big plays and stepping up both offensively and defensively.”
After winning the toss, though, it was the White team that struck first. After being held to a third down and six situation, redshirt freshman Exavier Johnson connected with senior wideout Xavier Bowman for a 71-yard TD strike, giving the White team an early 7-0 lead.
“We made a lot of big plays. That is good on one side, but bad on the other side of the football,” said USU head coach Gary Andersen. “Offensively we executed and made some big plays. That is a very big positive for us. The biggest concern coming out of this is the first team defense gave up way too many points.”
The Blue team kept the big plays going when wide receiver Stanley Morrison connected with wide receiver Omar Sawyer for a 44-yard gain on a reverse pass on the Blue team’s opening play.
That play set up a short rumble into the end zone for sophomore tailback Robert Turbin, which tied the game at seven. Turbin rushed 13 times for 57 yards and the one TD.
After having two relatively quiet spring scrimmages, Sawyer broke out and had a huge day Saturday. The senior from Ogden made only three receptions but finished with 196 yards and two touchdowns, as he added TD receptions of 72 and 80 yards, respectively.
“This is the last day of spring so I knew I needed to go out there and do something. I made some plays and I was happy with it,” Sawyer said. “I have been getting looks, but overall I haven’t made the most of my opportunities. Today I felt like I came out and really took advantage of those chances.”
After such a quick start by the offenses, the defenses clamped down during the next few possessions, forcing four punting situations, with a Kejon Murphy interception sandwiched in the middle.
“I think as a defense we came out too excited,” Murphy said. “We just have to calm down and play well like we know how to do. There are a lot of guys on defense that can play, we shouldn’t have been so hyped up.”
The Blue defense was led by senior safety James Brindley who had nine tackles, while sophomore linebacker Bobby Wagner racked up eight and a half. It was the Blue defense that finally sealed the game as well.
Brindley blasted White running back Marquis Butler, causing him to pop the ball up in the air. Senior linebacker Paul Igboeli grabbed the ball and rumbled into the end zone for the score, and what would prove to be the final points of the game.
On the White side, the defense was led by sophomore safety Walter McClenton who tallied five and half stops on the day. McClenton was followed closely by sophomore linebacker Kyle Gallagher who recorded five stops.
“I think the kids did a great job of consistently practicing. Today was a little bit different for them, it was really good for us to come out and feel the game atmosphere,” Andersen said. “We wanted 15 consecutive practices and to come out as a tougher football team. We wanted to be able to execute on offense and defense, and I think we are doing that.”
Other players that played well on the day included receivers Bowman who caught five balls for 108 yards, Austin Alder who grabbed six balls for 62 yards and took and end around 49 yards for a touchdown and Stanley Morrison who snagged three passes for 97 yards and one TD.
On the ground, Josh Flores and Butler led the White with 47 and 46 yards, respectively, while Michael Smith chipped in 57 and Derrvin Speight chipped in 53 for the Blue team.
The Blue and White scrimmage concluded USU’s spring drills, and the Aggies will now have a short time off before returning to practice.
–t.olsen@aggiemail.usu.edu