Offense leads the way in first grid scrimmage
Sunshine, spring and football were in the air Monday at Romney Stadium where the USU football team held its first official spring scrimmage. It was the team’s first opportunity to showcase new head coach Gary Andersen’s schemes to a waiting public.
During the two-hour ordeal the first, second and third teams’ offenses and defenses squared off against each other, and the offense – especially the ground game – came away the clear victors.
“We got 100 good reps in and definitely the offense won the scrimmage. There is some good in that and some bad, we need to be able to stop the run a little bit better,” Andersen said. “I thought the execution and low number of penalties were good. We had zero turnovers until the last two-minute drives and that is a positive. We will look at the film, but it will be a long evaluation process after this one.”
The ground attack was led by sophomore tailback Robert Turbin who picked up 82 yards on 13 carries and scored two touchdowns. All told, the Aggie backs amassed 196 yards on 55 carries and scored five touchdowns.
The scrimmage consisted of multiple situations and looks for the offense and defense as the offense started with the ball on its own one-yard line as well as in the red zone, and everywhere in between.
“It was a good scrimmage for the offense, we dominated the defense a little bit,” said starting quarterback Diondre Borel. “We are all getting some good work in, we are just working hard with every practice that we have this spring.”
Borel had an efficient day leading the offense as he completed 14-of-19 passes for 142 yards and also rushed for nine yards. He did throw one interception during the offense’s two-minute drill, but that came off a tipped pass.
“I thought Diondre (Borel) did a great job today,” Andersen said. “We have really asked him to be able to make some throws and do some things from the offensive side of the football without his legs. I think he has taken some steps to be able to beat people with his mind and his arm.”
The leading receivers on the day were Austin Alder, who caught four balls for 73 yards; Tarren Lloyd, who caught four for 53 yards, including a touchdown; and Stanley Morrison, who caught two for 31 yards.
“These kids come to work every day, which is a big step. Early on if the offense or defense got the upper hand I felt like we had a hard time fighting through those situations,” Andersen said. “Today the defense didn’t play real well but I didn’t see them cave in. There is a difference to me. I think our ability to handle adversity is getting better.”
Despite the superiority of the offense during the inaugural scrimmage, the defense wasn’t without some standout performances.
“I think it went well. The offense did a great job moving the ball,” said senior safety James Brindley of the scrimmage. “The defense, at times, had some big plays. We need to work on some things like missed tackles, but I think overall it was a good team performance.”
Brindley recorded five tackles on the day, and recorded the lone interception of Borel – well, his partner in crime, junior safety Maxim Dinka – led the defense with eight tackles on the day.
Along with some great performances on both sides of the ball, the new version of USU football was filled with plenty of fire. During one of the offensive series, running back Derrvin Speight and safety Cache Morgan mixed it up before being separated.
The Aggies will have a short time to work out the kinks before their next public scrimmage. After practicing yesterday, the Aggies will return to the practice field Thursday before playing their second scrimmage of the spring Saturday at Romney Stadium at 11 a.m.
–t.olsen@aggiemail.usu.edu