Spring Ball

[Beardown]

Thanks for the report 303. Did Dominick Sierra play? We missed his speed at LB last season. I think with he and Leilon, and Marcus Forward at LB's, the defense should be pretty good. Also what about the defensive line? I know we have a highly touted recruit in Devion Anderson at DE, and I've heard he had a great offseason. He can step in for Chappele. I think Devonte's is too injury-proned.

 

[tigershark62]

Heard Rubalcaba threw 4 touchdown passes, and ran for another, at this weekends scrimmage.

 

[303Bear]

Beardown, I didn't watch the defense as closely as I should have. I'm not sure if or how well Sierra played. I think the defensive line looks strong. I have heard 2 coaches and at least one player refer to Devion as a beast if that is any indicator of how his spring is going. Also hearing that Lexington Smith has taken his play to another level this spring. Could be a very stout defense this year. At least up front. I will watch the defense more at the scrimmage this coming Saturday.

And yes, Rubes had a great scrimmage on Saturday. Definitely looks more in control of the offense.

 

[Beartough]

I'm hoping to hear some feedback from 303 or anyone else who made it this morning.

Sorry haven't had a chance to get you an update until now. I did make it up for the scrimmage this morning and my first impression is that it looked like their first scrimmage. Still have a long ways to go. Overall, I thought they looked pretty good though. I believe they ran somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 plays. Mainly 1s vs. 1s and 2s vs 2s. However, the defense seems to be the most short handed right now so the number 2 offense was often running against a mixed defensive group.

Rubes seems to be settling down and had a pretty strong day throwing and running the ball. He still looks a little unsettled in the pocket at times and forced a couple of throws that he shouldn't have, but he also hit a number of long and intermediate passes. Right now it looks like his favorite target is Miller. He did spread the ball around quite a bit with passes to Vandy, Stimphil, Monson and others. When the pocket broke down he was pretty good at making a play with his feet. Which seemed to happen more than it should.

Both of the offensive lines need a lot of work still. The 1s did show flashes of quality play at times, particularly in the running game. The pass blocking though tended to break down or be non existent on occasion. Rubes was sacked a number of times, which really means a defender tapped him on the shoulder. The 2s looked like 2s. They really struggled to open holes for the running game and to protect the younger Berglund on the pass plays.

Holland, Graham, and Cartagena all ran the ball well. Definitely 3 different styles of play. It looks like Holland is running at 1a and Graham at 1b with Cartagena being more of you change of pace guy. I have to say I really like Graham a lot. He looks like he has the whole package. Had some very impressive runs today where he looked like he had been stopped dead in his tracks or stood up and the next thing you know he had picked up another 5 yards. Holland is more of the quick slasher and will make the defenders miss.

Had a hard time keeping track of the WRs other than Miller and Stimphil. I believe Malcolm Whye had a TD catch. Marcell Peoples did not play. Freshman receiver Samad Hinds certainly passes the eye test with his size and speed, but he looked lost at times.

The TEs looked pretty good. Looks like Vandy is running primarily at the H and Monson is running as the #1 Y right now. Vandy is definitely more of a receiving TE while Monson is more of a blocking TE. Both had some catches today. The other TE, Backes, looked pretty good as well. Played primarily at the Y. Had some great blocks and a couple of catches. One went for 20+ yards and was an impressive grab up high. The other freshman TE, Drage, still needs some development. Had one decent catch over the middle but also had a couple drops and is not a strong blocker yet.

I didn't watch the defense quite as closely today. My overall impression was that they appeared to be a lot more aggressive and physical. They were swarming to the ball and getting a good push up the middle. The DB's were definitely more aggressive and were generally covering a lot tighter than I saw all of last year, but I think it is still early to tell if they have really improved. There were at least 2 impact players not playing today. Willingham and Chapple were in street clothes.

The field goal kicking is still inconsistent and atrocious. Might have made 50% of the kicks today. The kid they signed to come in this fall may turn out to be their most important pick up this off season.

One final note- Berglund was still in street clothes. Was told that he is still waiting to be cleared.

Hope that wasn't too much info. Would love to hear if anybody else made it up today and has some observations or differing opinions on what they saw.

I thought you mentioned in a previous post Berglund was in a "walking boot" because of an broken toe ??

 

[303Bear]

I thought you mentioned in a previous post Berglund was in a "walking boot" because of an broken toe ??

Was not wearing the walking boot on Saturday and seemed to be moving around pretty well in his street clothes.

 

[303Bear]

Don't know if anybody caught this but UNC Bears Athletics posted a photo on Twitter of the team stretching this afternoon. Take a close look at the player in the bright green shorts on crutches. That is Brock Berglund. I am told he had surgery a couple days ago on his Achilles. Don't know any more information than that or even if it is a confirmed Achilles surgery.

Here is the link since I can't get the actual image to post-

https://twitter.com/unc_bears/status/456907425677717505/photo/1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[303Bear]

All Access - Wide Receivers Coach Keith Grable

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lndwu_2uXg&feature=share&list=UU5YTyTToOnqFfX7LSuZtdfQ

Coach Grable mic'd at practice today. Hope they put more of these out.

 

[303Bear]

Some observations from scrimmage #2 on Saturday.

• A lot of the players in street clothes. Some of the more notables players not participating included Willingham, Sierra, Stimphil, Chapple, and Berglund. Willingham apparently has not participated since early in winter conditioning. Berglund was again in a walking boot with his foot wrapped and driving around in a golf cart.
  
• Offense dominated the defense for the 1st half of the scrimmage. Rubes looked good again this week. Threw for several more touchdowns. He looks more comfortable in the pocket, but really excels when he is rolling out or on the run. Definitely adds a dynamic dimension with his quickness and speed when running with the ball.
  
• Running game looked really good. Still have not seen a back bust a huge run or take it to the house yet, but they are able to consistently pound the ball for good yardage when they have some blocking. Cartegena looks very dangerous on the screen pass and short dump offs. He is elusive and fast. Was down the field 20 yards before you could blink after catching a screen pass late in the scrimmage.
  
• 1st team O-Line showed some improvement. Run blocking was generally solid and the pass blocking has improved. Rubes was still sacked and rushed in the pocket too many times though
  
• Defense dominated the 2nd half of the scrimmage which was primarily situational play. They were blitzing on almost every play and it was almost impossible for Rubes to get a pass off before being sacked
  
• Devion Anderson, Chris Urbaniak, Kendrick Johnson, and Lex Smith all look really good to me.
  
• LBs were a little more difficult to judge with Willingham and Sierra out. They are on the smaller side but quick. Did not let many runs get past them and appeared to hold their own when asked to cover the routes coming across the middle.
  
• DB play seems to be a little stronger than last year. Thomas Singleton stood out as tough one to beat. Although the offense did seem to score on long passing plays more than you would typically like to see.
  
• Watched Kerr coach the linebackers for a while in their pre-scrimmage drills. He was very involved and continually coaching the kids up. They seem to really be buying into what he has to say.

 

[Beardown]

Some observations from scrimmage #2 on Saturday.

• A lot of the players in street clothes. Some of the more notables players not participating included Willingham, Sierra, Stimphil, Chapple, and Berglund. Willingham apparently has not participated since early in winter conditioning. Berglund was again in a walking boot with his foot wrapped and driving around in a golf cart.
  
• Offense dominated the defense for the 1st half of the scrimmage. Rubes looked good again this week. Threw for several more touchdowns. He looks more comfortable in the pocket, but really excels when he is rolling out or on the run. Definitely adds a dynamic dimension with his quickness and speed when running with the ball.
  
• Running game looked really good. Still have not seen a back bust a huge run or take it to the house yet, but they are able to consistently pound the ball for good yardage when they have some blocking. Cartegena looks very dangerous on the screen pass and short dump offs. He is elusive and fast. Was down the field 20 yards before you could blink after catching a screen pass late in the scrimmage.
  
• 1st team O-Line showed some improvement. Run blocking was generally solid and the pass blocking has improved. Rubes was still sacked and rushed in the pocket too many times though
  
• Defense dominated the 2nd half of the scrimmage which was primarily situational play. They were blitzing on almost every play and it was almost impossible for Rubes to get a pass off before being sacked
  
• Devion Anderson, Chris Urbaniak, Kendrick Johnson, and Lex Smith all look really good to me.
  
• LBs were a little more difficult to judge with Willingham and Sierra out. They are on the smaller side but quick. Did not let many runs get past them and appeared to hold their own when asked to cover the routes coming across the middle.
  
• DB play seems to be a little stronger than last year. Thomas Singleton stood out as tough one to beat. Although the offense did seem to score on long passing plays more than you would typically like to see.
  
• Watched Kerr coach the linebackers for a while in their pre-scrimmage drills. He was very involved and continually coaching the kids up. They seem to really be buying into what he has to say.

I heard he was the fastest of that recruiting class. Good to see that he's getting the ball.

 

[cvBearfan]

Urbaniak was in street clothes and did not practice due to injury.

 

[303Bear]

Urbaniak was in street clothes and did not practice due to injury.

Yes my bad, hard to keep track of everybody. Might of been Kyle Todd that looked good on Saturday or maybe its the last 2 scrimmages are just running together in my mind. So, lets just say the DEs looked good.

 

[tigershark62]

Thanks for the update 303, Your posts are very insightful. Sounds like there is a totally different attitude this year, from the AD, to the coaches and through the team. I hope this is the year the bears get back on track.

 

[Brian]

I really appreciate the reports as well but I find myself acting schizophrenic as I read them. "Awesome, the defense can really get after the QB when we blitz!.... oh crap, our O-line still can't handle the blitz!"

It would be nice if we had another team to scrimmage against.

 

[Beartough]

I really appreciate the reports as well but I find myself acting schizophrenic as I read them. "Awesome, the defense can really get after the QB when we blitz!.... oh crap, our O-line still can't handle the blitz!"

It would be nice if we had another team to scrimmage against.

All these positive reports I'm sorry to say don't mean anything come Sept. 6th when UNLV wants to take our heads off in their stadium. Although I will be there for support.

 

[303Bear]

Appreciate it. Just trying to provide a some semi quality info since it is nearly impossible to find any decent coverage of spring practice anywhere. I think the Tribune has maybe had 3 stories on the hometown team this spring, which in my opinion is absolutely appalling.

I agree, all the positive reports in the world won't help when it comes down to actually lining up against another team. There is just no way to tell whether this team has truly improved or if its just a bad offense scrimmaging a bad defense. But spring is a time when hope can flourish. At least until the season starts when most of it will probably come crashing back to the ground.

 

[McCandyman]

I really appreciate the reports as well. I'm planning on being at the spring game, and expect to see a much improved team based on their attitide alone. Football season can not get here soon enough. Go Bears!!!

 

[303Bear]

Collins will be interviewed on 1310 AM at 11:45 AM Mountain today

 

[303Bear]

Collins will be interviewed on 1310 AM at 11:45 AM Mountain today

Not much to the interview. Only lasted about 5 minutes. I wasn't real impressed with the guy doing the interview. He didn't seem very prepared and didn't ask many good questions. His opening question was actually pretty embarrassing. He asked Collins how the kids they signed in February were looking on the field this spring.

The 2 points that stood out to me-

• Collins really likes what he has seen from Rubalcaba in spring ball. He feels he has really shown that he can be a dual threat QB and that he has embraced his new leadership role.
• When asked what he has seen from the team that will really be a difference maker this upcoming season, Collins said it was the leadership they are seeing from the upperclassmen. He said they are really taking the reins and holding everybody accountable for their on field and off field performance.

 

[Beardown]

I don't mind if Rubes is the starting QB, but I feel he hasn't been pushed very much. I mean really we've got two healthy QB's in Spring camp, and he's one of them. If Brock B truly has an ACL injury he may be finished for the entire season. We still don't know Jaron Walters's status either. The QB situation is less than ideal right now. hno:

 

[beardevil39]

And only (1), Jake Knipp out of Ralston Valley, a raw QB, coming on in the fall. Rubes better be the guy ! No pressure on the QB position, huh !