Our third of four reports on spring scrimmages. Click here and here to view previous reports. If reported, the announced attendance is included.
Atlantic Coast
Boston College: Sophomore Mike Marscovetra, who played sparingly last season, thrust himself into the quarterback competition by completing 13 of 16 passes for 149 yards and a touchdown. Linebacker Mark Herzlich, recovering from cancer treatments and surgery to insert a rod in his left leg, did not participate as he was held out of full contact drills this spring.
Georgia Tech: Tevin Washington secured his spot as the No. 2 quarterback by running for three scores and completing a 70-yard pass to receiver Stephen Hill for another. The scrimmage was called at halftime because of rain.
Maryland: Ralph Friedgen, coming of a 2-10 season, had his team play four 10-minute quarters. The Fridge liked what he saw. "If I was disappointed," he said, "we'd still be out there."
Virginia Tech: Redshirt freshman quarterback Logan Thomas showed command of the offense during a 12-play, 57-yard scoring drive to open the scrimmage. Michael Vick made an appearance, his first at Virginia Tech since being released from federal prison on dog-fighting convictions. "This is a place where I spent three years of my life, and I was able to build relationships with people and put myself in my position where I could take care of myself for the rest of my life and also further my education," he said. "It's a great group of people here, and I've still got a lot of love and respect for them." Announced attendance: 40,000.
Big EastCincinnati: Tony Pike is gone, but the Bearcats have a capable replacement in Zach Collaros, who completed 18 of 20 passes for 218 yards and two touchdowns.
Rutgers: There was a time during Greg Schiano’s tenure as Scarlet Knight coach when a regular-season home game drew about half of what Saturday’s spring scrimmage did. A 2002 loss to Temple, for example, when the announced attendance was 10,225. But Schiano's 10th spring scrimmage drew a record 20,114.
Illinois: Nathan Scheelhaase hasn't been named the starting quarterback, but he's acting like it. Scheelhaase completed 11 of 20 passes for 126 yards. He was intercepted twice, but promises to learn from his mistakes. "Spring ball was just a start. I will definitely break this film down." Ron Zook seems more relaxed.
Michigan State: Linebackers Max Bullough, Steve Gardiner and Denicos Allen had their moments in a defensive tussle. One thing is clear: Fans have endorsed Mark Dantonio's no-nonsense style.
Minnesota: Quarterback Adam Weber completed only eight of 20 passes, but appears to have secured the starting job over MarQueis Gray. Attendance: 4,400.
Northwestern: Quarterbacks Dan Persa and Evan Watkins — playing touch football, not tackle — completed only 19 of 38 passes and the running game produced 92 net yards in 47 rushes.
Ohio State: Kenny Guiton made a strong case to be Terrelle Pryor's backup with two touchdown passes, including one in the final minute to win the scrimmage. Attendance: 65,223.
Penn State: The Nittany Lions have a quarterback problem — Joe Paterno is still deciding between sophomore Kevin Newsome and redshirt sophomore Matt McGloin — to go with an offensive line problem. There were 91 offensive snaps and only 357 total yards. The offenses combined to convert only four of 19 third-down attempts. Paterno also senses the end is near. "I've only got 10 more years as a head coach," he said. Attendance: 55,000.
Big 12Kansas: The Jayhawks ran only 30-40% of their offensive playbook. "It was pretty simple," Turner Gill said. "We were just running our base plays. We didn't get too exotic. We wanted to see execution."
Kansas State: Carson Coffman completed 38 of 51 passes for 440 yards and seven touchdowns. "Our offense took over 2,000 reps leading up to the spring game and he had nearly half of them, more than half of them," Bill Snyder said. "That's 1,500 chances. He's conscientious, too, and anyone that has those kind of opportunities is going to improve."
Conference USAHouston: Case Keenum threw for two touchdowns, but the surprise was the improved play by the defense.
Marshall: Doc Holliday's first spring scrimmage as coach of the Thundering Herd was cut short after three quarters because of rain. Attendance: 11,819.
Tulane: Junior running back J.T. McDonald rumbled for 71 yards in 11 carries and two touchdowns. "We accomplished a lot this spring and gained needed experience but the main thing is we stayed relatively healthy," Bob Toledo said.
Texas El Paso: Walk-on freshman quarterback Carson Meger completed 14 of 27 passes for 182 yards and three touchdowns.
Independent
Navy: Backup quarterback Kriss Proctor showed superior speed and moves in breaking off scoring runs of 36 and 28 yards. "A very talented kid ... we've all known that about Kriss," Ken Niumatalolo said. Starter Ricky Dobbs is being kept completely out of contact because of offseason surgery.
Notre Dame: Brian Kelly's plan is to have three quarterbacks game-ready for the Sept. 4 opener against Purdue. Junior Dayne Crist has a firm grip on the starting job. Junior Nate Montana helped himself immeasurably by separating himself from early enrolling freshman Tommy Rees. Andrew Hendrix and Luke Massa will make strong plays for spots Nos. 2 and 3 on the depth chart in August. Attendance: 27,241.
Mid-AmericanBuffalo: The battle to become starting quarterback will continue into the fall. Jerry Davis completed 12 of 20 passes for 113 yards and Alex Dennison was 19 of 29 for 210 yards.
Northern Illinois: The Huskies appear to be strong, depth-wise, at defensive line and running back. Offensive line and linebacker don't have much depth, but Northern Illinois is bringing in seven offensive linemen and five linebackers in the fall.
Ohio: Quarterbacks completed passes to 12 different receivers. "I think we're going to be a physical football team," Frank Solich said. "I think we have good team speed and some playmakers. We're excited about what's going to happen in the fall."
Toledo: Austin Dantin all but secured the starting quarterback job by completing eight of eight passes for 56 yards. Attendance: 1,700.
Mountain WestColorado State: No shortage of trick plays, including a punter catching a touchdown pass from a receiver on a fake-field goal play. Attendance: 1,500.
Pacific 10Arizona State: Quarterbacks Brock Osweiler and Steven Threet struggled and the offense sputtered. "It was an opportunity for one of them to emerge and neither one of them emerged," a disappointed Dennis Erickson said. Attendance: 6,000.
UCLA: The new Pistol offense fired blanks for the most part. "For some reason we didn't play with any fire," offensive coordinator Norm Chow said. New England Patriot quarterback Tom Brady and receiver Wes Welker and soccer megastar David Beckham were among those in attendance. Attendance: 12,494.
Washington State: Jeff Tuel, who started five games last season, will enter fall drills as the No. 1 quarterback. Attendance: 1,000.
SoutheasternArkansas: The Razorbacks are another team toying with the Pistol offense, which was brought to Fayetteville from Nevada by new offensive line coach Chris Klenakis. But don't expect to see Arkansas and strong-armed quarterback Ryan Mallett run many plays from the formation this fall.
Kentucky: Backup sophomore running back Donald Russell ran for 118 yards and two touchdowns in nine carries. Attendance: 9,000.
Sun BeltArkansas State: The defense, led by redshirt freshman cornerback Julian Jones' three interceptions, held an edge in the 109-play scrimmage.
Florida Atlantic: Howard Schnellenberger spent the spring trying to piece together an offensive line that lost all five starters. "If our offense can eliminate the obvious — not protecting our quarterback nearly as well as we need to be protected, not catching the catchable ball and making one secondary guy miss and have yards after contact — then we can have a productive offense," he said.
Louisiana: Coach Rickey Bustle was pleased by the play of the defense, which had four interceptions, including one that was returned for a touchdown.
Louisiana Monroe: Projected starting quarterback Trey Revell completed four passes for 21 yards in limited duty.
Western AthleticIdaho: The No. 1 offense repeatedly came up short against the No. 1 defense. Quarterback Nathan Enderle completed 12 of 20 passes for 113 yards and a touchdown. Attendance: 3,300.
San Jose State: New coach Mike MacIntyre left no doubt about the way he wants his team to play. The Spartans ran between the tackles time and time again. They used fullbacks and H backs. They threw to the tight end. Attendance: 500 to 600.
Utah State: Things might be looking up in Logan. Starting quarterback Diondre Borel completed nine of 14 passes for 161 yards and four touchdowns. Attendance: 2,500.
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