“There are only two seasons. Football season, and spring football season.”
THE COUNT
Springtime Can Produce Some Ugly Football
It sounds like such a bright, cheery, happy event: a spring college-football game. In reality, these intrasquad scrimmages are often epic downers.
Spring-football games are widely anticipated, for they represent the last chance to gauge each team's progress until the fall. The trouble is, players are rusty, banged-up veterans are sidelined and coaches are working on new plays.
This has led to a brutal batch of statistics this spring. Tennessee quarterback Tyler Bray completed 5 of 30 passes in the Volunteers' spring game. Oklahoma, considered the betting favorite to win the national title, got a modest outing from returning quarterback Landry Jones (6 of 11, 40 yards, one interception). Nebraska quarterback Taylor Martinez, whose strength is running, seldom ran and completed just four of 13 throws. Florida fans were treated to a 4-of-14 showing by quarterback John Brantley, plus a plane carrying the banner "31-7 Go Noles!" flying overhead (a reference to rival Florida State's rout of the Gators last season).
Hyperventilating fans should take comfort in the knowledge that numerous teams have ugly outings—although Stanford's Andrew Luck was in top form (16 of 22, 165 yards, three touchdowns)—and that the results are hardly predictive. Last year, Cam Newton went 3 of 8 for 80 yards in Auburn's spring game. The fall turned out somewhat differently.
—Darren Everson
The Wall Street Journal.
Thursday, April 21st, 2011
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