While some teams have yet to even begin spring practice, others are already holding spring games. Cal, Fresno State, San Diego State, San Jose State and Louisiana-Monroe all held their showcase for fans on Saturday. Like most spring games, what took place was exciting and thoroughly meaningless.
2013 college football spring games: Marshawn Lynch dons Cal Uniform, Fresno State gets fans involved
Spring games are already getting underway, with Cal, Fresno State, San Diego State, San Jose State and Lousiana-Monroe all opening up their final practice to fans before summer on Saturday.
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Here’s your look at the world of college football.
Cal
Cal held their spring game on Saturday, and the biggest story to emerge, besides the team’s still-unsettled quarterback situation, was the return of Marshawn Lynch in a Cal uniform. Lynch was given carries during the scrimmage, and ran for a rather easy touchdown judging by the replay in this interview he did with the Pac-12 Network.
With the Golden Bears down to just Jonah Hodges and Jeffrey Coprich in the offensive backfield, Lynch was more than willing to offer his services when asked to participate by the team. Thankfully, no Cal defenders suffered any long-term harm in the wake of Lynch's return.
You can check out the open thread over at California Golden Blogs to get caught up on everything that happened.
Fresno State
The Bulldogs’ spring game looked unbelievably fun.
Fresno State also still has plenty of questions left to answer, even after 15 practice sessions. Notably, the team is still trying to figure out who will replace All-American strong safety Phillip Thomas. Sophomore Charles Washington may have a leg up at the moment, however.
There is at this point no official depth chart, but also no question that Charles Washington, a third-year sophomore who played primarily on special teams last year, leaped forward through the spring camp, which ends Saturday with a noon scrimmage at Bulldog Stadium.
He went into the spring taking the reps with the No. 2 defense and in competition with junior college transfer Rodney Mathews, and ended it with the No. 1 unit and on the rise.
"Charles grabbed onto that position and ran," defensive coordinator Nick Toth said. "Rodney really had a good spring; Charles just had an awesome spring. If you would have told me coming into this thing that he was going to finish where he did, I would never have believed you."
San Diego State
Usually, splitting the teams into Starters vs. Backups is a setup for a blowout, and at first the Black Team, led by quarterback Adam Dingwell, appeared to be on its way to a predictably easy victory after taking a 10-0 lead over the Red Team. The underdogs reeled off 13-straight points for a 13-10 victory, however, in a bad day for offense and a great day for defense.
Dingwell is the projected starter heading into the fall despite throwing a costly interception late in the scrimmage. Transfer Quinn Kaehler may have locked up the No. 2 spot on the depth chart after going seven-for-seven for 55 yards. Jake Bernards, considered Kaehler's primary competition, had one series of work and went just two-for-three for eight yards.
San Jose State
The Spartans accomplished the rarest of spring game feats and reportedly looked solid on both sides of the ball.
“Balance is a good word to describe the scrimmage, because there were big plays, but there were also big plays the other way,” coach Ron Caragher said. “I’m never perfectly happy, because for every big play, there’s an equal and opposite poor play. But all in all, we saw guys makes plays, and that’s what I wanted them to do -- to just cut it loose tonight.”
Louisiana-Monroe
Big plays and turnovers dominated the ULM spring game on Saturday. The Maroon Team beat the White Team, 17-7, thanks to a 65-yard touchdown pass from Earnest Carrington to Rashon Caesar in the second quarter to put the Maroon Team up for good.
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