April 19 is perhaps the biggest day of the spring game season, with Alabama, Auburn, Texas and USC among the teams set to hold their exhibitions on Saturday.
April 19, 2014 spring games TV schedule: A-Day, Texas and more
Both A-Day games, that is. And USC, Washington, and Missouri are among the other schools to host their exhibition game Saturday.
John David Mercer-USA TODAY Spor
Many of the games are available on television or for streaming online, with others available over the radio. (Are we missing any? Let us know.)
| School | Time (ET) | Coverage |
| Army | 12 p.m. | N/A |
| Akron | 1 p.m. | Fox Sports Radio 1350 AM |
| Alabama | 1 p.m. | ESPNU, WatchESPN |
| Colorado State | 1 p.m. | CSURams.com/videos |
| Syracuse | 1 p.m. | Time Warner Cable Sports, ESPN3 |
| Western Michigan | 1 p.m. | N/A |
| Arizona State | 2 p.m. | Pac-12 Arizona |
| Ball State | 2 p.m. | N/A |
| Missouri | 2 p.m. | MuTigers.TV |
| Southern Miss | 2 p.m. | N/A |
| Texas | 2 p.m. | Longhorn Network |
| Western Kentucky | 2 p.m. | N/A |
| Auburn | 3 p.m. | ESPN |
| Utah | 3 p.m. | Pac-12 Mountain |
| Northern Illinois | 4 p.m. | N/A |
| Washington | 4 p.m. | Pac-12 Washington |
| Wyoming | 4 p.m. | N/A |
| USC | 6 p.m. | Pac-12 Networks |
| New Mexico State | 8 p.m. | NMStateSports.com |
Six of the schools playing Saturday will do so with new head coaches -- Army, Texas, Western Kentucky, Washington, Wyoming and USC.
Sean Farrell of Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician says there’s a lot to watch for in Syracuse’s game, but the running back battle could be key.
Even without Jerome Smith, SU will have a crowded backfield in 2014. Prince-Tyson Gulley, George Morris and Devante McFarlane will get the majority of carries. The coaching staff has raved about Morris’ breakaway speed, but says he needs to improve in pass protection. Adonis Ameen-Moore lost some weight and ran very well in the only open scrimmage to the media. But Shafer said he’d like to see AAM lose even more - about 10-15 pounds - before increasing his workload.
Must Reads
Many teams simply put their offense on one side and their defense on another, but Arizona State’s Todd Graham is trying something different this year which has created a more competitive dynamic for the Sun Devils.
Instead of splitting the teams up with first and second-team considerations in mind, the Arizona State coaching staff broke down the roster into two even sides that will play against each other on Saturday. This format is rather unusual for a Sun Devil spring game, but the level of intensity was already apparent as the players departed from practice on Thursday.
"It's going to be very competitive," quarterback Taylor Kelly said. "Guys are going to get out there and be flying around and guys in the locker room are already not talking to some of the players when we were loading the tram this morning like, ‘Hey you're on the gold team, don't talk to us.' But it's going to be fun."
Texas fans have plenty of questions about how the Longhorns will look under new head coach Charlie Strong, from what the base offense will be to whether they have any answers at the offensive tackle positions.
Developing depth at a position that is skeletally thin right now is a huge priority for Joe Wickline. Sure, the play of Taylor Doyle in his starting guard spot and the play of Rami Hammad behind him will be critical to establishing the potential of the line since the starters will get the majority of the snaps, but seeing whether James or Hughes are viable players is just as important to survive an injury or ineffectiveness.
After an incredible run to the title game in 2014, Auburn fans will be looking for even more growth from quarterback Nick Marshall, a former defensive back.
Now, after a full spring with head coach Gus Malzahn and offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee under his belt, Marshall should look even better. Watch him throwing on intermediate routes to see if he has gained enough accuracy there to keep defenses from keying on Sammie Coates (42 rec/ 902 yds/ 21.5 ypc/ 7 TD) on the outside, like they tended to do last year. Keep an eye on Marshall’s deep precision as well. Too many times this past season Marshall had what looked like a walk-in touchdown to a streaking Coates or Ricardo Louis, only to see the ball fall to the grass five yards ahead of the receiver’s outstretched hands. If Marshall can locate these two types of throws, he should pose a much bigger threat to opposing defenses, as they won’t be able to play the edge so much to keep the ground game honest. He’s gained another big receiver on the outside in D’haquille “Duke” Williams (No. 1 JUCO WR) to take some of the pressure off Coates and open up even more wrinkles in the playbook.
Former USC assistant Steve Sarkisian will supervise his first spring game as the Trojans' head coach, after recently announcing Cody Kessler as the team's starting quarterback. Conquest Chronicles says running back and linebacker are two units to watch.
We know the Trojans are loaded at the running back position, which means it should be interesting to see how the carries are distributed and how effective these backs can be running from shotgun sets. On the defensive side of the ball, USC's outside linebackers looks to fill two huge holes left from Devon Kennard and Morgan Breslin.
See More:
