April is through, and so are spring camps at many high-profile college football programs. Below, a roundup of spring game recaps from SB Nation’s fan communities around the country.
College Football Spring Game Updates: Recaps & On-Scene Analysis
Starting way up East, our Rutgers blog celebrates a new power couple for the Scarlet Knights:
Chas Dodd's accuracy and strong arm were on display all game whenever the Scarlet team was on offense. He showed a knack for hooking up with redshirt freshman receiver Brandon Coleman all game. The pair had all the makings of a future dynamic duo. The only real issue was that at times Dodd would get overconfident and try to air it out to Coleman with multiple defenders in his vicinity, hoping that Coleman's height advantage would make up for the numbers disadvantage.
Sweeping into the Big Ten, The Only Colors likes the speed and ferocity they’re seeing on defense at Michigan State’s scrimage:
The back seven on both teams -- good gravy they were hitting hard. Mitchell White, TyQuan Hammock, andIsaiah Lewis all administered (looks up synonym for slobberknocker...) brutal hits at some point in the contest which seemed out of place in a spring contest. The corners looked good, especially Johnny Adams, who has the chance to be the best corner at MSU since...God only knows, help me out commenters. Tony Lippett looked good at corner as well, playing tight man-to-man coverage on B.J. Cunningham , but his one miscue allowed Keshawn Martin to make enough space to catch a 38-yard touchdown pass from Maxwell. In fairness though, I bet at least three-quarters of the corners in the Big Ten wouldn't have been able to stop Martin on that play. In short, I can see why the coaches are excited about Lippett -- he's essentially Keshawn Martin but taller, with cornerback ability substituted for Martin's QB skills.
Down into the Midwest proper, Rock Chalk Talk sees promise in Kansas’ defensive line:
Big John Williams had a pretty good game in the middle. Something I found interesting – one a few plays, the left side of the DLine had Lewandowski at tackle and Keba Agostinho at end. Seems like the coaches are trying to get creative with ways to rush the passer. Lewandowski is wirey and athletic. He seems like a good guy to play DT on passing downs, his quickness helps him get into the backfield, especially if he has that extra second that a third and long would provide. Toben looked pretty deadly at end, I think he will have a good year. At least 18 sacks would be my prediction, though I’m hoping for more in the 22-25 range.
Catching up with the Pac-10, Building The Dam survives a spring game without Ryan Katz, but gets a good show out of Oregon State's run game:
Ryan McCants is clearly the #1 running back at this point, but in an attack that doesn't look like it will produce many big plays this season. McCants looked better than at any time in his Oregon St. career, but is still a one-direction runner. He did drag multiple players at a time at the end of several runs, and the Beavers should be good in third and short situations, if they can manage to get into them.
Wrapping up our weekend coverage is the UW Dawg Pound, who breaks down Washington's quarterback race on the occasion of Jake Locker's departure to the NFL:
Price was an impressive 20-28 for 212 yards and three touchdowns during the spring game. He also ran well enough to rack up an additional 53 yards on five carries. Price is visibly ahead of Nick Montana who was 9-20 for 146 yards and two TD's. Montana still has a bright future but that extra year of experience for Price is a big deal at this point.
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