Washington's Friday Night Lights spring football game attracted over 15,000 fans to Husky Stadium last night. Like all spring games this one was strictly vanilla from a scheme standpoint, and QB's were excluded from contact, but it was a good guage of how far certain players have come since last fall.
Anthony Boyles continues to impress at CB. He picked off a Nick Montana pass and returned it for a TD. Boyles is carving out a role for himself next year in the very deep CB positions. He has one thing the other kids don't have and that is height. Having a tall CB is going to be handy when for example a 6'6 Nelson Rosario visits town.
Anthony Boyles said he's really feeling comfortable with his switch to cornerback, and was excited to score a TD on an interception. "It was a great time,'' he said. "The last time I've been in the end zone was in high school, so I'm happy to go in the end zone.''
The undisputed star of the evening was QB Nick Montana who was 21 of 34 for 156 yards and two touchdowns. Montana has been impressive all spring while battling it out with Keith Price for the back up QB role. Price as 4 of 9 for 39 yards. Heisman hopeful Jake Locker was 3 of 7 for 15 yards in limited duty.
Demetrius Bronson and Johri Fogerson led the team in rushing. Bronson who has descended to the bottom of the depth chart this spring had a nice evening picking up 73 yards on 11 carries. Fogerson had eight carries for 51. Frosh phenom Deontae Cooper has 13 carries for 30 yards and a touchdown.
Nick Holt mentioned to Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times last week that he thought the defense had the ability to surprise people this coming season. We saw a good glimpse of that last night. I think the coaches and players have done a great job filling in the holes at defensive end and linebacker. I don't think it will be much of a problem this fall when the reinforcements arrive.
Another bright spot this spring has been the play of the true freshmen who are starting their careers early. Deontae Cooper, Jessie Callier, Victor Burnett, and Nick Montana have all shown enough this spring to let us know that they are ready for prime time. Up to 26 more frosh will arrive this summer and if they play as well as the four that are already here this program is going to be in exceptional shape.
Connor Cree is a Husky
Skyline HS DE/LB Connor Cree has decided to become a Husky. Cree is the 10th commit for the 2011 class. Here are some of his highlights that we found over at YouTube.
Tale of Two Terrence's Continues...
Lorenzo Romar had a very big day when it was announced that Portland's Terrence Ross and Terrence Jones had announced that they were going to the UW at a press conference held at Jefferson HS. There is still a little intrigue left because Jones still has not made it binding by signing his LOI.
Kentucky Coach John Calipari is still working the power forward hard despite his official announcement that he had picked UW. Jones was seen speaking on a cell phone to Calipari after he made his announcement. The family said they were going to sleep on it before signing the LOI and we should know more on Saturday.
Calipari represents the seamier side of college athletics. In 2001, Calipari successfully recruited Dajuan Wagner, the Naismith Prep Player of the Year, to the University of Memphis. Soon after, Dajuan's father Milt Wagner was hired as Coordinator of Basketball Operations. Calipari also hired McDonalds' All-American game MVP and Memphis recruit Tyreke Evans personal strength coach as his administrative assistant.
The NCAA investigated allegations that a player on the 2007-08 Memphis team committed "knowing fraudulence or misconduct in connection with his entrance examination" and had an unknown individual complete his SAT examination. The NCAA informed Calipari in a letter that he was not considered "at risk" in this investigation.The player was subsequently identified as Derrick Rose. Subsequently, allegations surfaced that Rose's brother, Reggie, had been allowed to travel to Tiger road games for free.
The NCAA ruled that Rose was ineligible and forced Memphis to vacate the entire 2007-08 season, including the NCAA Tournament and its standing as runner-up. It took the line that even though Rose's score had not been thrown out by the Eduactional Testing Service, which administers the SAT, until after the season, strict liability required that Rose be ruled ineligible. The committee also determined that even without the questions about his SAT score, he would have lost his eligibility in December 2007 due to his brother being allowed to travel with the team for free.