The Spring Game

[mojo-spider]

it was a fun day at The Brick House...the only downside being thinking about how long these next four months will be waiting to see the Spiders on the practice field again in the dog days of August...

I'll leave the in-depth breakdown of what we saw to the more astute Spiders fans, but here are several things that I think I saw that grabbed my attention...

> our depth at QB confirmed...first time I have seen Mancuso take snaps...impressed!
> didn't I see QB's Clise and Mancuso in the same backfield with Mancuso playing in the RB position?
> all of Helkowski's first half punts were line drives...was this intentional?...possibly a new strategy?
> Bevels, Tibbs, Brissette and Drake as expected all had impressive moments...sure hope Bevels injury was not serious

Coach Huesman demonstrated his keen sense of humor once again...I hope he continues to show his lighter side when good opportunities present themselves...

If you weren't at the game here was his critique of honorary coaches Chris Mooney and Paul Queally...



Go Spiders!

 

[32counter]

Even though there were 17 on IR,it looked as though the B v W game was not only entertaining but hard hitting.

 

[United_In_Red]

I came away really impressed with Jake Clise. His running ability and decision making stood out. It's spooky how many solid QBs we have.

We've come a long way since having to use our punter at QB when Aaron Corp went down years ago. Full circle considering Corp is now coaching these guys.

 

[SpiderK]

Looks like we need a new punter. Pathetic display of the over 10 punts I saw (avg 23 yards). Lost our best receiver Bevels to injury.

 

[MolivaManiac]

I bwlieve they are trying to get to the rugby style with Helkowski. Definitely needs to improve over the summer.

 

[32counter]

I bwlieve they are trying to get to the rugby style with Helkowski. Definitely needs to improve over the summer.

I see that PQ,your buddy,was a coach for the game along with Mooney.Did you give PQ any pointers?

 

[McSpider67]

Looks like we need a new punter. Pathetic display of the over 10 punts I saw (avg 23 yards). Lost our best receiver Bevels to injury.

Punter looks like he is taking 2 steps and not the nearly 3 of last year. If I am correct maybe reps will correct situation.

 

[UR55]

From start to finish, it was a great weekend to be a Spider Football fan. The golf tournament on Friday was tremendous. A special thanks goes out to Jasmonn Coleman, Joe Kroger, and the staff at Independence. The game on Saturday didn't disappoint either. It was much more entertaining to watch a real game rather than a glorified practice. I think the number of reps were distributed well. The first half was long and grueling, so the players were rewarded with a running clock in the second half. Other than Bevels' injury (so unfortunate), the game was relatively clean. On defense, #59 Billy Caughell deserved the MVP. He has produced consistently on special teams the past two years and is ready to fill Omar's spot. #9 Darius Reynolds needs some recognition as well. He was active all day and will work his way into quality reps this fall. Offensively, #12 Joe Mancuso made good decisions and took care of the ball; our depth at the QB position is the best in the CAA. I would have given the offensive MVP to #60 Marius Young. He was a warrior on Saturday. He played the most snaps of any player and was an effective run / pass blocker. Congratulations to all the Captains. All five guys deserved the honor. It's going to be a long summer waiting for Spider Football.

 

[MolivaManiac]

I see that PQ,your buddy,was a coach for the game along with Mooney.Did you give PQ any pointers?

At one point, we were yelling for him to open up the offense a bit, but i think he called a good game overall.

FWIW, I'm warming up on Queally.

 

[MolivaManiac]

http://www.richmond.com/sports/spid...cle_0112399a-9c7a-5aad-9563-7a9df3ab6111.html

No update yet on Bevels. I'm not expecting good news on that deal.

 

[DTSpider]

Sounds like a great day on Saturday. Gotta give RH a lot of credit for having the vision to take it to the next level. Real game. Alumni coach. Putting Mooney on the other side so Queally was guaranteed a victory. Creative.

 

[Spideroldie]

Enjoyed the game. My major take-away was that Mancuso looked very good and good enough to take us to the promised land at some future date. The QB depth was, as noted above, very good, considering that our #1 guy was out. I did not like what I saw from Clise, but did like the skill-sets of the other two QBs, and they can both sling it or RUN, which is nice. The WR's also looked very good to me and I hope Bevels will be OK. He will help us if he can work his way back. I was also impressed by the offensive line depth, and liked what I saw from the young "Blue" OLs, especially. It also looks like we may find some good CBs, which is encouraging. We had several "near" INTs, and maybe even a couple of near pick-sixes.

My major concerns were at RB, where we had only one guy who looked like a "starter," (DT). I hope we have a number of guys recovering from injuries who will add some serious numbers at RB. We need more than one guy at the position. Did not watch closely enough to check out the DL and the LBs, but hope we have some new guys coming along there.

Overall, was impressed by the play-calling, and by the execution, which is a tribute to the new coaching staff.

We may need to get some help in the kicking game though, or our guys may just need lots of reps and weight-room work. Great weather and great day for football!!!

 

[NOVA Spider]

Enjoyed the game. My major take-away was that Mancuso looked very good and good enough to take us to the promised land at some future date. The QB depth was, as noted above, very good, considering that our #1 guy was out. I did not like what I saw from Clise, but did like the skill-sets of the other two QBs, and they can both sling it or RUN, which is nice. The WR's also looked very good to me and I hope Bevels will be OK. He will help us if he can work his way back. I was also impressed by the offensive line depth, and liked what I saw from the young "Blue" OLs, especially. It also looks like we may find some good CBs, which is encouraging. We had several "near" INTs, and maybe even a couple of near pick-sixes.

My major concerns were at RB, where we had only one guy who looked like a "starter," (DT). I hope we have a number of guys recovering from injuries who will add some serious numbers at RB. We need more than one guy at the position. Did not watch closely enough to check out the DL and the LBs, but hope we have some new guys coming along there.

Overall, was impressed by the play-calling, and by the execution, which is a tribute to the new coaching staff.

We may need to get some help in the kicking game though, or our guys may just need lots of reps and weight-room work. Great weather and great day for football!!!

 

[NOVA Spider]

As far as the punts go, Huesman is going to a rugby style punt this year. Helkowski has been doing this all Spring. Huesman did this at Chatty with their punter by asking him to take steps to the side and punt it low and away from the returner so it hits short and rolls. I guess the idea is to prevent a big return and he's bringing it with him here. Don't quite understand why since the coverage and protection were good last year. If it ain't broke, don't fix it right?

 

[32counter]

UTC Punting is on this highlight v Bama:

 

[WebSpinner]

thought we were always complaining on here about special teams. now, we are eliminating one of those probs. sounds good to me

 

[32counter]

 

[32counter]