Spring GAME(!) Notes...

Thanks to my amazingly awesome wife, I was able to invest 4.5 hours of my Saturday at Scott Stadium, basking in the festivities and taking copious notes.  Emptying the five-and-a-half pages of my composition book onto your computer screen...

• I rolled in at around 11:50, just before the lacrosse game got started.  There wasn't a single empty parking spot near Scott Stadium.  "Gotta be a good sign," I thought to myself.  (I ended up parking on Shamrock.)
• Walking in to the stadium, it hit me (as it usually does this time of year) just how awesome our home stadium is.  Truly a beautiful place to take in a game.  I love Scott Stadium.
• Nice crowd on hand when I arrived.  My guesstimate would be somewhere around 12-13K fans.
• I'm not going to spend too much time on lacrosse, but it was a part of the day, so here goes.  Basically, in a nutshell... we stink.  By Virginia Lacrosse standards, we stink.  Shamel Bratton didn't play today, so that might have made an impact, but the offense looked lethargic and passive, the ball movement was lacking, and our attack exhibited horrendous shot selection.  As usual, we were not good at faceoffs.  The defense was spotty.  Just everything about the lax team, top to bottom, looked like crap today.  Soft.  Sloppy.  The Maryland goalie was lights out, but it honestly wouldn't have taken a herculean effort to keep the Hoos under control today.  We lost the game, 12-7, and honestly it wasn't even that close.
• It was chilly and windy all day today, but with around three minutes left to go in the lacrosse game, a freak snow (yes, snow) storm blew through, sending the fans scattering.  I found a seat under the overhang, beside [sophomore offensive lineman] Luke Bowanko's parents.  I quickly made friends with Mr. Bowanko, as I do.  He offered me lots of great insight to the program, so for the remainder of this blog post, if I heard it from him, it will appear in blue.  Onward to the SPRING GAME!

• Once the spring game got started, I'd say the crowd had dwindled to around 8,000 fans.  I blame the weather.  Cold.  Windy.  Overcast.  Really sort of dreary.
• It was a true split squad scrimmage today.  Two teams.  Four 10-minute quarters.  Regular college football rules (other than the shorter quarters).  A true split squad scrimmage.  Hallelujah.
• The Blue team featured most of the offensive starters, and was coached by Bill Lazor.  The Orange team featured most of the defensive starters, and was coached by Jim Reid.  Makes sense.
• The Blue's starting QB was Mike Rocco... which to me was pretty clear writing on the wall who the coaching staff currently sees as the QB1.
• It's important to note that injuries have mounted in a serious way with the wide receiving corps.  Kris Burd and Tim Smith were already out.  Matt Snyder and Bobby Smith didn't play today, after picking up injuries during spring ball.  Darius Jennings and Dominique Terrell don't arrive on Grounds until the summer.  So it was a piecemeal skeleton crew at the wide receiver position today.
• Coach London spent most of his first season installing the schemes.  This spring, he has been busy elevating the energy level within the program and setting up a lot of competition through open battles for starting spots.  Mr. Bowanko thinks fans will be seeing a Virginia team with more of an "edge" this fall.
• I saw some of that chippiness with my own two eyes today.  The guys were really going at it, on both sides of the ball.
• It's easily the biggest, most important topic of the spring, so I won't spend any more time beating around the bush.  On the subject of the quarterbacks...  Mike Rocco is clearly the guy the coaches want to see take charge.  He has the best arm of the quartet, and seems the most comfortable in Lazor's pro-style offense.  If Rocco has a true challenger, I think that person is Michael Strauss.  I thought Strauss looked pretty good today.  He had a moxie about him; he came across as a gunslinger, which I like.  Ross Metheny doesn't have the arm or the dropback rhythm, and the fact that he's a southpaw works against him a little bit.  I'd say he's running third.  David Watford, very clearly, needs to take a redshirt.  He looks... lost?  Good athleticism, fine arm, zero accuracy, zero touch.  Looks like a young Aaron Brooks.  So as of this moment, if I'm betting money on which QB starts under center against William & Mary in the season opener, my wad is on Rocco.
• The coaches love Rocco.  The players are warming up to him, but Metheny is probably their favorite QB.  Strauss had the best early spring, but has dropped off a bit lately.  Watford isn't close to being ready.
• At last year's spring game, the player that most caught my eye was Perry Jones.  This year, it was Khalek Shepherd.  He's quick, he has a nose for finding the hole, and he's got nice hands and will be a real plus in the passing game.  I really liked what he showed me today.
• Shepherd will be a fan favorite, in short order.  All he does is make plays.
• But speaking of Perry Jones...  The more I see him, the more he reminds me of Tiki Barber.  All the way down to the muffed punts!  The offense will need a lot from Jones this year, and I think he'll be ready to deliver.
• Pound for pound, Perry Jones is the strongest player on the team.  Luke loves blocking for him.
• Max Milien looked fast to me today, and showed off some nice hands in the passing game.  He'll likely start at fullback, but he looks ready to get many of the "tough yardage" carries Keith Payne got last year.
• Kevin Parks didn't impress me today.  His ball security was bad, and he didn't seem particularly decisive with his cuts.  You can see his talent bubbling below the surface, but he looked like exactly what he is -- a freshman running back.
• Redshirt freshman fullback Ryan Cobb looks the part.  He blew open some holes for the backs, and he made a couple of nice catch and run plays in the flats.  I think he might make Terence Fells-Danzer expendable, as London searches for fifth year seniors to cut for scholarship space.
• Ryan Cobb is the best fullback on the team.  Milien is more of a big tailback, and TFD hasn't had a great spring.
• The quarterbacks threw to the backs A LOT today.  The dearth of receivers probably led to that, but expect to see a lot of screens, curls, and drags to the backs this upcoming season.
• Look for lots of quick drops and short passes, trying to get the ball into the hands of the playmakers.  Between Tim Smith and the two incoming freshman receivers, we'll have more gamebreaking RAC-type receivers than we've had in a while.
• Chase Minnifield is a stud.  He's the best player on the team, I think.  Today, he made several great plays in coverage, including a nice pick.  He also set a tone with his aggressiveness.
• If Minnifield is the team's best player, Steve Greer isn't far behind.  He was a tackle machine today, and was extremely quick into his run fits.  He attacked the ballcarriers.  Greer should be a real strength in the middle of the defense, and I'm stoked to have a stud player at mike linebacker.
• Greer is really locked in and focused right now.  He wants to single-handedly elevate the play of the defense.
• Speaking of setting tones... safety/linebacker hybrid LoVanté Battle breathes fire out on the field.  He'll be the heart and soul of our special teams coverage units.  I hope he can play his way into the rotation on defense.  I was enamored with his intensity today.
• I come away from the spring game less worried -- and actually pretty excited -- about the defensive line.  Matt Conrath and Nick Jenkins were their normal, solid selves.  But some of the younger guys really stood out.  Billy Schautz is active, and made a lot of plays by staying on his feet and staying aggressive.  Chris Brathwaite looks like a MONSTER.  He got great push all day long.  Brent Urban is also huge, and was tossing blockers around like rag dolls.  Jake Snyder looks like a playmaker-in-the-making, and I like his cerebral style of play.  He made a lot of good instinct plays today, including batting down passes at the line.  Justin Renfrow looked a lot like a young Chris Canty to me today.  Connor McCartin, converted from linebacker, played well as a speedy rush end today.  All around, I was really happy with the way the young guys on the d-line played today.
• Lots of good young talent on the d-line.  Brent Urban could be a beast, as early as this season.  He looks like Chris Long on a lot of plays.
• Tra Nicholson will probably end up starting at cornerback this fall, but Rijo Walker and Dom Joseph both made strong bids for themselves today.  Both were solid in coverage, and both made nice breaks on the ball.  Joseph turned in a pick six.
• For the most part, the receivers were crappy today.  But Miles Gooch oozes potential.  He really looks the part.  Long arms, strong frame, good hands.  He could develop into a very good possession receiver down the road.
• Matt Snyder has been the best receiver this spring, but Gooch has easily been the second best.
• I don't mean to dog out all of the receivers.  Today, E.J.Scott showed off some good speed and explosive playmaking ability.  He'll be a factor in the return game this fall.
• And Ray Keys has a great set of hands.  He made a few "wow" catches downfield today.
• I thought a few other walk-ons acquitted themselves well today.  Cornerbacks Drequan Hoskey and Chris Broadnax made some plays in coverage.  Receivers Brendan Morgan and Johnny Pickett were able to get open and make some catches in traffic.  Fullback Billy Skrobacz was fluid and dynamic as a receiver in the flats.
• One of the best things Coach London does is attract high-profile walk-on talent.  Kids want to play for him, and are sometimes willing to pay their own way to do so.
• A young tight end -- redshirt freshman Zachary Swanson -- really impressed me today.  He's long and lean, all knees and elbows, but he's fast, showed off some good hands, and was active and aggressive on special teams.
• Our tight ends are great this season.  They'll make a lot of plays.  Colter Phillips especially.
• Overall, the o-line looked good.  It's tough to focus in on them in this type of setting, however.
• Jimmy Howell is a very good punter.  He'll be a nice field position weapon for us again this season.
• Award winners and captains: Rock Weir Award (most improved player) -- Austin Pasztor and Rodney McLeod; Z Society Dudley Award (first-year player for his excellence in the classroom, on the field and in the community) -- Morgan Moses; Cavalier Academic Achievement Award -- Will Hill and Luke Bowanko (his parents went nuts when this was announced); Iron Cavalier (performance and dedication in the weight room) -- Matt Snyder; 2011 Team Captains -- Matt Snyder, Perry Jones, Rodney McLeod, and Nick Jenkins.  Chase Minnifield picks too many fights in practice to be a team captain.
• Coming out of the spring game, I am excited about the running backs, tight ends, offensive line, defensive line, linebackers, secondary, and special teams.  I'm worried about the quarterbacks.  Go figure.