Broadway Shines As Red Team Win 30-23 Spring Game Victory

ULL QB Terrance Broadway 

UL-Lafayette held their Annual Spring game on yesterday and what an explosion. Head Coach Mark Hudspeth and company are looking to take their team to another bowl in 2013 and be very competitive in the Sun Belt Conference, after having to rebuild his team.

QB Terrance Broadway threw for 107 yards and a touchdown and Torrey Pierce ran for a touchdown as the Ragin’ Red team defeated the Cajun White squad, 30-23, in the annual Red vs. White spring game at Cajun Field on Saturday.

The score without audience participation had the Red team winning, 17-13.

The loss spoiled a strong performance by White quarterback Brooks Haack, who completed 15-of-19 passes for 204 yards and two touchdowns.

“This was the most physical scrimmage of the entire spring,” head coach Mark Hudspeth said.  “Both teams came ready to play and turned in strong performances.

“This caps off a pretty good spring of work for the guys.  We still have some work to do to be ready for Arkansas, but definitely made some progress this spring.”

Utilizing a scoring system that enabled the Cajun fans to help their favorite side, the Red team opened the scrimmage with a 6-4 lead, points awarded to them based on the winning teams in a Greek Flag Football tournament held earlier in the day.

The Red didn’t need long to put their own points on the board.

After forcing the White team to punt following their opening series, Broadway led the Red team on a seven-play 56-yard drive that culminated with Torrey Pierce running it in from two yards.  Hunter Stover added the extra point to give the Red squad a 13-4 lead.

Broadway keyed the drive by completing a nine-yard pass to Darryl Surgent, a 13-yard toss to Pierce and an 18-yard pass to Jamal Robinson that gave the Red a first-and-goal at the two.

Neither team would score until midway through the second quarter when freshman D’Shaie Landor completed a 20-yard pass to Larry Pettis that set up a 20-yard field goal by Stover with 2:13 left in the half that extended the Red lead to 16-4.

It could have been worse for the White team.  With the Red getting a first-and-goal at the six following the Pettis catch, the defense stiffened, denying Pierce a trip to the end zone on three straight carries to force the field goal.

Haack got the White team on the board when he led them on a seven-play, 70-yard drive.  Haack showed his athleticism on the scoring play when he eluded the defensive pressure long enough to find Ricky Johnson open along the back on the end zone for a two-yard touchdown that made it a 16-11 game with 37 seconds left in the half.

The Red team benefited again from its fans as Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity edged the UL cheerleaders to win the halftime “Don’t Let Go of The Rope Tug of War” contest, which gave the Red team seven points and the White squad six to make it a 23-17 game.

The Red scored on its opening possession of the third quarter when Robinson made an acrobatic catch on a Broadway pass in the back left corner of the end zone.  Stephen Brauchele added the extra point to push the lead to 30-13 with 6:10 left in the quarter.

Robinson led the Red team with three catches for 42 yards and a touchdown.

The Red defense halted a White comeback, denying the squad despite having a first-and-goal at the 6.  Christian Hill started the stand by tackling Effrem Reed for a one-yard loss.  Two plays later, freshman Jared Johnson, who made five catches for 84 yards, appeared to have a six-yard touchdown catch only to have it called back because of offensive pass interference.

Facing a fourth-and-long from the 21, Jalen Nixon overthrew Johnson in the end zone to turn the ball back over to the Red team.

The White team closed the scoring when Haacks engineered a 69-yard scoring drive in the final 2:30, throwing a six-yard scoring pass to Pace on the final play of the game.  Pace led all receivers with nine catches for 87 yards and a touchdown.

All four quarterbacks were effective in the game.  Landor was six-for-eight for 59 yards in relief of Broadway while Nixon replaced Haack and completed five of his six pitches for 51 yards.

“I thought we saw some good things from all four of our quarterbacks,” Hudspeth said.  “We didn’t let Terrance (Broadway) do a lot but all three of the freshmen made some plays.”

Justin Anderson and Christian Sager led the Red team with six tackles each while Zach DeGrange added five stops.  Nick Barnfield had the only turnover, intercepting a pass from Lance Pace on an attempted throw back to Haack.

Andrew Hebert led the White team with nine tackles.  Boris Anyama added five stops, including two TFL for six yards.

At halftime of the game, Hudspeth presented the spring awards to the Cajuns.  Wide receiver James Butler was named the offensive most improved player with cornerback Jevante Watson being tabbed as the defensive most improved player.

In addition, three awards were given to players for being the most improved player during off-season conditioning, taking into account improved work ethic, strength improvement and attitude. Wide receiver Jared Johnson received the honor for the skill position, punter Daniel Cadona was the big skill honoree with freshman Blain Winston being tabbed among the big men (or linemen).

With the spring practice period now complete, the Cajuns will focus on final exams which are on the horizon for spring semester.  Conditioning will continue through the summer leading up to preseason camp opening in early August.

Panthers Spring Game in the Dome

If you are a Georgia State fans you are invited to get your first look at the 2013 football team under head coach Trent Miles on Saturday, April 20 at 1 p.m. at the Georgia Dome and admission is free.

Georgia State will offer a pregame community event in conjunction with Team Tiger and a postgame autograph session on the field with the entire team and coaching staff. Fans will be invited on the field to participate in a team photo immediately after the scrimmage, and free schedule posters will be distributed.

The scrimmage represents the 15th and final session of spring practice for Miles and the Panthers as they prepare for the program’s move to the FBS and the Sun Belt Conference beginning July 1^st, 2013.

The team will go through position drills, group work and special teams’ drills, followed by a controlled scrimmage session with the first-team offense going against the first-team defense, and the second-team offense battling the second-team defense. Quarterbacks Ben McLane, Clay Chastain and Ronnie Bell will rotate with the units.

The team will go through warm-ups beginning at 12:20 p.m., return to the locker room and then take the field at 1 p.m. Special teams sessions and position drills will alternate with controlled scrimmage sessions.

It’s T-Day in Troy

If a Trojans fans want to see what Troy is offering in 2013, then today is the day to come out and see. At 11:00am at Veterans Memorial Stadium Troy will take the field to showcase what they have learned in the spring and what to expect this fall.

It's hard to say what the defense is made of at this point since there were a lot of holes to fill during the spring. The secondary has injuries but not of concern.

Troy has seen a losing season for the past two years and they are trying to find their light somewhere to bounce back to where they were on the top of the Sun Belt Conference. The Trojans have some signees that will come in this fall that will also make a impact on the team. 

Cajuns Ready For Today's Red & White Spring Game

The Ragin' Cajuns wants to continue a winning season!

The rehearsals are all complete, the Ragin’ Cajuns football team has been split up and both teams are ready for Saturday afternoon’s Red vs. White spring game.

The game will be the final practice of the spring season for the Cajuns, who are coming off of back-to-back nine win seasons and New Orleans Bowl titles.

During Friday afternoon’s practice, the 14th of 15 spring practices and the final session before the spring game, the Cajuns did their final prep for the spring game.

The squad was split in two for the second half of the practice, with one team practicing outside and the other in the Moncla Indoor facility.  The time allowed the teams to install some special plays and formations for the spring game.

Head coach Mark Hudspeth, who is coaching neither team on Saturday, was thrilled with the practice.

“Our guys brought the spirit and energy today,” Hudspeth said.  “They were excited about being getting ready to compete against each other in front of a large crowd and it showed in their effort.”

With the end of spring practice less than 24 hours away, Hudspeth outlined what he expected on Saturday.

“I want our guys to go out on the field and do all of the things that we worked on the last five weeks.  Our hard work needs to carry over to the spring game so I expect them to practice their fundamentals, work hard and I would like to see our playmakers, especially our young playmakers, step up,” Hudspeth added.

Hudspeth has taken a different approach towards dividing the team into the two units this year.  Last year, the players had a draft to set the teams.  This year, Hudspeth has stocked the Red team with the majority of the first team offense while most of the first team defense is on the White squad.

To finish off the teams, the White squad features the second team offense while the second team defense is on the Red team.

Terrance Broadway, the MVP of the New Orleans Bowl last season, will quarterback the Red team and will wear the blue jersey on Saturday as the only player on the field who can’t be hit by the defense.

Redshirt freshman D’Shaie Landor will backup Broadway on the Red team while both Brooks Haack and Jalen Nixon will quarterback the White squad.

Hudspeth noted following the practice that Nixon will take on an additional role.  Besides seeing time as the backup quarterback, he will also take reps in the back field.

“Injuries have limited our depth in the backfield for Saturday so we are going to go ahead and let Jalen take some snaps at running back,” Hudspeth said.

“This is something we thought about more and more as spring practice progressed.  When it looked like Jalen was going to be our fourth string quarterback, we talked about other ways to get an athlete with his talent on the field so we thought we’d try him in the backfield.  He’s 6-2, 230 pounds and I can only imagine the kind of one-two punch we’d have with him and Alonzo Harris (6-1, 22) running,” Hudspeth said.

Hudspeth reminded fans to get to campus early on Saturday and use the north end of the Cajun Field parking lot.

“Come early and tailgate and then enjoy the game,” Hudspeth said.  “After the game we’d like our fans to come on down on the field for autographs and pictures.

“Saturday should be a great day,” Hudspeth added.

Texas State Maroon wins Spring Game

Texas State Sports.com

The Maroon’s Bobcats took at 28-14 victory over the Gold kicked off a new chapter for Texas State in front of 4,608 fans at Bobcat Stadium. Yes indeed a new chapter, as the Bobcats move into a new era this fall with great expectations.

The Maroon team was led by redshirt freshman quarterback Jordan

Moore and sophomore running back Chris Nutall (63 yards and a touchdown on seven carries), scored all 28 of its points in the second half and could have produced more but there was two red-zone turnovers. Moore hit on five of his seven passes for 107 yards, including a 54-yard touchdown to junior tight end Kris Patterson, and ran for 43 yards and a TD on 11 carries.

Texas State head coach and assistants are looking to eliminate some mistakes to help them win games. The Bobcats seen a lot of mistakes in last season games, which they do not want to repeat. Saturday game at Bobcats Stadium was all about business.

Arndt, who hit on 12 of 18 passes for 151 yards, did his part to stay in the QB equation. He threw scoring passes of 22 and 11 yards to junior wide receiver Ben Ijah and ran three times for 19 yards.

The defense came out to perform well in the Annual Spring Football Game in San Marcos.

The Gold defense was spurred by freshman linebacker Stephen Smith’s six tackles (including two for a loss) and junior cornerback Craig Mager’s interception. The Maroon defense got a big time performance from junior linebacker Michael Orakpo (the brother of former Texas stalwart and current Washington Redskins player Brian Orakpo), senior safety Aaron Matthews and senior defensive end Jamie Clavell-Head.

“We looked a lot more like a football team than we did in the spring game last season – that’s for sure,” Texas State coach Dennis Franchione said.

Troy hold their first 2013 Spring Scrimmage

Troy at South Alabama in 2012

Troy working to clean up mistakes this spring! 

Troy Trojans has opened their spring practice for the 2013 season, and on Saturday they held their first scrimmage.

The Trojans went through 80 offensive snaps on Saturday to go along with kick coverage as coaches got their first glimpse of players in full game-type situations at Veterans Memorial Stadium.  Coach Blakeney said day went well for his team.

Troy will hold its Annual Spring game on Saturday April 20, 2013 11am at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Troy. 

South Alabama Blue team wins 2013 spring game 33-24

South Alabama held its Annual Spring Game on Saturday at Ladd Pebbles Stadium. The Jags play a spring game that was full of excitement and very physical. 

In front of a big crowd at Ladd Pebbles Stadium, attendance is unknown at this time; the Jags really showed that they are determined to be better in 2013 than they were last season. In Saturday spring game the Blue team made the first scoring drive led by Quarterbacks Brandon Bridge and Trey Fretner. Even head coach Joey Jones think his team perform well on Saturday than before.

The improvements I seen during Saturday game was the tempo of the Jags offense under the direction of Coordinator Robert Matthews. South Alabama two offenses (Blue & Red) combined for 666 yards of total offense, the Blue coming in with the most at 362. Blue quarterback Brandon Bridge was 10-of-18 passing for 169 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Bridge is competing for the starting spot and is an eligible to play this season after transferring from Alcon State last season. Bridge showed that he has a quick and strong arm and able to connect with players. Brandon also can run, he doesn’t mind running the ball if he has to and when there is an opportunity.

Also on the Blue team QB Trey Fetner of the Blue; Fretner scored a pair of touchdowns, both on 1-yard runs. He carried the ball six times for 35 yards and also threw for 51 yards. Fretner also is a running quarterback; he don’t mind running the ball.

South Alabama offense produce more running in their offense than before, that’s a plus in this new spread fast tempo offense the Jags is adapting.

Red team offense came back with some answers but not enough for defeat the Blue team. The Red team was led by QB Ross Methany, Grant Powell and Kolt Peavy.  Methany the starting QB going into spring game was 7-of-11 for 78 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. Methany carried the ball three times for 14 yards.

E.J May picked off two of the passes with Tyrell Pearson getting the other of QB Ross Methany. Redshirt freshman Grant Powell was 5-of-9 for 41 yards and had six carries for 40 yards. Kolt Peavey was 5-of-7 for 41 yards passing and had three carries for 18 yards.

On Defense I seen better play on the field than last season, I believe the defense is getter after the Quarterback more quickly and there are more physical than before. This is an area of improvements that will help the Jags win some of those close games like the one at Mississippi State and Arkansas State last season.

The Blue defense was led by Qudarius Ford and Cordivido Grice with seven stops each. May, Enrique Williams, Pearson and Bryson James had five stops each. The Red defense was led by Eric Miller's six stops. Hawkins and Ceasare Johnson had five each and Desmond LaVelle had four. Alex Page had the game's only sack.

I can say that is a much improved team than last year and previous years. I see bigger players and more experience in the game. Go Jaguars!

Liberty University talks with Sun Belt are heating up; an announcement could come soon

The plans were laid out and there were options if the Sun Belt needed them; could those options answer for the Sun Belt Conference soon?

After Western Kentucky made it official that they will be leaving the Sun Belt Conference for Conference USA in 2014 that left an open spot in the Sun Belt Conference. Commissioner Carl Benson said on Monday that Western Kentucky news was no surprise to him or the Sun Belt Conference, and that they have been preparing for the moment. Now that WKU is gone, Commissioner Benson has been in active talks with several programs and most notably James Madison and Liberty.

On last evening I confirmed that Liberty AD Jeff Barber and Liberty has been in active discussions with the Sun Belt Conference and Commissioner Karl Benson. Today I have learned here at the Insider that Commissioner Benson has acknowledged that there are talks between himself and Liberty at this time. Could Liberty be preparing to accept that invitation if offered- certainly! Liberty has made it known in 2012 through the announcement of their school president that they desire to be at the highest level of competition in college sports.

What makes this possible is that the long rumored James Madison University also located in Virginia was a front runner for the #12 spot as well, may have rejected the invitation to move up to FBS and join the Sun Belt Conference. Many reports and sources have stated that JMU is not interested at this time and not looking to move up to FBS. However, I still say there is still a chance that the Sun Belt Conference may be still lobbying JMU for that number 12 spot while they talk with their back up Liberty.

With all the talk about Liberty, you have many that believe Liberty religious views may not work in the Sun Belt Conference and more so – not welcomed by many.

Well I think we will all find out the answer to these discussions very soon. I don’t think the wait will be pushed back to long, because the schools need to announce before June 1^st that they intend to move up to FBS from FCS. If Liberty or James Madison accepts they will play as FCS independents in 2013 and will not be able to compete for any FCS post season games or conference championships. Either school will join the Sun Belt Conference in 2014 as transitional members in football and members in all other sports; they will be able to compete for Sun Belt Conference championships. Football program will not be able to participate in any FBS Bowl games until 2015.

Liberty or James Madison will be a member of the Sun Belt Conference projected eastern division.

Over the past week we have seen the Sun Belt Conference add two FCS powerhouses in Appalachian State and Georgia Southern; the SBC also added two former disbanded WAC football members New Mexico State and Idaho that are now independents and formers members of the Sun Belt Conference as well. All four of these teams will be added on July 1, 2014.

Liberty University is a Christian program that would make an outstanding addition to the Sun Belt Conference in all sports. Liberty is located in Lynchburg, VA (Do the SBC want to expand to Virginia? I’m pretty sure they do for a quality program.) Liberty is located in the 65^th media market if that makes any difference, sounds ok to me; Liberty has over 12,000 residential students and over 75,000 online students, 220 Programs of Study with an 968 average APR. Liberty is expected to add a law school and medical school by 2014. There are 26 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans at Liberty.

Is Liberty ready for TV production-YES with a 20,000 seat stadium and is expected to expand to over 25,000 seats; their basketball arena holds 8,000 with a 3-court practice facility. Liberty has 6 NCAA D1 National Champions teams with 35 NCAA Championship appearances and 20 full funded scholarships teams. Not only that, Liberty has that cash to go with it.  Who wouldn’t be looking for a program like that?

Liberty University a possible addition for the Sun Belt Conference in 2014

The flames have what it takes and needs to be on the FBS level, and that could happen with the Sun Belt Conference

We all know that college football is the driving force behind all the conference re-alignment, and it has not slow down yet. Several changes have taken place over the past week in the Sun Belt Conference and others that will make you say – what’s next?

Over the past week we have seen the Sun Belt Conference add two FCS powerhouses in Appalachian State and Georgia Southern; the SBC also added two former disbanded WAC football members New Mexico State and Idaho that are now independents and formers members of the Sun Belt Conference as well. All four of these teams will be added on July 1, 2014.

On today conference re-alignment took another twist with Western Kentucky announcing they are leaving the Sun Belt Conference for Conference USA beginning in 2014. WOW, big surprise Western Kentucky, lol! According to SBC Commissioner Karl Benson, the SBC was prepared and waiting for the moment to happen with Western Kentucky and there is no surprise on April fool day.

With Western Kentucky leaving, that creates an open spot in the Sun Belt Conference and a newly anticipated eastern division that will stage a conference championship game beginning in 2014. The Board of Directors and AD’s have work hard to create a 12 member conference in all sports and create a conference football championship game.  This is a move that I applaud the SBC for making over the past week. Now that WKU is leaving, that 12^th member will receive an invitation soon from the Sun Belt Conference, but the question still remains –who?

There are many speculations and rumors on who is next or at the top of the Sun Belt list to become the 12^th member. There are many reports that JMU (James Madison University) is the top favorite to become that 12^th. Then you have others that say LU (Liberty University) is the top favorite for the #12 spot. Your guess is better than mind.

Liberty University is a Christian program that would make an outstanding addition to the Sun Belt Conference in all sports. Liberty is located in Lynchburg, VA (Do the SBC want to expand to Virginia? I’m pretty sure they do for a quality program.) Liberty is located in the 65^th media market if that makes any difference, sounds ok to me; Liberty has over 12,000 residential students and over 75,000 online students, 220 Programs of Study with an 968 average APR. Liberty is expected to add a law school and medical school by 2014. There are 26 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans at Liberty.

Is Liberty ready for TV production-YES with a 20,000 seat stadium and is expected to expand to over 25,000 seats; their basketball arena holds 8,000 with a 3-court practice facility. Liberty has 6 NCAA D1 National Champions teams with 35 NCAA Championship appearances and 20 full funded scholarships teams. Not only that, Liberty has that cash to go with it.  Who wouldn’t be looking for a program like that?

Sun Belt Commissioner Karl Benson released a statement today saying he is confident in the Sun Belt future, and is prepared to add another program to the conference. In order to stage that conference football championship game in 2014 and have six eastern division members a new member must be added before June 1^st in order for them to declare they are moving up from FCS to FBS. Sun Belt will not have 12 all sports members in 2014 if they don’t add a program by June 1^st, unless they are willing to add another already FBS program; which I don’t know who that will be.

Liberty, James Madison, Jacksonville State, Sam Houston State, Lamar, Missouri State, and maybe a couple of Louisiana FCS programs are all possibilities at this point. So when will we know, that remain to be answered; but do expect an answer by the end of April or the beginning of May. 

Idaho is committed to improvements in 2013

Since Idaho is joining the Sun Belt in 2014, I have decided to add the Vandals and NMSU to my coverage here on the Insider since they are both Independents in 2013.

With Idaho 2013 spring practice underway in Moscow, and improvements is what they are striving for with their new head coach and staff. Bobby Petrino may be in Bowling Green, KY, but Paul Petrino is in Idaho getting ready for a big debut of the Petrino skills this fall. 

The Vandals held their first spring scrimmage on Saturday and Coach Petrino seems to be happy with what he has seen so far from his players.  “No matter what, we’re getting tougher. It was good to see some big plays made on both sides of the ball.” said Coach Petrino.  Talking about some big plays, Idaho is without a home this season, and will be officially welcomed to their new home in the Sun Belt Conference come 2014, where they can compete for a conference championship and bowl games. By 2014 the Vandals should be very experienced under their new head coach.

Running back Kris Olugbode was one of the big play makers in Saturday scrimmage for the Vandals. Olugbode covered 108 yards and scored four touchdowns on 22 carries. Along with Olugbode was running back Jerrel Brown who also made it known that he was around with 54 yards and two TDs on 20 carries. The Vandals should have a solid running corp in 2013.

Petrino said he likes the hard hitting his team is showing in the spring drills.  We will continue to follow this Idaho Vandals during this 2013 season until they officially join the SBC on July 1, 2014.