Sorry it took me a little bit to get my post spring game thoughts up. I've been without internet over the weekend. Perks of living in the country outside city limits. But you know the old saying, better late then never. So here are just a few things I took away from the WKU Red (offense) vs White (defense) spring scrimmage.
1.) As I stated after the last practice I attended. Those naive enough fans expecting little to no drop off from the QB position with Brandon Doughty's graduation were silenced Saturday. Redshirt Sr Nelson Fishback emerged out of spring ball as the #1 QB. Though the race for starter by the first kickoff is still very much open. Here are some QB observations:
Fishback-
was inconsistent on his throws. However he had good touch and fairly good accuracy on the deep routes. Sometimes relies to much on his feet and doesn't hang in the pocket as much as WKU fans were used to with Doughty. Has the ability to extend plays with his feet though while being a legit dual threat.
Mike White-
White was the 2nd QB off the bench for the Red squad. White showed why he was a starter at USF. He made some really good precision throws into traffic. However, he too was inconsistent. He seemed to rely on his arm strength a little to much trying to fit the ball into tight windows. This resulted in the first interception of the game by the defense.
Drew Eckels-
Eckels came in as the 3rd QB. He had the best overall day among the QB's. Going 19-24 for 322 yards with 3 TD's and 1 INT. His 1 INT was bad...he threw the ball directly to linebacker Ben Holt. However, Eckels showed the most consistency on his throws on Saturday. That's hasn't been the case all of spring ball though.
Tyler Ferguson-
Ferguson was later coming into the game then the other QB's. Though from a statistical standpoint he had the 2nd best day. Going 17-26 passing for 223 yards. Ferguson can flat out sling the football. However, I personally think he needs to work more on his touch passes. As he tends to put the ball on a rope whether it is 10 yards or 30 yards. Ferguson missed a wide open receiver in the endzone by throwing it too hard and over his receivers head. As an astute fan pointed out during the game. His throwing motion and style is very reminiscent of NFL QB Jay Cutler.
Other then the QB's, some other play makers emerged on offense. Spring Games aren't much about running the football so the numbers from the RB's aren't anything to write home about. Though keep an eye out for Trigg to get some duties behind Wales and Ferby. Kid is next in line for WKU RB lineage.
Nicholas Norris showed signs of picking up where he left off last season with 5 catches for 134 yards and 2 TD's.
Rs. FR WR Lucky Jackson had a good day. Hauling in 7 catches for 138 yards.
The biggest day for the WR Corp came from sophomore Will Bush. He showed off his track speed with some long TD grabs. Bush finished with 8 catches for 169 yards and 2 TD's.
Defensively the White team played pretty well. Forcing several 3 and outs by the offense, multiple sacks, as well as forcing a few turnovers. Local boys led the way as former Bowling Green High School linebacker Ben Holt finished with 9 tackles, 1 TFL, and 1 INT. While Walk-on DB and former Russellville High School standout Tacorian Darden was showing why he wants a scholarship. Finishing with 6 tackles and had a couple nice pass break ups.
I expect the defense to be a solid overall unit this season, even with the amount of turnover in the front 7.
1.) As I stated after the last practice I attended. Those naive enough fans expecting little to no drop off from the QB position with Brandon Doughty's graduation were silenced Saturday. Redshirt Sr Nelson Fishback emerged out of spring ball as the #1 QB. Though the race for starter by the first kickoff is still very much open. Here are some QB observations:
Fishback-
was inconsistent on his throws. However he had good touch and fairly good accuracy on the deep routes. Sometimes relies to much on his feet and doesn't hang in the pocket as much as WKU fans were used to with Doughty. Has the ability to extend plays with his feet though while being a legit dual threat.
Mike White-
White was the 2nd QB off the bench for the Red squad. White showed why he was a starter at USF. He made some really good precision throws into traffic. However, he too was inconsistent. He seemed to rely on his arm strength a little to much trying to fit the ball into tight windows. This resulted in the first interception of the game by the defense.
Drew Eckels-
Eckels came in as the 3rd QB. He had the best overall day among the QB's. Going 19-24 for 322 yards with 3 TD's and 1 INT. His 1 INT was bad...he threw the ball directly to linebacker Ben Holt. However, Eckels showed the most consistency on his throws on Saturday. That's hasn't been the case all of spring ball though.
Tyler Ferguson-
Ferguson was later coming into the game then the other QB's. Though from a statistical standpoint he had the 2nd best day. Going 17-26 passing for 223 yards. Ferguson can flat out sling the football. However, I personally think he needs to work more on his touch passes. As he tends to put the ball on a rope whether it is 10 yards or 30 yards. Ferguson missed a wide open receiver in the endzone by throwing it too hard and over his receivers head. As an astute fan pointed out during the game. His throwing motion and style is very reminiscent of NFL QB Jay Cutler.
Other then the QB's, some other play makers emerged on offense. Spring Games aren't much about running the football so the numbers from the RB's aren't anything to write home about. Though keep an eye out for Trigg to get some duties behind Wales and Ferby. Kid is next in line for WKU RB lineage.
Nicholas Norris showed signs of picking up where he left off last season with 5 catches for 134 yards and 2 TD's.
Rs. FR WR Lucky Jackson had a good day. Hauling in 7 catches for 138 yards.
The biggest day for the WR Corp came from sophomore Will Bush. He showed off his track speed with some long TD grabs. Bush finished with 8 catches for 169 yards and 2 TD's.
Defensively the White team played pretty well. Forcing several 3 and outs by the offense, multiple sacks, as well as forcing a few turnovers. Local boys led the way as former Bowling Green High School linebacker Ben Holt finished with 9 tackles, 1 TFL, and 1 INT. While Walk-on DB and former Russellville High School standout Tacorian Darden was showing why he wants a scholarship. Finishing with 6 tackles and had a couple nice pass break ups.
I expect the defense to be a solid overall unit this season, even with the amount of turnover in the front 7.
