Marshall’s offense, especially its passing game, didn’t have it as easy as it did last week in Friday’s intrasquad scrimmage at Joan C. Edwards Stadium. Most of the numbers were about the same — look at Friday’s numbers below versus last week’s 28 for 56 for 443 yards — but there was significantly more pressure on the quarterbacks.
The defense recorded 11 sacks Friday, led by Armonze Daniel’s three. Well, they’re “sacks” more than actual sacks, really. As soon as a defender gets a hand on the QB, the play is whistled dead. Plus, offensive line coach Alex Mirabal said his unit was working on different blocking schemes. He made what I consider a valid point about statistics in spring scrimmages, that these days are meant for development.
“I worry about what our communication is like and just self-improvement and self-development,” he said. “That, to me, is what it’s about. You’ve got a lot of kids there that aren’t going to be playing during the 2014 season that still need a lot of seasoning. … Spring football is really the only time that football is an individual game, in terms of what development that individual kid is doing.”
Still, it made Marshall coach Doc Holliday happy to see they way his defensive line was able to penetrate, especially Daniel. The redshirt junior was a four-star prospect when he arrived in Huntington, but has recorded just 19 tackles in two seasons on the field. With the defensive line needing to re-establish depth, his progress gives him the shot at helping there.
“I’ve done this a long time,” Holliday said. “Players develop at different times. (Sebastian Johansson) for the first two years couldn’t play, and all of a sudden, the third year, it starts to kick and he’s become a good player for us. It’s the same thing with Armonze. Sometimes offensive and defensive linemen take a little longer to develop, and once that light goes on, he’s feeling confident, playing fast and looking like what we thought when we recruited him.”
Kevin Grooms looked like his old self early in the scrimmage, carrying twice for 39 yards before giving way to the rest of the running backs for the rest of the day. The backup quarterback race still looks close, with none of the three contenders standing out. Gunnar Holcombe threw for 115 yards, but completed just six of 18 passes and threw two interceptions. Cole Garvin went just 3-for-13, but threw for 131 yards and a touchdown. Kevin Anderson played in mop-up duty and completed two of six, but both were for touchdowns. Angelo Jean-Louis showed that he should fight for playing time among the outside receivers, catching three passes for 91 yards and two touchdowns.
The rest of your scrimmage stats are below:
Offense
Team rushing: 52-151 (2.9 yards per carry)
Team passing: 22-57-429, 5 TD, 2 INT
Total offense: 109 plays, 580 yards, 5.32 per play
Rushing
Grooms 2-39
Butler 11-60, TD
Watson 7-20
Mudimbi 8-33
Cato 4-6
Holcombe 4-(-21)
Garvin 5-(-23)
Rodriguez 7-39
Carter 3-(-2)
Anderson 1-0
Passing
Cato 11-20-158, TD
Holcombe 6-18-115, TD, 2 INT
Garvin 3-13-121, TD
Anderson 2-6-35, 2 TD
Receiving
Shuler 4-66
Woodrum 1-12
Hunt 2-59
Frohnapfel 2-36, TD
Jean-Louis 3-91, 2 TD
Allen 3-73, TD
Johnson 2-33
Reaves 1-6
Wilkins 2-45
McManus 1-9, TD
Defensive highlights
Houston 8 tack, 1 sack
Tindal 7 tack, PBU
Lang 6 tack, INT, PBU
Carter 7 tack, 1 sack
Daniel 3 tack, 3 sacks
Waiters 5 tack, PBU
Letman 5 tack, PBU
Hunter 5 tack, TFL, PBU
Strong 1 sack
Blackmon 1 sack
Samuel 1 sack
Brown 2 sacks
Thompson 1 sack
