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April 22 Report:
Cardinal’s offense starting to roll
Throughout spring practice the Louisville defense has been the unit that jumped into the fictitious highlight reels. There were countless pressures on the quarterbacks, the running backs weren’t finding many lanes to run and the offensive line was frustrated, but as each practice comes and goes, the offense is finding itself and taking the limelight right back, but not completely.
On Saturday, both quarterbacks, Mike Watkins and Dave Ragone, gave the defense the headaches, the offensive line found that they do have the ability to open some holes, the receivers made great catches and blocks and the running game had consistent big gains.
The quarterback battle is just that – a battle. One day it appears that Ragone has taken the lead, but then comes Watkins right back. In yesterday’s scrimmage it was the senior quarterback that appeared to pull ahead. He didn’t appear to be as anxious to leave the pocket and his deep balls were much more precise than Ragone’s tosses. Both quarterbacks again proved to be elusive running the ball. Watkins accounted for 166 total yards of offense, while Ragone rolled up 134.
The answer to this battle may be a result of which type of offense head coach John L. Smith prefers. If he wants the quarterback to be one that will use his arm more to guide the offense down the field, then Watkins will probably get the nod. If he wants a quarterback to be running all over the field, then Ragone will probably get the start. While both have the talent to do both, run and throw and Ragone may actually have the better arm than Watkins, the senior seems to possess more experience when deciding when to take off and head up field.
Tony Stallings has definitely assured himself as the number one running back. Saturday the junior from Bedford, Ohio, racked up 109-yards on the ground, averaging a very impressive 7.9-yards per carry. His two touchdown runs were of 15 and 50-yards. He also pulled in two receptions for 18-yards.
With the continued absence of Anthony Branch, Damien Dorsey is becoming the most talked about new receiver. When he wasn’t pulling in a catch, he was heading up field and making excellent blocks springing other receivers and backs for more yards.
Even with a morning of offensive highlights the defense still provided some of their own.
Defensive end Chad Lee and linebacker James Greene provided the hits of the day that drew huge responses from both the field and the stands. Devon Thomas picked up a fumble and returned it 56-yards for a touchdown.
The defensive backs, with the exception of Antonio Roundtree, continued to look impressive. Each reception was earned, passes were deflected and they ran to the ball on each set. Redshirt freshman Donte Andrews is improving with each practice and will put some more much-needed pressure on the upper classmen.
Saturday wasn’t all good though. What has unfortunately seems to have become a Louisville trademark, penalties, continues. It may simply be that players are still learning the ropes, but it wasn’t pretty. Also, the backs fumbled the ball too much. A result of increased attention to forcing fumbles by the defensive coaches.
The team has two practices left, Monday and Tuesday, until the Red-White game on Saturday at noon.
SCRIMMAGE
STATISTICS
Scoring:
Dorsey 18 pass from Watkins; Thomas 56 fumble
return; Stallings 15 run; Ragone 2 run; Samons 5 run;
Stallings 50 run.
Rushing:
Stallings 14-109, Ragone 9-84, Patterson 17-33, Taylor
4-7, Watkins 4-28, Samons 4-19, Parker 1-(-2).
Passing:
Watkins 10-17-0-138-1, Ragone 5-13-0-50-0, Hedges 2-3-0-24-0.
Receiving:
Glenn 4-54, Jackson 3-56, Parker 2-28, Dorsey 3-24,
Stallings 2-18, Sanders 1-14, Samons 1-10, Patterson 1-8.
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