Kats Ready for 2012 Season
4/19/2012 7:11:00 AM | Football
Under the lights at Bowers Stadium, the Bearkats wanted to come out Wednesday night and show off what they have been working on the past several weeks.
The Kats didn't disappoint as both the offense and the defense had their moments during the annual Orange-White Spring Game.
The newly fine-tuned offense broke loose for six touchdowns, while the defense at times showed that it could still have success against the run.
"We've got a whole new offense this past spring and it was a learning experience for everybody. We've come a long, long way since day one," wide receiver Trey Diller said. "We scored five touchdowns against one of the best defenses in the country. That shows a lot."
Throughout most of Wednesday's workout, the offense, which operated through a mostly no-huddle system, found ways to move the ball down the field.
Quarterback Brian Bell hit a variety of targets, including a pair of touchdown passes to Diller and tight end Beau Smith. Bell also hit receivers in the flat and in stride down the sidelines.
Diller wanted to prove that he could be a very effective go-to target for Bell this fall after coming away with several nifty catches, including a 28-yard touchdown snare in which he beat the defensive back off the route. Diller also picked up double-digit yardage on screen passes.
"I thought Brian looked sharp," Bearkats coach Willie Fritz said. "There's probably a couple of throws he'd like to have back. He really did a nice job. Only having 15 practices in this new format, I thought he really had good command of the offense.
"Diller also came up with some big-time catches. I was really impressed."
Defensively, the Bearkats began to show what was their strength last fall as they began to bottle up running backs Vincent Dotson, Keyshawn Hill and Ryan Wilson during the latter part of the scrimmage.
"We were a little slow at first, trying to get the rust off. We haven't been going too live, trying to keep everybody injury-free," defensive tackle J.T. Cleveland said. "Overall, I think it was an OK day."
The Bearkats secondary also played well, breaking up would-be receptions and cornerback Deantre Loche also nearly had an interception that easily would have been returned for a score.
"We left a couple of takeaways on the field that we could've had defensively that would've stopped some drives," Fritz said.
Reigning Southland Conference Player of the Year Tim Flanders and Offensive Player of the Year Richard Sincere didn't see much action. Flanders played the first six plays, then watched the rest of the spring game from the sidelines.
Sincere saw action intermittently from the receiver slot, capping off his day on a 14-yard wide receiver reverse for a score.
Dotson and Hill responded with their opportunity and exploded for big gains, including Hill's 31-yard touchdown run.
"You double your chance of having injuries when you scrimmage because you're scrimmaging yourself," Fritz said. "We didn't play Tim very much. A lot of those backs got a lot of work."
With the spring offseason coming to an end, the Kats offense can now take a look back at what they picked up on and how to improve on that in the coming months.
"We need to mainly clean up our route techniques," Diller said. "We're making breaks at certain points. All of our routes are based off of footsteps and alignments, so basically we have to get our footwork down. We'll get a lot more opportunities if we can get our feet in the right spot and break off the ball to the right position."
The Bearkats are now on their own to work on strength and conditioning and to continue to develop continuity before camp opens in August.
"A lot of people are going to be here this summer," Diller said. "Last year, we had a lot of people here and it showed. We went to the national championship. We're striving to have even more people this summer."
The Kats didn't disappoint as both the offense and the defense had their moments during the annual Orange-White Spring Game.
The newly fine-tuned offense broke loose for six touchdowns, while the defense at times showed that it could still have success against the run.
"We've got a whole new offense this past spring and it was a learning experience for everybody. We've come a long, long way since day one," wide receiver Trey Diller said. "We scored five touchdowns against one of the best defenses in the country. That shows a lot."
Throughout most of Wednesday's workout, the offense, which operated through a mostly no-huddle system, found ways to move the ball down the field.
Quarterback Brian Bell hit a variety of targets, including a pair of touchdown passes to Diller and tight end Beau Smith. Bell also hit receivers in the flat and in stride down the sidelines.
Diller wanted to prove that he could be a very effective go-to target for Bell this fall after coming away with several nifty catches, including a 28-yard touchdown snare in which he beat the defensive back off the route. Diller also picked up double-digit yardage on screen passes.
"I thought Brian looked sharp," Bearkats coach Willie Fritz said. "There's probably a couple of throws he'd like to have back. He really did a nice job. Only having 15 practices in this new format, I thought he really had good command of the offense.
"Diller also came up with some big-time catches. I was really impressed."
Defensively, the Bearkats began to show what was their strength last fall as they began to bottle up running backs Vincent Dotson, Keyshawn Hill and Ryan Wilson during the latter part of the scrimmage.
"We were a little slow at first, trying to get the rust off. We haven't been going too live, trying to keep everybody injury-free," defensive tackle J.T. Cleveland said. "Overall, I think it was an OK day."
The Bearkats secondary also played well, breaking up would-be receptions and cornerback Deantre Loche also nearly had an interception that easily would have been returned for a score.
"We left a couple of takeaways on the field that we could've had defensively that would've stopped some drives," Fritz said.
Reigning Southland Conference Player of the Year Tim Flanders and Offensive Player of the Year Richard Sincere didn't see much action. Flanders played the first six plays, then watched the rest of the spring game from the sidelines.
Sincere saw action intermittently from the receiver slot, capping off his day on a 14-yard wide receiver reverse for a score.
Dotson and Hill responded with their opportunity and exploded for big gains, including Hill's 31-yard touchdown run.
"You double your chance of having injuries when you scrimmage because you're scrimmaging yourself," Fritz said. "We didn't play Tim very much. A lot of those backs got a lot of work."
With the spring offseason coming to an end, the Kats offense can now take a look back at what they picked up on and how to improve on that in the coming months.
"We need to mainly clean up our route techniques," Diller said. "We're making breaks at certain points. All of our routes are based off of footsteps and alignments, so basically we have to get our footwork down. We'll get a lot more opportunities if we can get our feet in the right spot and break off the ball to the right position."
The Bearkats are now on their own to work on strength and conditioning and to continue to develop continuity before camp opens in August.
"A lot of people are going to be here this summer," Diller said. "Last year, we had a lot of people here and it showed. We went to the national championship. We're striving to have even more people this summer."
Players Mentioned
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RB
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WR
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RB
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