Post Spring Obervations-Conference USA

Post Spring Obervations-Conference USA

Brock Murphy checks in with some thoughts on teams in Conference USA now that spring drills have been concluded.

CENTRAL FLORIDA:  The spring headlines were unfortunately dominated by the story of the death of redshirt freshman wide receiver, Ereck Plancher, on March 18th following a conditioning team workout. Investigation into the incident continues with varying positions taken by staff and a few teammates regarding whether the death could have been avoided. Plancher's teammate and starting right guard, Cliff McCray, left the team one week later after choosing to skip a Plancher-related debriefing meeting with the staff.

While the staff has soundly asserted that they responded to Plancher's condition in timely and appropriate fashion, a few players anonymously fed the Orlando Sentinel information suggesting that Plancher stumbled and fell yards near the end of the workout and did not appear to be healthy or well as he stumbled in last among the players. The anonymous players went so far as to claim that Coach George O'Leary cussed Plancher's effort in front of the team when the session was complete and before Plancher collapsed. Again, investigation continues and it is anybody's guess what actually occurred. However, such a controversy is certainly not the environment in which team cohesiveness flourishes.

Meanwhile, on the field, the big focus was the offensive backfield; namely, who would replace the nation's leading rusher, Kevin Smith, and last year's starting quarterback, Kyle Isreal.  Redshirt freshman Joe Weatherford (younger brother of former Florida State quarterback, Drew Weatherford) battled Michael Greco all spring to take over at quarterback and Drew's little bro did well enough that the battle should carry over into the fall.

Smith put together diabolical numbers last year - 2,567 yards and 29 touchdowns off of 450 carries. Phillip Smith (no relation) finished a distant second on the team with 246 yards and four touchdowns off of 52 carries but he injured his knee in the first major scrimmage and left the team weeks later, leaving the team and fans to speculate whether he may have been one of the players who went to the Sentinel after Plancher's death.

A slew of freshmen tailbacks will put their name in the hat for the starting tailback spot in the fall. More than a few fans have their money on Latavius Murray, a 6-3, 215-pound tailback from New York. However, Rivals.com rated Brynn Harvey (5-11, 204) as the 32th-best tailback in the nation last season.

MARSHALL:  The Thundering Herd was decimated with injuries last year, including the pre-season loss of defensive-end, Albert McClellan, who was C-USA's pre-season defensive player-of-the-year, and fellow defensive lineman, Montel Glasco. Both are back this year which means opposing quarterbacks need to beware the Herd. Moreover, their injuries last year allowed Marshall to develop defensive line depth.

Depth is the word of the season in Huntington as plenty was developed this spring at the other two levels of the defense. Every linebacker who started the season-finale returns this season but they will be pushed all Fall by redshirt freshmen Corey Hart and Kellen Harris.

Snyder described the defensive backfield as "thick" since there will be no fewer than 18 players there once the four who were recruited this season report to the team this Summer. Numerous players have recorded starts and, to further confuse matters, redshirt freshmen T.J. Drakeford (5-11, 187) and Dequan Bembry (5-10, 174) had very solid springs.

The trend of redshirt-freshmen developing this spring was strengthened by the surprising emergence of Alabaman, Terrell Edwards (6-2, 211), at tailback. The big-bodied back showed great moves and strength throughout the spring. Running Backs coach, Jared Smith, pointed out that Edwards seems to have modeled part of his approach to the game from senior tailback, Chubb Small (5-9, 193). Significantly, they each collected 20+ carries, two touchdowns, and over 100-yards (136 for Edwards, 124 for Small) in the second-scrimmage this spring.

Quarterback is the biggest question mark at Marshall and Head Coach Mark Snyder has been sly about the position that Mark Cann holds as the team folded up spring camp. However, Cann appeared to be the leader all spring and was certainly the most-efficient quarterback in the spring game (16 of 21 for 181 yards).

Former Toledo offensive-coordinator was hired this February to take over Marshall's offense. He plans to use a lot of play-action and screen passes out of a no-huddle pro-style attack that uses a lot of one-back sets. Stand-by to see whether the Herd will try to stretch the field with deep balls to Darius Passmore and Cody Slate.

TULSA:  Not only will some starters be new in Tulsa, so will the field upon which they play.  A new façade and press box are under construction and new field turf will be in place by the time the Golden Hurricane open their home schedule by hosting New Mexico on September 20th.

Player-wise, most of the holes from lost starters are on defense though the loss of three-year starter, Paul Smith, at quarterback, is surely the deepest. Few fans outside of Tulsa or C-USA are aware that Smith was the nation's 4th-most efficient passer and that he threw for 5,065 yards and 47 touchdowns last season. For his career, he threw for 10,924 yards and 83 scores.

Three quarterbacks battled for Smith's spot this spring, among them sophomore Clark Harrell, the little brother of Texas Tech gunslinger, Graham Harrell.  Little bro threw only three incompletions in the spring game (10 of 13) while tallying 166 yards and two scores.  Senior David Johnson threw for more yards (198) but he also threw an interception.  JUCO-transfer Jacob Bower managed to complete only half of his dozen throws but he brings a different dimension to Tulsa's attack through his legs - a strategy that is only aided by his impressive size (6-4, 230).

It is fair to point out that Smith's production soared last season with the arrival of offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn from Arkansas. Malzahn capitalized on Smith's experience in a prior spread system and opened up the passing game. If Smith's 5,065 yards are not reflective of the prolific new attack, consider that three different receivers had over 1,000 receiving yards (Brennan Marion [1,244], Trae Johnson [1,088] and Charles Clay [1,024])  That trio combined for 31 touchdowns and Golden Hurricane fans are tickled to death knowing that all three are back for 2008. 

Marion's 1,244 yards came off of only 39 catches - an amazing 31.9 yards per catch!  Clay's production was impressive because he is a receiver, not a fullback, and he accomplished his feat as a true freshman.  Both Marion and Clay recorded a touchdown this spring.

Defensive coordinator Keith Patterson is excited about the depth which developed in his team this spring.  He is confident in his backfield and likes his depth at linebacker though he acknowledges it is inexperienced.

UAB:  Tulsa's first opponent next season will be UAB's Blazers.  In their second season under Neil Calloway, the Blazers are limping - they had only 74 healthy players to pull off their spring game.  The cupboards are thin but they are not empty.  There are some talented players on both sides of the ball that may help the team improve the two wins they collected last year (one of which was over I-AA opponent, Alcorn State).

On offense, the team will continue to work on the talents of quarterback Joe Webb (6-3, 220). A co-starter last year with the departed Sam Hunt, Webb's passing game presented little threat (65-117, 679 yards, five touchdowns) although, throwing only one interception, he did not make game-changing mistakes. He went 14 of 27 for 173 yards and two scores in the spring game and also left as the team's leading rusher (11-70).

Both of Webb's spring touchdown passes were caught by sophomore Fantrell Forest (49-563, five touchdowns as a true freshman last year). Both scoring catches covered more than 30 yards and were his third and fourth scrimmage scores in the spring.  He has good size (6-2, 195) for a receiver.

On defense, there will be no lack of experience in the Blazer backfield.  Kevin Sanders (5-11, 185) will start for the third-consecutive year at cornerback and will be backed up by senior safeties Matt Taylor (5-11, 185) and Will Dunbar (6-1, 200). Dunbar's back-up, Brock Ferguson (6-2, 200) came up with two interceptions in the spring game.  Given their size and skill, it may be hard to keep Dunbar and Ferguson from seeing the field together in the fall.

Though undersized, weakside linebacker Keon Harris (5-11, 205) covers a lot of territory and was a defensive standout throughout the spring.