By Bill Bradley, SacStateSports.com Editor
Sacramento State’s spring football season ended Saturday morning with a spring game that offered a mixed bag.
The game, which was run by situations and not as a traditional football game, was played in about 75 degree weather that warmed up quickly as the 1 1/2-hour event went on in front about 200 spectators. There was no scoreboard or running clock, but the defense consistently out played the offense.
Overall, though, the game left as many questions as answers going into camp in August. Here’s a few observations along with coach Marshall Sperbeck’s comments:
No score, but defense won
In game that essentially pitted offense against defense, the Hornets defense looked tighter and more organized. Part of that is the Hornets defenders are more comfortable under defensive coordinator Anthony Parker, who is entering his third season in that role and fifth overall at Sac State. Meanwhile, the offense is trying to learn a new scheme under recently hire offensive coordinator Paul Peterson.
Regardless, the defense allowed three touchdowns, but mostly in short-yardage situations. It consistently put pressure on the quarterbacks, including an early safety, and seemed to anticipate the offense very well.
Sperbeck’s take: “On defense, I liked the way we flew around. I thought we were very aggressive. We got better with our secondary as we progressed through spring as well as our D-line. We had some guys come in — Trevor Kelly comes to mind — who had a good spring for us. I thought he did some good things. Our linebackers were very solid. And D-lineman that was good was Devonte Martin, we moved him over (form offense) late — I thought he did some nice things. Reese Heaslet was another player we moved from offense to defense and he did some good things. So things are positives when you get a kid that moves over to the other side of the ball and you get some productivity out of them. Those guys helped our D-line.”
DBs looked the best
Of all of the units, the defensive backs seemed to make the most improvement from the final game of last season — and that’s without injured star Osagie Odiase, who sat out the spring game.
The DBs seemed hawkish and did a very good job of reading the coverage in a number passing situations, especially over the middle with help from linebackers.
This did not look like the same unit that ranked 66th in the FCS in pass defense last season. Remember, they were torched by excellent quarterbacks from Eastern Washington, Montana, Montana State and Portland State.
Sperbeck’s take: “Ryan McMahon, Cory Armstrong, Cory Vander beek. All of those guys had good springs. They had good consistency.”
That’s your new punter
Justin Weldon, a transfer from Fresno City Junior College looks to be the odds-on favorite as the next Hornets punter. His kicks out drove Smith Heath’s kicks and his hangtime was far better, even on Weldon’s shorter kicks.
Sperbeck’s take: “Smith did a nice job and Justin did too. They both looked good. There’s another good competition going on there between the two of them.”
He’s still kicking
Jason Diniz, last season’s erratic placekicker, did nothing to hold onto the job during the spring game. He had about a dozen kicks — most from the 45-35-yard area — and made only half of them.
Remember, Diniz’s inconsistency caused the offense to call plays differently on third and fourth downs last season. He will face competition this year from Ed Ruhnke, who will be transferring from Moorpark JC. It’s a good guess that Ruhnke will get a long look unless Diniz increases his reliability quickly after training camp opens in August.
Sperbeck’s take: “(Diniz looked) hot and cold. Consistency, that’s the whole name of the game with the kicker…. Ruhnke is coming in in the fall so we expect him to compete right away.”
And the quarterback winner is …
Just a gut feeling, but sophomore Garrett Safron seems like he will win the quarterback battle over Mason Magleby, the local kid who transferred from Nevada.
Safron seemed to have adapted to Peterson’s offense and doesn’t have the same happy feet that he had last season. Magleby, more of a pocket passer, looked uncomfortable in the spring game, missing most of his receivers high and wide. Safron was more on target, but he was the victim of a number of drops by his receivers.
Safron had the highlight of the Saturday’s game: He threw a 28-yard fade pass to the right side of the end zone to DeAndre Carter.
Sperbeck’s take: “I would say right now it’s a close fight, but Garrett Safron had a good spring and I thought he made a jump. I think Mason is getting better every day. It’s a great competition there as we go into fall camp. ”
When will you name a starter? “I think we’ll look at (spring film) and leave (naming a starter) up to coach Peterson to decide. He will look at it more closely here in the next couple of weeks. I think we’re very fortunate that we have two guys that could play. We’ve got good competition and those seemed like good things.”
Does Safron seem more comfortable in the pocket?: “I think for Garrett, it’s just getting more comfortable with his reeds and his decision-making. I think that’s something he’s getting better at. … Last year we put more of an emphasis running the ball and I think he’s had to kind of discipline himself to stay with the reads a little longer.”
Are they ready for Colorado?
This team will miss the leadership of graduated quarterback Jeff Fleming and won’t be a surprise to Colorado in the opener. But it does look better than the team that squandered a lot of chances during the last few weeks of the season.
Sperbeck’s take: “Overall, I think our team came into spring and learned from our mistakes each day and got better.”
