East Carolina
GREENVILLE, N.C. - East Carolina continued to wage position battles and fine tune its offensive and defensive schemes Saturday, closing its spring practice contact period with the Purple-Gold Game in front of 7,114 at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
ECU's ones and twos on the depth chart experienced the majority of the action, while the threes turned in an abbreviated segment at the end of the scrimmage. Collectively, East Carolina racked up 369 yards on 85 plays for an average of 4.3 yards per play.
"We went into the game thinking execution on all three sides of the ball," head coach Ruffin McNeill said. "We had officials and fans in the stands which contributed to a game-like atmosphere. We were able to come out of it healthy. I like the progress of the team."
The Pirate quarterback corps finished the contest with 30 completions on 47 attempts for 248 yards. Junior Rio Johnson converted 17 of his 23 passes to lead the squad with 153 yards and was the only signal caller of the three to avoid a turnover. Redshirt freshman Cody Keith and senior Brad Wornick contributed 69 and 26 yards, respectively, with each having a drive ended via turnover. Johnson produced 11 of ECU's 20 first downs while Keith added seven
Houston
HOUSTON - David Piland threw for 276 yards and two scores as the Houston Red squad earned a 42-28 victory in the annual Red & White Game hosted for the final time at Robertson Stadium on Friday.
Piland, who has played well all spring, connected on 21-of-27 passes in limited action and hit Dewayne Peace on a first quarter scoring throw of 42 yards and Daniel Spencer on a nine-yard TD in the fourth.
The Red squad opened the game with 14 first-quarter points led by the play of Piland. The redshirt sophomore threw for 200 yards in the opening frame, showing a crowd of 5,137 why he was named the UH starter earlier in the week by Head Coach Tony Levine. Piland hit nine different receivers in the opening quarter, including that 42-yard toss to Peace.
As expected quarterback play was solid all night for the Cougars. Bram Kohlhausen, who split time on both teams, combined to complete 21-of-33 passes for 270 yards and two scores. He did toss a pair of interceptions however. Not to be outdone, Crawford Jones hit 15-of-21 throws for 204 yards (playing for bothsquads) and three TDs, while Drew Hollingshead completed 9-of-14 throws for the UH White.
Marshall
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) – Marshall football coach Doc Holliday has dismissed defensive back Phillip Warren and plans to discipline three other players following their weekend arrests outside a Huntington bar.
Holliday said Tuesday that Warren has been kicked off the team for an unspecified violation of team rules and policies.
A criminal complaint accuses Warren of striking a police officer who was assisting patrons out of a bar early Sunday.
Warren is charged with battery on police, disorderly conduct and obstructing an officer.
Memphis
Apr 25, 2012 - Yesterday, I discussed a Tulane program handing its team of once-interesting recruits (and awful performers) to an inexperienced head coach. Today, we discuss a program with perhaps even MORE interesting recruits, but handing the reins to an even less experienced coach.
From 2003-08, Memphis was a rock solid Conference USA program. They went to five bowls in six years, beat Ole Miss in 2003 and 2004, almost beat Tennessee in 2005, and briefly found themselves ranked in 2004. Even with a random 2-10 season in 2006, they averaged 6.5 wins per season in this span.
In the last three years, they have won a total of five games. The bottom fell out for longtime coach Tommy West in 2009; his Tigers went 2-10, and he was dumped. His replacement, Larry Porter, reeled in a series of choice recruits … and went 3-21. The Liberty Bowl is what I will politely call a well-seasoned venue that can get pretty loud and fun when given reason to be. In recent years, though, it has just looked empty and decrepit. To restore some semblance of energy to the program, especially with a big conference move on the horizon, the Tigers went young.
http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/2012/4/25/2969406/2012-memphis-football-preview
Rice
Rice Director of Athletics Rick Greenspan announced on Wednesday that Rice University has reached agreement with Texas A&M to bring the two former longtime Southwest Conference rivals back together on the football field as they kick off the season on August 31, 2013.
"Rice and Texas A&M have a deep tradition on the football field and we are excited about the chance to renew this series next year," Greenspan said. "I hear from so many of our fans who relish the memories of those great games in our history and I know how much it will mean to them to once again make the trip up to College Station to see us play."
Rice and Texas A&M first met on the football field in 1914 and one year later the two schools were part of the original group of eight institutions the formed the Southwest Conference.
Rice won that initial SWC meeting, 7-0 and the schools would continue to play until the conference dissolved in 1995. Their last meeting was a 17-10 loss by the Owls in Rice Stadium, which gave the Aggies a 50-27-3 lead in the series.
http://www.riceowls.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/042512aaa.html
SMU
DALLAS (SMU) - Fox Sports Net has selected SMU's 2012 season opener at Baylor to air on national TV, it was announced today. To accommodate the broadcast, SMU and Baylor have agreed to move the game to Sunday, Sept. 2, with a 5:30 p.m. CT kickoff on FSN.
SMU enters the 2012 season on the heels of a third straight bowl berth and a 28-6 thumping of Pitt in the BBVA Compass Bowl.
http://www.smumustangs.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/041912aaa.html
Southern Miss
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Southern Miss accumulated 463 yards of offense as it held its annual spring football game, Saturday afternoon at Carlisle-Faulkner Field at M.M. Roberts Stadium.
Instead of a traditional spring game, the Golden Eagles played offense versus defense, with the offense putting up 34 points.
Ricky Lloyd threw for 199 yards on 14-of-28 passing, while Chris Campbell connected on 12-of-18 passing for 167 yards, including a 26-yard touchdown to Dominique Sullivan.
Desmond Johnson ran five times for 36 yards and two touchdown runs of 14 and one yard. Kendrick Hardy ran a game-high seven times for 17 yards and a touchdown.
Tracey Lampley caught four passes for 90 yards, including receptions of 38 and 27 yards. Cooper Harrington caught four balls for 64 yards. He was also the recipient of the game's longest pass play, a 44-yard reception from Lloyd. Dominique Sullivan added two catches for 65 yards and a touchdown.
On defense, Jamie Collins registered eight tackles to lead the way, while Alan Howze and Terrick Wright added six. Jamie Collins added four tackles, including three sacks. Martez Thompson and DaQuinton Dean each recorded an interception.
http://www.southernmiss.com/sports/m-footbl/recaps/041412aab.html
Tulane
NEW ORLEANS -Tulane head football coach Curtis Johnson released the Green Wave's official post-spring depth chart today and 14 returning starters, along with several new faces, featured on the two-deep.
"We had a very good spring season and I was very pleased with the progress the team made with just the 15 practices," Johnson said. "I thought we finished ahead of schedule and that will put us in good shape heading into fall camp. We need to finish our semester on a strong note academically and work hard over the summer if we're going to be successful next fall.
"We took a hard look out our personnel prior to and following spring practices and moved some guys to different positions. I believe we are putting our players in the best possible positions to be successful."
Offensively, six players return to the starting roles they held down a year ago, including senior Ryan Griffin (quarterback), junior Orleans Darkwa (running back), sophomore Matt Marfisi (tight end), junior Wilson Van Hooser (receiver) and seniors Zach Morgan (center) and Eric Jones (right tackle).
On defense, five players are back in their starting roles including seniors Austen Jacks (defensive end), Shakiel Smith (strong safety), Ryan Travis (cornerback), Trent Mackey (middle linebacker) and Darryl Farley (strong-side lineback).
Several new faces are in the fold on offense, beginning with redshirt-freshman Nate Skold (left tackle), redshirt-sophomore Adam Skidmore (left guard), and redshirt-junior Rio Mares each make their debut in starting positions, while redshirt-freshman Arturo Uzdavinis (left tackle), sophomore Dante Butler (running back) and redshirt-freshman Leon Blouin, IV (quarterback) find their names on the two-deep at the No. 2 spots.
http://www.tulanegreenwave.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/041312aaa.html
Tulsa
Tulsa, Oklahoma - Tulsa Head Football Coach Bill Blankenship confirmed today that Khiry Cooper has signed scholarship papers and has been admitted to The University of Tulsa as a graduate student. Cooper will receive his degree from the University of Nebraska in May, but still has one season of football eligibility remaining and will complete that year at Tulsa.
Cooper, a 6'3", 205-pound receiver, was a two-sport athlete at Nebraska, playing football and baseball. In three seasons on the Cornhuskers football team, Cooper grabbed 21 passes for 140 yards and one touchdown in 27 career games. He also played 99 career games for the Huskers baseball team.
"I'm really excited about the addition of Khiry to our football program. He is an extremely gifted athlete and is someone I've known and recruited when he was in high school in Louisiana," said Blankenship. "Khiry's physical maturity should help him make an impact this coming season."
Cooper played in nine games during the 2011 football season, while catching four passes for 60 yards. He played in six games in 2010, but did not catch a pass.
http://www.tulsahurricane.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/041112aaa.html
UAB
http://www.uabsports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/042112aaa.html
UCF
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Wanting to see how his sophomore quarterback would react in pressure situations, UCF head coach George O'Leary threw a little bit of everything at Blake Bortles on Saturday in the UCF Spring Game presented by PNC Bank.
And the good news for the Knights is that other than a fluke of a play where the ball slipped out of his hands for a scoop-and-score fumble, Bortles passed just about every test.
The 6-foot-4, 221-pound quarterback completed 27 of 45 passes - some of which came on long fourth down plays and others as the offense hurried through several no-huddle sequences - as UCF's first-string squad defeated the second-string Knights 20-7 at Bright House Networks Stadium.
Bortles, who showed flashes of greatness in relief last season, passed for 239 yards and a touchdown on Saturday. His numbers would have been even gaudier had the receivers, H-backs and tailbacks not 12 dropped passes. But all in all O'Leary was impressed with how his quarterback responded to being challenged.
``I really wanted to put Blake under some heat because I think that's going to happen pretty quick early in the season,'' said O'Leary, referring to tough early-season games at Ohio State and Akron and at home against Missouri and FIU. ``I wanted to see how he took it on. There still needs to be more of a sense of urgency, but I thought he handled it all really well.''
http://www.ucfathletics.com/sports/m-footbl/recaps/041412aaa.html
UTEP
Nathan Jeffery rushed 18 times for 122 yards, and the Blue team pounded out 245 yards on the ground in a 29-0 victory over the White in UTEP's annual Spring Game on Friday night in the Sun Bowl.
Josh Bell chipped in with 14 carries for 58 yards, but it was Jeffery who stole the show from an offensive standpoint as the Miners wrapped up the 2012 edition of spring drills.
"We had four starting offensive linemen missing against a defense that was hitting hard, and I thought Jeffery really played well," UTEP coach Mike Price said. "He doesn't look as big because he has those skinny legs. But he's 205, 210 pounds. He's a heavy duty running back."
Nick Lamaison (12-for-26, 122 yards) and Carson Meger (8-for-12, 102 yards) combined to account for 224 of the Blue's 248 passing yards. The four quarterbacks who saw action completed passes to 12 different receivers, as Jacob Garcia led the Blue with 73 yards on two catches.
Lamaison and Meger hooked up with Jordan Leslie and Eric Tomlinson for touchdown passes of 45 and four yards, respectively, and Jeffery scored on a three-yard run. Steven Valadez completed the scoring by connecting on 3-of-4 field goal attempts, connecting from 42 yards twice and 38 yards once.
Price was pleased that the offense has shown improvement over the course of the spring, although the center exchange was again a problem on Friday night.
"We will solve that by recruiting and also by getting [starting center] Eloy Atkinson back," Price said. "That's not our full team that you saw tonight. The timing of the offense has been off all spring. It's tough to throw the ball, find the handle, read the defensive end and do all the things that we're trying to do without a perfect snap. We know what we're doing, we just have to get the right snapper in there."
http://www.utepathletics.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/040712aaa.h
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