The list of questions surrounding the University of Toledo football team is different now than when spring practice kicked off a month ago.
Some concerns were doused in Friday's spring game and others inflamed. New ones surfaced. Here is a list of updated story lines worthy of inspection heading into fall camp in August.
FLUELLEN AND ...?: Junior running back David Fluellen spoke about the importance of retooling a "stable" of backs in response to the departure of Adonis Thomas and Morgan Williams. There's little debate Fluellen will be at the forefront of the group.
Displaying solid vision, shiftiness, and some grit when he carried two defenders into the end zone on a nine-yard touchdown run, he appears ready to rise from understudy to star.
But it remains unsettled who will be his substitutes. Hoping to distinguish themselves are senior David Pasquale, first-year walk-ons Ricky Pringle and Charles Purdue, and sophomore Cassius McDowell. That is, of course, if McDowell remains a running back.
WHAT TO DO WITH MCDOWELL: McDowell, from Deerfield Beach, Fla., stood two feet away from a reporter who asked him if he's faster than his high school teammate, Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson.
"He's faster by about this much," McDowell said, indicating the distance between him and the reporter.
McDowell, who exhibited his uncanny speed on a 31-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown, can play running back or receiver. Determining that McDowell can help the offense next fall is a no-brainer. Carving out a role for him will take some creativity.
SECONDARY A CONCERN: With McDowell and receivers Dwight Macon and Bernard Reedy burning the defense for long touchdown receptions, someone is to blame. Has to be the secondary.
Cornerback Chris Dukes whiffed trying to bring down Macon on the first play of the game, and Reedy escaped Jermaine Robinson's last-ditch tackling effort.
Extenuating circumstances can be linked to the secondary's poor outing. The absences of injured players Mark Singer, Jordan Haden, and Kishon Wilcher meant some backs were forced to play for the Blue and Gold squads. Still, it doesn't look good when the most impressive defensive back, arguably, was Fluellen -- and he was inserted there just for kicks.
MACON PLAYS: Without debate, the player with the most productive spring was Macon. The third-string quarterback, he bounced around from one offensive skill position to the next, eventually finding a home at receiver.
If being picked first overall in the spring game draft wasn't the ultimate compliment, then it was this: Campbell said Macon was so impressive he could've been the offensive MVP for all 14 practices. There's no real question or debate about Macon, only how good he can be.
QB BATTLE: Save the least pressing question for last. Both Terrance Owens and Austin Dantin have earned the right to play, Campbell said, so the exercise of anointing a starter is somewhat anticlimactic.
Owens received the majority of first-team repetitions, so he gets the edge heading into the fall. The differences between him and senior Dantin are plentiful. Lefty vs. righty. Strong arm vs. heady decision maker. Pocket passer vs. scrambling threat.
One of them will win the competition, but there likely won't be a true loser. The continuation of a two-quarterback system is logical.
Contact Ryan Autullo at: rautullo@theblade.com, 419-724-6160 or on Twitter @RyanAutullo.
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