UNLV -
UNLV's spring game is today at 12:00 and features a team BBQ afterward. I will be there to take in as much analysis as I can. Here is what Coach Hauck had to say about Monday's practice:
"Today's practice was just ok," Hauck said. "We came out a little flat during the first part of practice but picked it up during team play."
The good news is that Omar Clayton and Mike Clausen have looked really comfortable in the new offense that Hauck has brought. It looks like Clayton will be the starter this year and Clausen will take over the QB start at the start of next season because Clayton is a Senior.
Last Saturday UNLV held their second spring scrimmage of the year, the offense looked great against a revamped Rebels defense. After watching the tape Coach Hauck confirmed that:
"The offense got the best of the defense," Hauck said. "It was a solid scrimmage and we got a lot of plays in. We have a ways to go as a team, but I like what is going on and the work the team is putting in."
Overall UNLV is looking great under Hauck's new offense, getting rid of the option (which neither of our QBs really could do well) and making some changes. I will try to get a full analysis of the UNLV football spring game on the site later on Saturday evening.
West Virginia -
The Mountaineers also held their second spring scrimmage on Monday, showing some good improvement. The only thing is that the assistant head coach Steve Dunlap has set a couple of goals for the defense this spring:
"We have a couple of goals in mind for our defense this spring," Dunlap said, "1, we want to develop real depth, we don't want any 'plug-ins'. 2, we really want to develop our pass rush to a much higher level."
I don't know about you, but I think this shows that there is a weakness in West Virginia's pass rush.
Head Coach Bill Stewart said he was not happy with the performance of his team in spring drills on Wednesday:
"Football is a tough sport," Stewart said, "When you have guys getting dinged up and putting on red and green jerseys, it makes football a tough sport to play, not just mentally but physically," Stewart continued, "The overall performance of the defense looked horrible today, maybe a .500 ball club."
Obviously Bill Stewart is not pleased with the way his defense played on Wednesday... On Friday the team had a 6 A.M. practice and will have their final spring scrimmage on Saturday.
Wisconsin -
The Badgers have surfaced a rumorabout possibly having a home and home matchup with either Nebraska or Notre Dame.
Wisconsin holds it's last spring game of the season at Camp Randall at 2:00 CT on Saturday. For full coverage here is the link to SBNation's own Bucky's 5th Quarter's coverage of the game.
Head Coach Bret Bielma says that QB Scotty Tolzien has won the race for starter but he wants him to keep improving:
"Scotty knows there is pressure behind him," Bielma said, "But we really want him to keep improving. He has made a lot of progress so far at his position and we hope he can continue to improve even though he has already locked up the position."
Here is what Bielma had to say about John Clay being an early heisman candidate:
"I sat down with his parents and thing I like about him is that normally when you are coming into your junior year with such high expectations, you tend to get caught up in that," Bielma said, "John doesn't do that, I think he'll be the first to tell you that the only thing he is interested in is getting better for the upcoming season."
Idaho -
The Vandals have their spring game finale on Friday, April 23rd.
Head Coach Robb Akey had this to say about his defense:
"There were a lot of bright spots for our defense today," coach Robb Akey said after the University of Idaho's second football scrimmage of the spring. "I like the way the defense came to the party today. It was a good thing."
One thing that is great for the Vandals is that they lost only one defensive starter to graduation and that helps a lot chemistry-wise.
Last Saturday Idaho had their second scrimmage of the spring and on offense the day was highlighted by walk-ons. Walk on tight end Daniel Micheletti had the big receiving numbers with five for 102, while on the ground it was another walk on - Bryce Davis, who led the way with 12 carries for 59 yards.
Hawaii -
The Warriors had a scrimmage last Saturday in a trip to a neighboring island.
Hawaii head coach Greg McMackin had this to say about position battles:
"It really still is an open competition," McMackin said during one of Hawaii's spring football practices, "We have narrowed it down to ones and twos, but between them it is really a toss up at most positions. Hopefully we see someone in the near future working their butt off to get on to that starting position. Otherwise it's going to be real tough in deciding who starts."