BearcatReport.com - Spring Game Recap

April 25, 2009

Scott Springer
BearcatReport.com Staff Writer

A pretty good night for Bearcat Bowl III (at least that's what the record crowd of 12,491 must've thought) as they watched the Red UC offense defeat the White UC defense 69-37. According to Brian Kelly, it was the "Kelly-Stableford scoring system. "Whenever it wasn't going good offensively, I changed the rules," he said.

Under ideal conditions, the fans got see a lot of scoring, the Orange Bowl seniors from last season get their rings, and tape of ESPN showing Connor Barwin as he was being drafted in the second round by the Houston Texans. (Actually, I had the word from Brandon Underwood's super-secret cell apparatus five minutes earlier and I think it spread like wildfire from there down the sidelines.)

I keep mentioning in these articles how times are changing in the status of recruits and walk-ons that show up. More of that was in evidence tonight. A pretty good ballpark figure on how many recruits came to this game (in terms of badges handed out to be on the field prior to the game) is mindboggling!

Would believe around 400?

Again, in days gone by, that might've been the attendance for the entire event.

Pretty soon, you might have that many former players showing up alone. With the successful Jim Kelly Sr. Memorial Golf outing on Friday, and the Glenn Sample Captain's Breakfast on Saturday, this event is going to grow and grow as more recent players join those that have "fought the good fight" for years here.

As I mentioned, the Orange Bowl seniors were honored. They all now have rings that cover about a quarter of whatever finger they choose to slip it on (those bad boys are huge!). While Barwin wasn't there since he was still waiting on his draft call, other guys with potential pro careers were. (Trevor Canfield, DeAngelo Smith, Brandon Underwood, and Kevin Huber.)

I talked with Dustin Grutza for a separate interview and I didn't realize that he now has four bowl rings (Fort Worth, International, Papajohns.com and Orange). Grutza and the guys seemed to be enjoying the visual end of things at a game for a change.

Also, Haruki Nakamura came by and spent some time on the sideline. Clearly, Haruki's NFL money is being spent on clothes because he was decked out in some casual wear that I usually only see on those silly fashion shows my wife turns on.

To best describe the "Nakamura look"? Two words....

Plaid shoes!

O.K., to the game detail....

Those not playing due to injury: Andre Revels, Dominique Battle, Craig Carey, Travis Kelce, Charley Howard and Angel Clybourne.

First out of the inflatable tunnel: senior Aaron Webster.

First touchdown: Tony Pike to Ben Guidugli (same play that Connor Barwin scored on last year and that Kazeem Alli caught to beat West Virginia). Said Pike, "Our receivers did a good job of getting open and hopefully we put on a good show."

Last touchdown: Brendon Kay to Adrien Robinson with 32 seconds to go.

Best touchdown: Zach Collaros with a home run ball to Danny Milligan. Milligan finishes with 16 points (touchdown, field goals of 32 and 42, and three extra points).

Afterward, Milligan said, "I know that if I keep working hard and doing the right thing, I'll be in there. Whatever I can do?if it's kicking field goals, punting, kicking off or catching the football."

Brian Kelly added, "He does a great job. Everytime you turn around, he's got his hands on the ball and he's making some kind of play. He's an exciting little ballplayer. We thought he could help us win and that's why we recruited him. We didn't recruit him because we thought he could kick extra points?we thought he could catch the football a little bit and he continues to prove that."

At the quarterback position, all four had touchdown throws. Pike was 25-35 for 210 yards and the touchdown to Ben Guidugli; Collaros 9-13 for 146 yards and the bomb to Milligan; Chazz Anderson 5-10 for 48 yards and an endzone loft to Armon Binns; and Brendon Kay 5-5 for 56 yards and the late score to Robinson.

To keep perspective, it was all done with "vanilla" defense and limited plays. On the field when it was all over, Coach Kelly showed us his laminated play sheet.

"I mean, my pages (plays) are usually three to four pages long," he said. "We kept it really basic for them."

Kelly was pleased with what he saw from Tony Pike, but what had him talking at game's end was the performance of Zach Collaros.

"Zach didn't get as much work in the spring (he's been playing baseball also) so we wanted to get him more work in the game," Kelly said. "You see what Zach brings to the table. He's a playmaker. My heart skips a little bit because I don't know what he's doing sometimes, but generally it comes out pretty good."

Asked about previous reporters (me) comparing Collaros to Ben Mauk?

"I hear that all the time," Kelly said. "Ben tells me that all the time. Ben says, 'Zach's my guy, he reminds me of me'. I go, 'He needs to pick up the reads a little bit better'. He says, 'Coach, I never read it either!' He has a little bit of that. He helped himself. His ability to throw the ball down the field and make some people miss...if you look back at the Mauk situation, when it was controlled, it wasn't so good. Then we went to some live scrimmages and Ben kind of separated himself. Having a live scrimmage for Zach Collaros definitely helps."

Your receiving leaders in this one were Ben Guidugli and Armon Binns, both with seven catches and both with touchdowns. Binns went up high in the endzone and got the feet in for a late touchdown with Chazz Anderson at quarterback.

"He does a nice job, we knew that coming in," Brian Kelly said of Binns. "It was nice to see him catch the football." New defensive standout Marcus Barnett added, "Binns...he's been around, he's been doing that for awhile now. He just had to wait his turn and now he's going to show ya'all what you've been missing out on."

As for the fan debut of "Bones" Barnett as a cornerback, he still appeared to be on the prowl after the game as I found him lurking about in the stands. "Bones" said, "It was fun to show the fans we've recovered in the secondary this year."

One more word from the defense and that comes from new linebacker Demetrius Jones, who last year threw a touchdown pass in this same game.

"It felt pretty good just to be out there flying around," Jones said. "Just getting used to, you know, five, six, seven, back-to-back (plays)in a row in a simulated game situation...third and short...second and long...you definitely get the feeling about being on defense."

And so, a long weekend comes to a close for the football program, and the countdown to Camp Higher Ground begins....

"We got our work done in the first 14 days," Coach Kelly said. "This was for you guys, for the fans, for really just everyone that's followed us. We just wanted excitement."

Regardless of the scoring system, 69 points is going to excite a lot of people and go a long way toward filling up the "Nipp" game after game.

Your next opportunity comes on September 12th.

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