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April 2, 2005
OXFORD, Ohio--With gray skies over Yager Stadium and a strong wind gusting out of the north, Miami University's football team saw its first simulated game action of the spring as the RedHawks took to the field for the first of three spring scrimmages.
After a quick start from the offense that led to a pair of early Todd Soderquist field goals and an 18-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Josh Betts to sophomore tailback Brandon Murphy, the defense was able to change the momentum with a pair of turnovers and kept the offense off the scoreboard over the remainder of the game. While there were promising signs on both sides of the ball, head coach Shane Montgomery and defensive coordinator Taver Johnson agreed that there is still work to be done.
"Both sides competed hard, but when your offense and defense go against each other you're going to see good and bad on both sides of the ball," Montgomery said. "Overall the execution was pretty good, but there are definitely some things we need to work on in the remaining two weeks."
Betts got the offense off to a quick start by completing his first three passes and driving the first-string offense into range for a 46-yard Soderquist field goal. The second-string offense followed suit, with freshman Jimmy Calhoun providing a pair of impressive runs in setting up a 31-yard effort from Soderquist.
Murphy was the playmaker on the first-string offense's second drive of the day, busting off a long run to advance the ball inside the defense's 20-yard line and later hauling in an 18-yard touchdown reception from Betts.
"The running backs are coming along," Montgomery said. "Brandon Murphy has had a good spring, and, if we started tomorrow, he'd be our No. 1 guy. Guys like Jimmy Calhoun, Akim Lannaman, Cory Jones and Austin Sykes are also making good progress. We need to get one or two of those guys to step up, because, with the offense we run, we're going to need two or three good contributors from that position."
Miami's offense maintained the momentum into its next series, getting big receptions from freshmen Sean McVay and Dave Koval and moving inside the 10-yard line. In a heartbeat, however, the defense was able to force a redzone fumble and change the direction of the scrimmage. Senior safety Steve Burke followed with an interception on the next possession, and the defense would seem to control the momentum for the remainder of the scrimmage.
"We started off much slower than we wanted and gave up some big plays early," Johnson said. "Once we got that first turnover and generated a little emotion, we started getting some sacks and interceptions. That's the nature of defense. We want to be aggressive and take it to the offense."
Injuries continue to be an issue for the RedHawk offense, which was missing two of its starting lineman and four of its top five returning wide receivers. According to Montgomery, the injury issues are forcing some of the younger players to learn on the fly against the first-string defense, which can be a challenging proposition.
While the wide receivers worked to get up to speed throughout the scrimmage, the RedHawk quarterbacks looked often to a large cast of tight ends. Along with 2004 regulars Dan Tyler and Tyler Vogel, a number of redshirt freshman, including Jake O'Connell, were targeted frequently.
"We want to see the tight ends more involved in the offense, but it's also a result of having to play a lot more two-tight end sets while we're bringing the young receivers along," Montgomery said. "Regardless it's a talented group, and it was good to see them plying a big role today."
After a light practice day tomorrow, the RedHawks take part in two more padded practices next week before scrimmaging again at 10:30 a.m. next Saturday. Spring practice wraps up on April 15 with annual Spring Game.
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