Coyote Spring Game

[sdyotefan]

Really excited to watch the spring game tomorrow night!! Especially to get a chance to see the new and younger players--there's a lot of talent!!

[sportschic]

Can't wait to see how the 3-4 defense as their base defense looks. I know some player's positions from last year have changed a bit.

[thebacksackdad]

My wife and I are ,pumped! Just finished packing for the 8 hour road trip tomorrow morning. Miss my SD friends so much and we're soo looking forward to seeing all of you!!!

GO COYOTES!!! BOOM SHAKALAKA!!!!!!!

[golfingyote]

Nice to see Jonathan Joanis and Reggie Crawford in the starting lineup.

[usdtator]

Yeah... but why isn't Kody Case starting?

[coyotecrazie5]

Apr 20, 2018 13:53:22 GMT -6 usdtator said:

Yeah... but why isn't Kody Case starting?

Might be one of the players who are banged up. I wouldn't look too much into the starters at WR, Shamar Jackson is another player who could easily be listed as a starter.

[sdyotefan]

I count 8 Coyote WRs that are experienced or very capable--easily the deepest position talent on the team! The 7 that played last year totaled 173 receptions, 2,402 yds and 21 TDs. Great group to have back!!

[elcoyote]

Apr 20, 2018 13:53:22 GMT -6 usdtator said:

Yeah... but why isn't Kody Case starting?

What's he have to prove? 

[gopheryote]

Somebody better make this pic their avatar.

[Yotes]

[aldewitt]

Didn’t see the game but read statistics and am encouraged by the depth and ability shown by QBs. WR are very capable to outstanding. This team is looking like they will provide a great winning backdrop to what should be be a full schedule of football partying. Now it’s time for fans, players and coaches to get ready mentally and physically for KState. They aren’t much different than the Gophers and it is certainly a winnable game for The Yotes.

[howlingyote]

Spring game observations...

The rummage sales before the game was a huge success. A lot of people buying yote gear and the athletic department getting some money for retired equipment. A true win-win experience. 

Offense

QB:  Simmons over-threw a few receivers early, but looked solid once he settled into a good rhythm.  Tsagalis and Kaiser were also a bit shaky at first, but both had a good couple of drives with nice TD passes.  Kaiser also showed he can run when needed. 

Overall - After Friday's performance, I'm confident that we not only have a good starting QB in Simmons, but two quality backups in Tsagalis and Kaiser.

RB: 

Klett - We all know that Klett can run over people, but he displayed good field vision and used his deceptive speed and agility to record a very good game.  Looking forward to seeing him run through and around the MVFC. 

Thull - Injured last year.  Also had a good game with several strong runs. 

Fredrick/Kai - limited action.  I think Kai is still nursing a small injury and Fredrick didn't many touches with his extension game experience.

Gibbs - despite his size, he runs very strong.  Adds nice depth to a stable of good RB's.

Overall - Our big three from last year (Fredrick, Klett and Kai) will be instrumental in the success of our offense this year.  We must effectively run the ball to keep the pass rush off of Simmons. 

WR:  Bottom line - this group is deep and talented.  We saw several adjustments and excellent catches when our QB's were off target.  The nightmare for the MVFC secondary coaches is who do you cover?  Case and Allen can burn you deep.  Crawford played bigger than 6'2 and will be a great possession receiver.  Falk, Baker, Ducker, Jackson and the rest of the crew are every bit as good.  I pity opponents trying to scheme against this group.

OL:  Despite two starters out of Spring game (Jensen and Sheidegger) this group did a great job against a good yote defensive line.  Friday's performance showed us that we have built depth at this key position group.  We return 4 of 5 starters from last year's team and should be a dominating force this fall.

Kicking game:  FG kicking was good, but the punting results were a bit inconsistent.  I'm sure the coaches will be all over the punting game to ensure they maximize effectiveness. 

Defense:

Overall: Defense did not show many packages, blitzes or stunts.  This does not take anything away from the Offense's performance, but our defense was playing base defense to limit intel from spying eyes. 

DB's:  Good pursuit and tackling technique against the run, but coverage challenges throughout the night.  Our group of DB's were going against some of the best receivers in the conference, but should be a focus of work this fall.

LB's:  Good to see Matthews taking snaps, nice to have a big body in the middle.  Looking forward to further evaluating this group in the fall.

DL:  As referenced earlier, we played base defense so these guys really couldn't leverage their speed/agility that was so effective last year with stunt and blitz packages.  Whitcomb (out last year - injury) looked good in the middle and will be tough for opposing OL to move off the line.  I noticed Greenfield, Kline, Kramer and Headlee are noticeably bigger than last year.  Watch the fall roster weights climb dramatically for each of these guys.

Overall team analysis:

Coaching, recruiting and the new weight lifting coach has positioned this team to be VERY competitive this fall.  Despite this falls challenging out of conference schedule and the tough MVFC, this team should be competitive in EVERY game including KSU and NDSU.   Looking forward to a exciting fall campaign.

[usdyotes]

After watching the spring game my thoughts:

DB: play was horrible. You had a WR run by him and he stood there and let up a 70 yard play.

LB play: Had a horrible pass right too a LB that hit him in the hands easy interception dropped.

DL Did ok with only bull rushing and nothing else

Overall Multiple 3rd down and longs went for 1st downs. D is in trouble!!!!!

QB play average. Simmons only had the best receivers and didn't do much. And before you throw stats at me take away a 70 yd play(DB didn't move) a SPECTACULAR CATCH on a horrible throw for 40? Kaiser and Tsagalis did ok with the line and receivers they had. Parks none factor didn't play really at all.

WR "starters" did a great job showed how good they really are.

OL average starting 5 and subs still need work

Overall team rating C-

[yotefbfan]

Before I give my review of the Spring Game, you first have to understand that there were many players with injuries who would normally start and were not in the lineup. Second, there were a significant number of players who had little to prove in this game and thus saw very limited time. Finally, both offensively and defensively what we saw was very vanilla, during the season expect to see many more offensive sets and even more variety of plays. On defense, it would be fair to say we will stunt up front (saw very little of this on Friday) and we also saw very little of the 3-4 defense. When a majority of your spring game is time used to evaluate 2nd and 3rd string players, you are in good shape as a team. I was excited to see many new faces get opportunities and experience. 3 years ago, during Coach Neilson’s first pring game the overall talent level was lacking, we were much smaller, slower and overall not as athletic as we are now. Speaking briefly with one of the coaches, they are also very excited about the athleticism of the incoming Freshman and more than likely, we will see a few of them make an immediate impact as well.

As far as the game goes, On offence, what we saw looked good. Consider that we are down 2 starters from the O-line, yet the pass pro was very good and we created some very good running lanes. I love the depth at O-line and I am very excited to see the battles there next fall. Once again, I feel this is the strength of our offense. We saw a good bit of Simmons, and he looks the part. Yes he was helped out by some great catches, but that's the way it should be. The bunnies QB has been bailed out by some great receivers and most consider him a very good QB. I had a chance to rewatch the game and I felt Tsaglis and Kaiser looked much better on a second review than I first thought. I feel confident going into the fall that we are solid at the QB position. Fredrick and Henry saw very limited action at RB, which gave opportunity again to see our depth. Klett ran strong and showed some elusiveness and speed. Thull also showed well as a possible option in the fall. Here again I have a lot of confidence that our running game is in good shape. The receivers looked great. Besides the amazing catch by Allen, Crawford, Baker, and Falk all looked solid. Crawford could end up being a really good WR. Consider that Case, Ducker, and Jackson saw very little action and you can see why this is such a good unit. Other than Herrmann’s TD catch, the TEs were non existent and this could be an issue. I am confident in Samson, but we need one of the R-Fr to step up this fall. Overall, I give the Offense a solid B+ for Friday night.

On defense, we saw very little of the new 3-4 look and no real stunts. It looked like we were in a base defense most of the night as we rotated in a lot of names to get a good look at our depth. Up front, we were credited with 2 sacks and 6 tackles for loss. 4 of those TFLs came from the front guys. Yes, the running game had some good success, but the D won some battles as well. I have a lot of confidence in this position group and our depth looks excellent. At linebacker, it looked liked we were holding tryouts as there were many new faces getting opportunities. Considering we did not see Alex Gray or Alex Coker, this group had a solid night. I was very excited to see Matthew out there. He has a ton of promise and if he can stay injury free, he could solidify the middle. Joanis, Amunsan, and Makwinja all played well and might find there way to the starting lineup or at the very least solidify our special teams. While or DBs struggled at times, Consider the fact that in limited playing time, Armstead led the team in tackles and Collins, also had his time limited. Sommerville, Bolden, and McDaniels all got valuable reps at the edges but all still need more experience. With Powell out and Andrew Gray with limited time this gave opportunity for Johnson, Reed, Fischer, and Heinrichs to gain experience. While the the Defense got beat a few times, overall I still give them a solid C+

Special team are always very limited in the spring game. I thought the kickers looked good and showed great range. Punters need to be more consistent, but we will wait for the season and see how they do.

Overall, we got to see our depth and athleticism on display and that makes for a lot of positive anticipation for next year. Overall grade I would give is a Solid B. Here's hoping the boys finish their semesters strong and then put the time in this summer getting stronger and faster and Fall camp will be here sooner than you think. Should be another fun Fall and another trip to the Playoffs! Go Yotes!

[easmus]

I seem to remember last years Spring game looking a little shaky at times. I’m not too worried.