Busy day at the scrimmage today. Here are news, notes and quotes:

– Coach Tim Brewster was happy with the overall play. He said his team has made a lot of progress this spring.

– This scrimmage was shorter than the one last week because the team basically ran out of running backs. Jay Thomas obviously is out (I have feature on him in Sunday’s paper). Damola Ogundipe has a broken collarbone. R.J. Buckner and Tyler Johnson are nicked up and the coaching staff obviously doesn’t want to risk starter Duane Bennett. “Matt Carufel and Eric Small were playing running back for us,” Brewster joked.

– Marcus Sherels switched to cornerback this week and Brewster likes what he’s shown so far. Brewster said the move was one of need for the secondary. “(Secondary coach) Ronnie Lee is really excited about Marcus and what he brings to the plate,” Brewster said. “I really think he can help our defense. Marcus Sherels is a good football player. He’s a very smart football player. Ronnie Lee said you throw concepts at him and he understands them.”

– Also, Matt Stommes moved from DE to offensive tackle. “He’s a big strong kid. He’s now weighing 280 pounds. Real long. And obviously we’re thin at offensive tackle.”

– The scrimmage was closed for media, but a person present said David Pittman looked good at wide receiver and also had a nice punt return.

– The team has one week of spring practice remaining. Brewster called it the “fourth quarter.” “I told them that it is critical that we finish strong,” he said. “We’ve got to win in the fourth quarter.” 

 – The spring game format will be 1s vs. 1s, 2s vs. 2s again. They will have 15-minute running quarters.

– Brewster called this the most physical spring practice he’s ever been a part of anywhere.

–Brewster likes the competition at defensive line and linebacker, which will obviously increase once the newcomers arrive. “When you look at the linebacker position, some veteran, experienced guys are going to be competing for jobs,” he said. “Guys like Steve Davis having to compete is a great thing. Deon Hightower is going to have to compete to be a starter. That’s such a positive thing.”

– Brewster continues to be happy with the play of QB Adam Weber. I talked to Adam afterward and he said his play is night and day this spring compared to last. “I don’t even want think about last spring anymore,” he said, laughing. “It’s a very bad memory.”

– The Gophers received a verbal commitment from Florida wide receiver Victor Keise, who visited practice Saturday.

– West Des Moines offensive tackle David Barrent also was on hand. Barrent has a number of offers from BCS schools and one look at his size shows why. Rivals lists him at 6-8, 290 pounds and I would say that’s pretty accurate. He is a big kid.

That’s it for now. Have a good weekend.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 19th, 2008 at 2:48 pm and is filed under All, Gophers football. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.