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Sidelines Kalani Simpson |
As spring ends,
Warriors look loadedSECOND looks and second thoughts on the rites of spring:
>> I heard June Jones on the radio the other day saying that upcoming football foe Appalachian State is better than many teams in the WAC.
Uh ... that's not a good thing.
(When the local coach is always saying a Division I-AA squad could be one of the league's top teams, that's not a power conference.)
>> Yes, I think Tony Akpan could turn into a real football player, but I'll wait a few months before I award him the Outland Trophy.
Tony knocked down a pass in Thursday's spring scrimmage (it hit him in the armpit). And he did chase the quarterback once (after Akpan was blocked out of the play, Se'e Poumele somehow scrambled his way into Mr. Tony's neighborhood). But I love Tony. Everybody loves Tony. He's infectious, in the best sense.
He comes to play.
>> It's easy to lose perspective when you only look at one team, the same guys every week. But aside from an offensive line that still needs to jell, UH looks loaded.
Of course, that's what happens when you get four straight "best-ever" recruiting classes (and another on the way).
>> That line looked better the second scrimmage than the first. And history says Mike Cavanaugh picks his starting five and sticks with it.
>> I was telling my wife how I enjoyed the spring game when she told me, no, it was a spring SCRIMMAGE. And if there were no spring game in Nebraska, the Big Red fans would riot.
(They probably would.)
She was also the one, when I was explaining how UH was giving the backup quarterbacks all the work this spring, who said, immediately, innocently, without a hint of malice but without missing a beat: "So they'll be ready for when Timmy gets hurt?"
Poor Timmy. Now it isn't even "if."
>> My favorite players this spring: Samson Satele (real young, real good, real mean, real deal), Ross Dickerson (wants to play), Leonard Peters (hangs out with Jones and lets the coach know how the scrimmages are going), Travis LaBoy (I think we're all to the point of admiration now), Justin McClain and Corey Donahue (in a non-contact spring, the only guys you're allowed to hit), Chad Kahale (Mr. Enthusiasm), Lono Manners (good name, good prospect) and The Entire Defensive Line.
>> This team has depth, defensive tackles, corners and a mature Timmy Chang. Not a bad picture, heading out of spring.
Kalani Simpson can be reached at ksimpson@starbulletin.com