Big East Report
April 10, 2003 01:24 PM | General
April 10, 2003
MIAMI – The biggest question in the Big East this spring will not be answered until next fall.
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| Touted quarterback Brock Berlin is in a battle with Derrick Crudup for the starting spot at Miami. (Miami Herald photo) |
Miami coach Larry Coker announced after his team’s annual spring game that he will wait until the fall to name his starting quarterback to replace record-setting Ken Dorsey.
The job has been paired to just two: junior Derrick Crudup and Florida transfer Brock Berlin.
Both Crudup and Berlin played well in the spring game. Crudup completed 7 of 8 passes for 100 yards and a touchdown. Berlin was 8 of 16 for 129 yards and a score. Both worked with the starters.
“I think I had a great performance,” Crudup told the Miami Herald. “I feel real good about it. I was more patient. I trusted my offensive line, I trusted my arm and I trusted my first-gut instinct. I think I made a case for my campaign. It’s up to the coaches now.”
The ball may now be in Coker’s court but it isn’t moving anywhere.
“It would be better to (decide) now, but it’s not the right thing to do right now,” Coker said. “We’ll sit down and evaluate the entirety of the spring and make the decision.”
Coker indicated that he wants to make the decision on a starter early in fall practice.
Other Miami musings:
“I’m very excited about Baraka Atkins,” Coker told the Miami Herald recently.
Elsewhere around the Big East:
Horace Dodd ran for 66 yards and a touchdown in BOSTON COLLEGE’s first intrasquad scrimmage of the spring on Saturday, April 6.
A pair of freshmen quarterbacks took all of the snaps for BC. Walk-on Dan Berglund completed 7 of 15 passes for 79 yards and a touchdown, while Karim El Nokali completed 8 of 17 passes for 58 yards.
“We showed marked improvement this week,” Coach Tom O’Brien noted on bceagles.com. “There was better intensity on both sides of the ball.”
Boston College winds up its spring next Saturday with the Jay McGillis Spring Game.
PITT had a big scare when senior defensive end Claude Harriott went down with a left knee injury during a scrimmage last Saturday. Tests revealed a second-degree sprain. He will not need surgery and will be ready for fall training camp, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Meanwhile, junior Rod Rutherford has become entrenched as the team’s starting quarterback. There is, however, a battle for the No. 2 job between Tyler Palko and Luke Getsy. Pitt coach Walt Harris said if the two were equal at the end of spring practice, he would consider redshirting Palko.
Pitt’s Blue-Gold spring game will be held at North Hills High School this Saturday at 1 p.m.
Staying on the quarterback theme, Ryan Hart heads a five-man race for the top job at RUTGERS. Other candidates are Ted Trump, Chris Baker, Anthony Cali and Brian Boland.
One player out of the mix is Ryan Cubit, who left the program along with his father, offensive coordinator Bill Cubit.
According to the Newark Star-Ledger, things got so bad last season that the elder Cubit was screaming in the locker room at halftime of the Notre Dame game that his son needed to be put in because Rutgers’ starting quarterback was panicking.
Bill Cubit wound up resigning and Ryan Cubit transferred to Western Michigan.
At SYRACUSE the biggest mission for Coach Paul Pasqualoni is repairing a defense that was downright awful last year. His primary point of emphasis will be in the secondary.
The Syracuse Post-Standard reports that a player expected to make the biggest impact in the secondary is Diamond Feri, a one-time tailback who sat out last year for disciplinary reasons. Feri now weighs 220 pounds and is working at strong safety.
Meanwhile, possible starting cornerback Jeremiah Mason has transferred to Northeastern where he joins former SU quarterback Cecil Howard.
Starting outside linebacker Jameel Dumas is expected to rejoin the team in August after withdrawing from school for personal reasons. Pasqualoni says the loss of Dumas doesn’t hurt this spring because it gives younger players an opportunity to get work.
Syracuse posted a 4-8 record last year for its worst season in Pasqualoni’s 13-year coaching tenure.
TEMPLE returns 22 players with starting experience this spring, but Coach Bobby Wallace is most concerned about his team’s red zone defense and a propensity for giving up the football on offense.
“We are in a situation where both sides of the ball needs to work on same thing,” he was quoted on Owlsports.com.
Temple has six starters returning on offense and four on defense. Twenty three former lettermen depart with a combined total of 403 starting assignments.
“Despite losing a lot of seniors, the talent level of this football team is better than ever,” Wallace states. “We will, however, be inexperienced.”
Temple wraps up spring drills on Saturday, April 26 with the Cherry & White Game.
VIRGINIA TECH fans have been anxious for the start of quarterback Marcus Vick’s career. Michael’s younger brother was a high school All-American who sat out his freshman season as a redshirt.
So far, starter Bryan Randall has been able to hold off the promising plebe. Randall completed 11 of 18 passes for 187 yards and 3 touchdowns in one scrimmage and will probably maintain the No. 1 spot heading into fall practice.
Hokie defensive coordinator Bud Foster has spent this spring without starters Vegas Robinson and Jim Davis, both of whom had surgery. Another starter, Cols Colas, is still sidelined after having knee surgery in January.
Foster is also minus defensive tackles Isaac Montgomery (torn MCL) and Jimmy Williams (suspension).
In addition, Foster’s best corner, DeAngelo Hall, has been working at wide receiver.
Those players have reduced the effectiveness of Tech’s defense this spring, forcing Foster to keep things basic.
“With the number of guys we have out, I’m not into scheming against our offense,” Foster recently told the Roanoke Times. “We’re wanting to run things so these young kids can see it on film and we can improve.”
Additions:
Miami added a 24th player to its recruiting class when Pompano Beach, Fla., native Teraz McCray signed a national letter-of-intent. The Ely High School product is a 6-foot, 285-pound defensive tackle.
Syracuse picked up St. Augustine, Fla., offensive lineman Marvin McCall for its 18th recruit. The 6-foot-3, 300-pound lineman earned Class 3A all-state honors as a senior.
Syracuse also welcomed six additions to its spring roster: TE Beau Davidson of Katy, Texas; S Diamond Feri of Everett, Mass.; OL Steve Franklin of Dover, Del.; DB Larry McClain of Forestville, Md.; OL Euguene Newsome of East Stroudsburg, Pa.; S Jeremy Sellers of Rawlings, Md.
And Temple added junior college wide receiver Andre Mixon to its 2003 recruiting class. Mixon, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound Detroit native, played at Vermilion Community College in Ely, Minn.
