Blue Captures Scrimmage
April 26, 2003 08:51 PM | General
April 26, 2003
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Backup running back Bryan Wright scored on touchdown runs of 70 and 2 yards to lead the Blue team to a 27-13 victory over the Gold in the 2003 Gold-Blue Spring Game at Mountaineer Field.
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| Freshman Bryan Wright scored on touchdowns of 70 and 2 yards to lead the Blue to a 27-13 victory over the Gold Saturday. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez said his team ran 115 plays during the 2-hour scrimmage.
“We wanted to make sure everyone got in,” said Rodriguez. “I think we did but I might not have gotten all of the kickers in, which is hard to do because you’ve got to get into position to score.”
Wright, a 5-foot-6, 185-pound redshirt freshman from Romney, W.Va., finished as the game’s top rusher with 74 yards on just 6 carries for an average of 12.3 yards per rush.
“He’s a shifty guy, he reminds you a little of Avon,” said Rodriguez. “One, I think defenses have a hard time seeing him and two he’s got a little bit of a feel for making people miss.”
Freshman tailback Erick Phillips also reached the end zone for the Blue team from 6 yards out to complete the scoring for the scrimmage.
“We thought we recruited well (at running back) and they’ve really come on this spring,” said Rodriguez. “Coach Magee has done a great job with our running backs and they’ve emerged. You add three freshmen with Quincy and Kay Jay Harris coming in the fall and I said I thought that (running back) was going to be our deepest position and now I’m even more confident that will be the case this fall.”
Quarterbacks Rasheed Marshall (Gold) and Charles Hales (Blue) looked sharp operating their offensive units.
Marshall completed 14 of 20 passes for 121 yards and an 11-yard touchdown pass to Nate Forse on a fade pattern in the back of the end zone.
Hales, directing the Gold team, completed 13 of 19 passes for 136 yards including a nifty 42-yard touchdown pass to senior Eddie Jackson, a University of Washington transfer who must sit out next season.
“I think Charles has really improved,” said Rodriguez. “At the beginning of the spring he was a little confused and wasn’t that sharp but I saw him getting better every day. Once he eliminates the big brain cramp where he has a real bad mistake he’s going to be pretty solid. I just see him getting more comfortable with what we’re doing.”
Freshman running back Jason Colson paced the Gold team with 55 yards on 11 carries. Regular running back Quincy Wilson saw limited action Saturday, carrying the ball just 6 times for 25 yards for the Gold.
Forse was the top pass catcher for the Gold with 7 catches for 83 yards and a touchdown. “Nate has had a good spring,” said Rodriguez. “He’s been a little bit up and down. He’s had some good practices and couple of practices where he didn’t catch the ball like we wanted but today he seemed to catch the ball pretty good. He was a walk-on who we thought had a chance to play and contribute and it looks like he’ll have an opportunity.”
Eddie Jackson finished the scrimmage with 4 catches for 55 yards for the Blue.
Junior Brad Cooper, a Bowling Green, Ky., resident, kicked field goals of 49 and 29 yards for the Gold.
“I’ve been really pleased with the way ‘Coop has kicked the ball all spring,” said Rodriguez. “I don’t want to say he’s been a pleasant surprise but he’s kicked the ball better and gotten the ball up quicker than even we thought he would.”
The Blue team accounted for 379 yards of total offense including 226 on the ground on 32 rushes. The Gold managed 232 yards.
“This was the least important of all of our practices,” the coach added. “We got it in, let the guys have a little fun and compete a little bit.”
The Gold-Blue Game wraps up spring practice for the Mountaineers. West Virginia opens the 2003 season at Mountaineer Field against Big Ten power Wisconsin. For season ticket information, contact the Mountaineer Ticket Office by calling toll-free 1-800-WVU GAME.
Scoring Summary
Gold – Cooper 40 FG
Gold – Forse 11 pass from Marshall (Cooper kick)
Blue – Jackson 42 pass from Hales (Welch kick)
Gold – Cooper 29 FG
Blue – Wright 70 run (Welch kick)
Blue – Wright 2 run (Welch kick)
Blue – Phillips 6 run (Daniel kick)
Official Statistics
Rushing: Blue – Wright 6-74, Little 3-34, Phillips 9-34, Hales 5-33, Total 32-226; Gold – Colson 11-55, Wilson 6-25, Thompson 1-10, Garvin 1-9, 32-104.
Passing: Blue – Hales 13-19-1-136-1, Broeker 3-7-1-17-0, Total 16-26-2-153-1; Gold – Marshall 14-20-1-121-1, Culpepper 1-2-0-7-0, Total 15-23-1-128-1.
Receiving: Blue – Jackson 4-55, Phillips 4-9, Neal 3-34, Austin 2-27, Total 16-153; Gold – Forse 7-83, Garvin 2-16, Wilson 2-10, Pennington 1-8, Total 15-128.
