Fresno State Athletics
Spring Football Continues with Saturday Scrimmage
4/21/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
April 21, 2007
FRESNO, Calif. - After nearly five months of being dormant, Bulldog Stadium came to life Saturday afternoon with sounds of fans cheering, whistles blowing, footballs flying and helmets cracking.
Head coach Pat Hill took the team through a spirited 90-play scrimmage, in what was the 10th practice in the last 14 days. The Dogs have just 10 days of their spring session remaining, highlighted by next Saturday's Spring Scrimmage extravaganza.
During Saturday's scrimmage, both the offense and defense had exciting moments. In a unique scoring system devised by Hill, the Bulldog offense defeated the defense by a scored of 47-43. Several hundred fans attended the afternoon scrimmage, held on a beautiful spring afternoon.
Points were awarded to the offensive team for the following accomplishments:
First Down: 1 point
A Play of 20-yards or more: 2 points
Field Goal: 3 points
Touchdown: 6 points
Kicking PAT: 1 point
The defense was awarded points for the following:
Tackle behind the line of scrimmage: 2 points
Force a punt/field goal attempt: 3 points
A missed field goal: 4 points
Turnover: 7 points
The Bulldog defense held a 36-20 lead after the "over-the-field" portion of the scrimmage, but the offense was effective in the "compete zone" (25-yard line and in) scrimmage scoring four touchdowns in five attempts. The majority of the defensive points came on two early turnovers, including an interception by A.J. Jefferson on the goal line.
"It was a good day," said Hill. "We had a couple turnover and too many penalties, but the pace was very good. For as hard as we have pushed them over the last two weeks, it was a good scrimmage. I thought Tom (Brandstater) looked very sharp. He made one mistake on the interception, but overall he was crisp and had a good grasp of the offense. Usually the defense dominates the spring scrimmages, but the offense really responded today by scoring touchdowns in the compete zone, which is what the offense is supposed to do."
Brandstater, a junior, finished the scrimmage completing 13-of-19 passes for 140 yards with one interception and one touchdown, a 25-yard pass to Chastin West. He guided the Dogs to three touchdowns in the compete zone scrimmage. Freshman quarterback Ryan Colburn also had a solid scrimmage, completing 11-of-15 passes for 102 yards and one touchdown.
West was the top receiver in the scrimmage with five receptions for 62 yards and one touchdown. Sophomore Jason Crawley had four receptions for 54 yards.
Senior running back Clifton Smith had a productive scrimmage, scoring two touchdowns, one on a 3-yard run and the other on a 25 pass. He finished with six carries for 16 yards and three receptions for 40 yards.
Sophomore Lonyae Miller was the top rusher in the scrimmage with nine carries for 48 yards and a 5 yard touchdown run.
Senior kicker Clint Stitser converted all four PAT attempts and made two of four field goal attempts, hitting from 21 and 39 yards and missing from 40 and 50 yards.
Senior Kyle Zimmerman and sophomore Robert Malone each punted twice, neither facing any rush pressure. Zimmerman averaged 40.5 yards while Malone averaged 34 yards per punt.
Several Bulldog players performed well on defense, including Jefferson, who added three tackles to his interception. Marcus Riley had five tackles, one for a loss, while freshman Chris Lewis had a sack and broke-up two pass attempts. Senior tackle Charles Tolbert had three tackles, including one for a loss.
"There was some good hitting on both side of the ball," Hill said. "And we didn't get anyone seriously hurt, which is always a worry. We are in good physical shape and that showed today. Chris Lewis had a good scrimmage. He's really come on the last week. I thought the linebackers all played well. We have three very fast linebackers in (Ahijah) Lane, (Marcus) Riley and (Quaadir) Brown. We missed having Brown and Riley last year and it's good to get them back on the field. Obviously the film will show a lot more, but from what I saw today, I was pleased."
The only Bulldog injury was suffered by defensive end Michael Stuart, who hurt his knee midway through the scrimmage. He will be reevaluated on Monday, but his injury was not considered serious by the Fresno State medical staff.
The Bulldogs will return to action on Sunday with an afternoon practice session.
The annual Spring Scrimmage will be held April 28th at 2 p.m. in Bulldog Stadium. Fans can come to Bulldog Stadium beginning at 1 p.m. to participate in some children's games and a special Bulldog Shop sale. Following the scrimmage, the team will be available for autographs and the Fresno State Quarterback Club is providing lunch for $5. Admission to the scrimmage is free.
Those who can't attend the scrimmage can watch on KFRE CW 59 and Comcast Sport Net or listen live on KMJ Radio.
Join the State - Fresno State! Ticket information for the 2007 Bulldog football season is available by clicking the tickets icon at the top of this page.
