Spring Game Recap
From Gobearcats:
The Cincinnati football team wrapped up its second spring under head coach Scott Satterfield on Saturday with the annual Spring Game presented by Skyline Chili at Nippert Stadium.
"It's as been a good 15 days for us, and it was a lot of work," Satterfield said. "I thought our guys put in a lot of work with Coach Nico and his staff and really hit it on the field with their training. I believe we accomplished what we needed to which was getting through spring with learning what we needed to do offensively and defensively with our new players and competing at a high level. Everybody is trying to make each other better as this is a competition. There wasn't much today, and we just wanted to keep it very simple today. It's really about letting the guys go out and play today. Everybody played for both sides and on both sidelines."
Indiana transfer Brendan Sorsby took the first snaps at quarterback. Redshirt senior Derek Canteen's pass breakup highlighted the first possession, making an excellent play on a deep third-down pass down the sideline intended for redshirt junior tight end Joe Royer.
The first touchdown of the game was a 17-yard rush by freshman quarterback Samaj Jones, who executed a draw play to perfection. He was the first UC signal caller to take the offense into the red zone, and the first player to find the end zone. Jones' first completion of the day was a 21-yard pass to redshirt sophomore wide receiver Lesley Andoh, who hauled in the catch and scampered up field.
Junior kicker Carter Brown connected on a 33-yard field goal on the next possession. Earlier in the drive, redshirt freshman defensive back Stanley Clyne made a nice play in the back of the end zone to break up a potential touchdown pass from Sorsby.
Brown's second field goal of the day came on the next drive, this time from 34 yards out. Following a brief break for special teams drills, Brown drilled a 55-yard field goal to improve to 3-for-3 on the day. The 55-yarder would constitute a career-high for the Arizona State transfer, whose longest kick with the Sun Devils was from 53 yards.
"It felt good to get out there today," redshirt junior quarterback Brady Lichtenberg said. "It's been a great spring, offensively and defensively, I think the defense took the biggest strides. It's a new scheme and we have a bunch of new guys, and you could tell that as spring practice went on something clicked for them and they're out there playing ball instead of thinking about everything. I feel really good with where we're at as a team right now."
The first turnover of the day came from redshirt freshman defensive back Maxwell Cummings, who stepped in front of a pass from Jones to nab the interception.
Redshirt junior running back Evan Pryor brought some bodies with him for a 15-yard rush up the middle from midfield, and redshirt freshman running back Manny Covey followed with another big rush for 11 yards to the left side. Sorsby threaded the needle to redshirt junior wide receiver Sterling Berkhalter for a nice catch to put the offense near the goal line, but a fumble recovered by redshirt junior Zander Blue halted the drive.
Sorsby's first touchdown toss went to freshman wide receiver Kale Woodburn, a perfectly-placed 26-yard pass that Woodburn juggled and corralled before he hit the turf.
Junior running back and Grambling State transfer Chance Williams found paydirt on a six-yard rushing touchdown, the Bearcats' second rushing score of the day and the final touchdown of the scrimmage portion. North Texas transfer and redshirt senior defensive back Logan Wilson provided an exciting moment to end the afternoon, running back an interception for a touchdown on the final play of the red zone period.