Offense and Defense Equal in First Spring Scrimmage
April 01, 2017 | Football
Bobby Petrino encouraged after Saturday's first scrimmage.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Conducting its first major scrimmage of spring practice, University of Louisville head football coach Bobby Petrino was encouraged from what he saw from his team on Saturday morning.
Running almost 200 plays, the Cardinals pitted the first-team offense against the first-team defense at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, with the second and third units also seeing significant action.
"You want both sides out there making plays, which is what happened today," Petrino said. "I don't think either side dominated the scrimmage. It went back and forth. Early we had some big plays on offense, and defense made some plays on the deep ball as the scrimmage went on."
Petrino put the Cardinals through a situational scrimmage with no punts or kickoffs, mainly giving the ball to the offense on their own 35-yard line to start the possession.
The offense jumped on the board first, scoring on the second play of the morning. Junior quarterback Lamar Jackson, who threw three touchdown passes, hit Seth Dawkins with a long touchdown pass to open the scoring. Dawkins led the receivers in receptions and yards during the scrimmage, while redshirt freshman Dez Fitzpatrick also stood out, according to Petrino.
"I thought Seth had a really good day, catching the ball and running after the catch," Petrino said. "Dez Fitzpatrick had a really good day. He had a great week of practice and took some huge strides forward. He is really learning how to play fast and play at full speed. Ja'Quay Savage also had a good day."
Another redshirt freshman who stood out was running back Dae Williams, who took most of the carries in the scrimmage, and scored on four occasions.
"Dae Williams is really going to help us," Petrino said. "He is very powerful. He sees holes and accelerates in them, and he just keeps getting better.
Redshirt quarterback Jawon Pass and senior quarterback Kyle Bolin each tossed a pair of touchdown passes during their time under center, and were extremely accurate, with Bolin completing 11-of-12 passes.
On defense, the Cardinalsgave up some big plays early on, but improved as the scrimmage went on. The defense made some big stops in some fourth and short situations under new defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon, and Petrino acknowledged the play of a couple defenders.
"Stacy Thomas is a good football player," Petrino said. "He really knows the game and made a lot of tackles out there, plus he's a great pass defender. Cornelius made some good plays on deep balls, which is good to see. He continues to get better and healthy."
Petrino pointed out that linebacker Trevon Young, who is recovering from a serious injury, didn't participate in the scrimmage, but the eighth-year head coach said that Young is progressing well this spring.
The Cardinals return to the practice field for the final open workout of the spring on Tuesday at 3:50 p.m.
Players Mentioned
WR
/ Football
QB
/ Football
QB
/ Football
LB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
LB
/ FootballThe Card Tape: Boca Raton Bowl
Friday, December 26
FB: Bush's Boca Raton Bowl Postgame Press Conference
Wednesday, December 24
The Card Tape: Kentucky (2025)
Monday, December 01
FB: Highlights vs. Kentucky
Sunday, November 30
