Football team prepares for next season

The team is regrouping after losing 22 seniors and Jeremy Maclin.

By Evan Glantz

Published April 20, 2009

The Tigers football team is coming off two of the most successful seasons in team history. The resurgence was keyed by a potent offense that averaged 39.8 points per game in 2007 and 42.2 points per game last season. But on Saturday, it was the Tigers' defense that stole the show during the annual Black and Gold game.

"First of all, if your defense is playing well, that's OK. Nothing wrong with that," coach Gary Pinkel said. "I think we'll have a good defensive football team, and I think we'll have a good offensive football team. It's just putting all the pieces together and getting experience."

This season appears to be a transition year for the Tigers. After losing 22 seniors and a dynamic sophomore in Jeremy Maclin, this year's team will focus on creating its own identity.

"We lost 22 seniors. We have two new coordinators. I think it's just a different team," senior linebacker Sean Weatherspoon said. "We have to make our own identity. As we keep going and keep progressing, then we'll be able to figure that out a little more when the time comes."

Weatherspoon said he is excited about the drive of the new players.

On Saturday, the defense showed it was ready to silence the critics. The Gold team defense, comprised mostly of the probable first team players, were able to contain the Black team offense, made up of the probable first teamers.

None of the four quarterbacks ever found a rhythm during the game. Sophomore Blaine Gabbert, the front-runner for starting quarterback, finished just nine of 17 for a team-high 93 yards and threw an interception that freshman defensive back Kip Edwards returned 50 yards into the Black team red zone.

"Kip Edwards had a great day today," Weatherspoon said. "He made a play on a dropout, where he broke on one of Blaine's balls and almost took it to the house. He's been a guy that's really been coming along, and he's really buying into the program now and trying to get out there on the field. He's a hungry young fellow."

Gabbert was the first to take the blame for the pass.

"They just rolled the coverage to the boundary, the corner sat a little bit and I just didn't bring down field far enough," Gabbert said.

The other quarterbacks did not fair much better. The defense was able to come up with big stops both in the passing game and on the ground.

"I thought defensively, we had that one turnover, our No. 1 defense got the ball to the 25-yard line," Pinkel said. "Then went out and made a stop. We call that sudden change. I think we've got a lot of speed on defense. There were a lot of good things."