Tigers ready for Orange-Black game

Bob Forrest Sports Writer

Ada April 24, 2008 01:14 pm

— By the time Saturday’s Orange and Black Game is over (and with it, East Central University’s spring football practice), third-year coach Kurt Nichols expects to have a pretty good blueprint for the team he will field this fall.
“I will know who 85 percent of the team is going to be after Saturday,” said Nichols, who saw his defense dominate last Saturday’s first spring scrimmage.
In contrast to last weekend’s 90-minute session pitting the Tigers’ new 3-4 defensive scheme against a patchwork offense that wasn’t the finished product Nichols expects it to be when the 2008 season opens in late August, this weekend’s spring finale — which is scheduled to kick off at 1 p.m. at Norris Field — will be a split-squad affair played under game conditions with Lone Star Conference officials calling the action.
“We’ll split the squad right down the middle as far as the depth chart goes,” Nichols said. “We’ll have 1s, 2s and 3s (first, second and third-team players) on both sides of the ball.”
Marcus Johnson, the reigning LSC North Division Offensive Player of the Year, and his back-up, fellow junior-to-be Josh Phillips, will be at the controls of the Orange and Black squads Saturday, with redshirt sophomore Larry Carter-Holmes handling the tailback chores for one team and newcomers Josh Dutton and Kyle Wood sharing the carries for the other.
“We only have three tailbacks in camp, but I don’t think it will be a problem,” Nichols predicted. “Two of them (Dutton and Wood) are inexperienced, so they will split reps.”
Nichols will have to do his biggest job of shuffling at wide receiver, where several of his veterans have been playing both ways this spring due to a lack of numbers in the secondary. He said that will continue Saturday.
“My receivers have been at a big disadvantage this spring, and some of the guys will play both ways Saturday,” he said.
Although he expects the 65 or so players he has on his roster this spring to approximately double in number by the time the Tigers host Tarleton State in their season opener, he said the Spring Game will go a long way toward deciding starters at a number of positions.
“I think it’s very important, especially at linebacker and on the defensive line,” Nichols said. “We also have some big questions on the offensive line at right guard and right tackle. John Ramos (the front-runner at right tackle) was having a good spring, but he fractured a rib last week. He’s been kind of injury-prone so far (Ramos, a junior college transfer, sat out last season with a knee injury).”
Nichols said he also hopes Saturday’s scrimmage will sort out his competition at tight end and fullback -- two positions where one of his quarterbacks from last fall, senior-to-be Ryan McGuire, is competing for a starting job.
“Ryan McGuire and Thurman Sims are the front-runners at tight end right now, and Ryan and Jackob Kramer will share time at fullback Saturday,” Nichols noted.
Last weekend’s scrimmage was a coming-out party for the new ECU defense, which replaced the 4-3 that had been a Tiger staple for more than two decades.
Nichols’ linebackers — especially returnees Jared Ledbetter, Kevin Avey, Curtis Niccum and redshirt freshman outside ‘backer Kyle Palacol — wreaked havoc on the Tiger passing attack and ground game for most of the afternoon Saturday. The defensive line also had a good day, with ends Maurice Lanclos and Brandon Hopstein combining for three of the seven sacks recorded by the defense, and the Tiger secondary recorded three interceptions -- including a one-handed grab by converted wide receiver Justin Goolsby on the last play before intermission.
If things go according to plan Saturday, Nichols said each team will run “60 to 70 offensive plays”, and kickers Caleb Wortham and Corey Dozier and punter Justin Freshour will all see action when the situation arises.
“We’ll move the ball and move the chains,” Nichols said. “We’ll also use a 40-second clock. We will basically go a whole game-type format as far as time.
“One of the teams will have a more experienced group of receivers, and the other will have a more experience back,” he added. “Marcus and Josh will be on different teams (at quarterback), and we’ll split the (coaching) staff.”
Nichols said Saturday’s scrimmage should put an exclamation point on a spring during which he and his staff have accomplished virtually everything they set out to with a roster that has been almost completely overhauled since last fall.
“I’m really pleased with the way the kids have grasped the defense and with the way the staff has worked this spring,” he said. “I want to see the kids in more of a game-type situation with officials and see who ends up playing the best.
“Spring is about getting better fundamentally and scheme-wise,” he added. “Spring is about involving EVERYBODY. The fall will be about putting the best people on the field on Saturdays.”

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