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Football sees both progress, old habits in Spring Showcase

Junior quarterback Josh Rosen threw less than 20 passes in Saturday’s Spring Showcase, good for one touchdown and an interception. His name came to coach Jim Mora’s mind as he rattled off who he thought would have been the most valuable spring practice participant. (Keila Mayberry/Daily Bruin staff)

By Matt Cummings

April 30, 2017 11:52 p.m.

Those expecting Josh Rosen to light up the scoreboard during Saturday’s spring game were disappointed.

The junior quarterback had trouble early on, though he rebounded to put together a touchdown drive right before halftime. He finished 14-for-18 for 83 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

“I thought he was fine,” coach Jim Mora said when asked about Rosen’s performance. “I thought he was fine.”

The pick came on a corner route to redshirt sophomore tight end Caleb Wilson, the pass jumped by redshirt junior safety Adarius Pickett.

That play didn’t worry offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch, who said he’s happy with the progress Rosen has made during the spring.

“He’s really building, he’s really learning and he’s really taking to coaching,” Fisch said. “That interception, I think he’ll see that there was another guy open on that play. But maybe he threw the ball to that corner route three or four times in the last two weeks, so he felt comfortable with that.”

The Bruin receivers didn’t exactly help Rosen out either, dropping seven passes on the day, including one on the first play of the game.

Rosen did not play during the second half, and his squad, the Blue Team, fell 17-10 to the White Team.

Junior running back Bolu Olorunfunmi led the way for the White Team, punching in two touchdowns, including a 46-yarder to put his team ahead with less than two minutes remaining. Olorunfunmi finished with 88 yards on 14 carries and added two catches for 22 yards.

Redshirt senior wideout Eldridge Massington had an early drop, but rebounded to record four catches for 30 yards. Fellow redshirt senior Darren Andrews had the only touchdown catch of the day, on a bullet over the middle from Rosen. Redshirt sophomore tight end Caleb Wilson posted a game-high 59 yards on a pair of catches.

Next phase

The message after the end of spring camp was clear: This is not the end.

Each coach that spoke to the media after Saturday’s Spring Showcase emphasized the importance of the next phase of the offseason, when their time with the players will be limited.

“We’re going to depend on them to get out on the field on their own and have player-run practices and continue to make progress,” Mora said.

Until fall camp, players can only spend eight hours a week with members of the coaching staff. For the next few weeks, all that time will be spent in the weight room with strength and conditioning coach Sal Alosi, while most of the positional coaches are out on recruiting trips. As the offseason progresses, the players will spend more time working on football with the coaching staff, but still not much.

That puts most of the onus for improvement on the players. Rosen and senior linebacker Kenny Young said they, as well as a few other experienced players, will lead offseason players-only workouts to keep the Bruins on track.

“I’m so excited to get started with them,” Young said of the younger defensive players. “It’s just a lot of great energy. I love to see it as an older guy.”

Awards

The most improved players of spring practice were redshirt freshman defensive lineman Osa Odighizuwa and redshirt sophomore guard Andre James.

The coaching staff did not name a most valuable player of spring practice, but Mora listed off a long string of names that he would have considered.

On the offensive side, Mora mentioned Rosen, Massington, Andrews, redshirt junior tackle Kolton Miller, redshirt junior receiver Jordan Lasley and redshirt senior center Scott Quessenberry.

For the defense, Mora named Pickett, Wadood, Young and senior lineman Matt Dickerson.

He also gushed about the performance of sophomore long snapper Johnny Den Bleyker, both throughout camp and during Saturday’s game.

“Nobody’s going to listen to this, but Johnny Den Bleyker today – he was probably the MVP of the game,” Mora said. “When you have a long snapper that can snap it the way he does and then get down and cover, that’s kind of rare. That will save us some yards.”

Scholarship surprise

Redshirt junior fullback Giovanni Gentosi found out at halftime that he had been placed on scholarship, the development revealed to him midway through an interview on the field. The Bruins then mobbed him and chanted his name.

“When we do those things, they’re usually private,” Mora said. “But this was a special case; there are things going on in Gio’s life – he needed a little bit of a pick-me-up. … He’s an integral part of our offense and special teams and our locker-room chemistry. You saw how the players reacted to that.”

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Matt Cummings | Alumnus
Cummings joined the Bruin as a freshman in 2014 and contributed until he graduated in 2018. He was an assistant Sports editor for the 2015-2016 academic year and spent time on the football, men's basketball, baseball, cross country, women's volleyball and men's tennis beats.
Cummings joined the Bruin as a freshman in 2014 and contributed until he graduated in 2018. He was an assistant Sports editor for the 2015-2016 academic year and spent time on the football, men's basketball, baseball, cross country, women's volleyball and men's tennis beats.
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