Talking points: spring football, wrestlemania octagonal-ring style

Spring football, y'all! Woo!

Photo by cadmanof50s

• In this corner, the receivers: Eric Berry says that the receiver alignments are making the routes they're running more difficult to read. Okay, good. That's good. Josh Briscoe had the best day of any receiver in the spring's first scrimmage, pulling down five catches for 83 yards, including one for 48 yards during which he deprived a defender of his equilibrium. Gerald Jones also had five catches, his for 25 yards, and Quinton Hancock had three catches for 26 yards. A heavier Ahmad Paige, who concedes that he "tanked" at the end of last season, is looking forward to a fresh start.
  
• And in this corner, the Quarterbacks: Jonathon Crompton got the reps with the first team and went seven of 15 for 55 yards with one interception and one touchdown. Freshman B.J. Coleman was apparently the most impressive QB in the scrimmage, going nine of 16 for 95 yards.
• And in this corner, the running backs: Oy. Grisly quote of the day:
  
  As [fullback David] Holbert was attempting to catch a pass out of the backfield, linebacker Rico McCoy leveled a clean hit on Holbert, who went to the turf awkwardly.

  The portion of Holbert's leg below the knee bent completely forward — the opposite of the normal motion — producing a gut-wrenching sight.

  "All I'm allowed to say is it's a knee injury," Tennessee Coach Phillip Fulmer said.

  UT's team athletic trainers and medical staff immediately began working on Holbert, who remained stretched out on the field for more than 20 minutes. The scrimmage was immediately put on hold as players and coached gathered at midfield to pray.

  Ugh. Condolences, David. Speedy recovery.
• And in this corner, the tight ends: With Jeff Cottam out indefinitely with a broken fibula, Luke Stocker caught Crompton's seven-yard TD pass.
• And in this corner, the defensive backs: Demetrice Morley had three tackles, a sack, and a 23-yard interception return, which is good for him and bad for our quarterback. Eric Berry had a tackle, a pass breakup, and a blocked field goal.
• And in this corner, the defensive tackles: Dan Williams had four tackles, a tackle for a loss, and three -- yes, three -- pass deflections in Saturday's scrimmage. According to The Papa, however, Williams "needs to lose 20 pounds again." Take it from someone who knows: it's the "again" that kills you.
• And in this corner, a little maturity and wisdom, please? Message to Tennessee football players: Facebook is not the best way to invite folks to your weekend kegger. Especially if there's a player curfew in effect and even more so if you are currently a freshman. "Friend" doesn't necessarily mean "friend" on Facebook, mmkay?
  
• Enjoy the next few weeks because after the Orange and White game comes the long, slow summer. Speaking of the spring game, Aerobab's leading the charge to get all of us together for the thing. Leave your questions for Aerobab below and then sign up for the Rocky Top Talk Orange and White Game Hullaballoo to be notified of the latest developments.
  
• And . . . off topic. So which was more devastating: the heavens' golf ball-sized hail outside or Candace Parker's basketball-sized plague inside? Parker tied for a career-high with 34 points and added 13 rebounds, four blocks, and three steals to help the Lady Vols blow past Notre Dame 74-64 to advance to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Women's Tournament. The first half: not so pretty. Pat Summit's halftime speech? Intense. The second half? Better. Go figure. And yes, that "intense" link is correct, despite the hair in the URL.

Update [2008-3-31 7:57:8 by hooper]:The Gridiron Bash for the Orange and White Game has been cancelled due to concerns of player involvement and NCAA rules. Ironically, this appears to cost Alabama $1 million, as the national winner of some contest associated with the bash would receive said sum into the general scholarship fund. So yes, the NCAA may have found yet another way to penalize our illustrious neighbors to the south.