College football spring games: Alabama struggles up front, Ohio State poised to stay dominant on offense

The largest day of the spring season in faculty soccer passed off on Saturday, with defending nationwide champion Georgia, SEC champion Alabama, Massive Ten energy Ohio State and Mario Cristobal’s Miami Hurricanes amongst a few of the notable groups taking the stage to current their annual spring video games. 

These spring scrimmages give groups an important probability to get an thought of how coaches view their depth charts and the place the children slot in throughout the midpoint of the offseason. So what had been the largest takeaways from Saturday’s slate that simply occurred to function some reliable nationwide championship contenders? Let’s take a look. 

Alabama

Crimson Tide want some assist up entrance: The clock within the Alabama spring recreation appeared to maneuver quicker than precise time, however there was sufficient time to see that coach Nick Saban’s offensive line wants plenty of assist. The primary-team struggled to offer quarterback Bryce Younger time within the pocket and could not constantly open holes for the operating backs — together with Georgia Tech switch Jahmyr Gibbs. Edge risk Will Anderson was significantly horrifying, as he acquired into Younger’s face for “two-hand contact” sacks twice in three performs late within the first half. 

Let’s get this out of the way in which: it is irresponsible to make snap judgements on a staff throughout the spring. However, for Alabama, that may not be the case. Younger was pressured to flee the pocket in the very same method final spring, and it translated to the autumn when the offensive line completed final within the SEC in tackles for loss. Saban likes to have a purpose to yell at his gamers with a view to create the championship-level tradition of competitors, and his offensive line gave him that ammo on Saturday.

Ohio State

Buckeyes’ recipe for fulfillment: Two of the largest questions dealing with the Buckeyes is the search to switch receivers Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson outdoors and the defensive renaissance that new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles is seeking to orchestrate. Nicely, they’re going to be high quality at large receiver. Star Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught two passes for 38 yards and a landing, however the true story was behind him the place others shined. Emeka Egbuka had 4 catches for 39 yards, Marvin Harrison Jr. had a snag and appeared snug with the first-team offense and operating again Evan Pryor appeared like a multi-dimensional power to be reckoned with. 

The protection had its ups and downs, however there isn’t any purpose to freak out. Sure, it has to enhance off of final yr’s squad, however Knowles mentioned earlier than the sport that it was going to be vanilla on function and never deliver warmth on the quarterback. Offense is the driving power in faculty soccer, and Ohio State seems to be on monitor to proceed its dominance. If the protection simply performs sufficient, the Buckeyes might be high quality.

Georgia

Watch out for the tight ends: Tight ends have grow to be a a lot greater a part of faculty soccer offenses over the past decade, and Georgia may need the perfect tight finish room in faculty soccer historical past. LSU switch Arik Gilbert caught two landing passes from Stetson Bennett IV after being away from this system throughout the 2021 season. The 6-foot-5, 248-pound freak athlete had 35 catches for 368 yards and two touchdowns for the Tigers in 2020, and is a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses. Fellow tight ends Brock Bowers and Darnell Washington sat out of the G-Day Recreation however have already confirmed simply how harmful they are often. 

Whenever you toss these tight ends into the combination with Georgia’s versatile backfield and large receiving corps, this offense ought to be a lot better and extra balanced than final season’s. In different phrases … “get your popcorn prepared.”

Miami

Tyler Van Dyke goes to be a stud: The Miami signal-caller took over for D’Eriq King final season in Coral Gables and set the tone for what may very well be an amazing sophomore season. Van Dyke was 20 of 32 for 172 yards and a landing to Jacolby George. That is an important day when you take a look at the field rating, however it was even higher when you watched on tv. Van Dyke threw three absolute dimes within the first half that had been dropped by Hurricane large receivers, which skewed his stats in a adverse route. It was so dangerous early on that boo birds may very well be heard at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Miami is a work-in-progress, which is comprehensible contemplating it is Mario Cristobal’s first season as coach at his alma mater. However the progress the large receiving corps confirmed within the spring recreation alone is encouraging after simply 15 practices. With Van Dyke on the helm, issues ought to be high quality.

CBS Sports activities was dwell all through the afternoon offering updates, highlights and evaluation from Saturday’s spring video games, which you’ll be able to view beneath.