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Briles happy with final spring tuneup

Offense looks crisp as running backs rule; QBs Kolb and Briles run first-team offense

by Christian Schmidt
The Daily Cougar

The annual Red and White game isn't the place to get a peek at head coach Art Briles' complex, diverse offense. What it is, though, is a great chance to see virtually every player who will make a significant contribution next fall.

"The things we went into the spring looking for are personnel placement, attitude, effort, intensity and intelligence," Briles said. "We knew our physical strength would be up through the off-season, we just had to carry over those intangibles."

The first-team offense, led by sophomore returning starting quarterback Kevin Kolb and junior Kendal Briles, looked crisp, if perhaps a bit boring. The offense stayed simple, concentrating heavily on the running game and not showing much diversity in the play-calling.

"You know how (Art Briles) is, he's not going to show anything big-time. He just wanted to see what the basics are going to look like, and we'll save all that stuff for the season," Kolb said.

Five running backs saw action with the first-team offense, headed up by the contributions of redshirt freshman Anthony Alridge. Alridge had 99 yards on five carries to lead all players in rushing. Returning junior starter Anthony Evans had 41 yards on five carries and sophomore fullback Jackie Battle rumbled for 49 yards on nine carries.

Kolb and Kendal Briles were efficient in the passing game. Kolb was nine-for-12 for 100 yards and Briles was four-for-six for 35 yards.

On defense, the play of junior defensive end Kendrick Goss stood out. Goss was involved in stopping both the running game and the rushing the passer.

Junior quarterback Matt Stanley had the highlight of the day as he completed a 46-yard bomb to wide receiver Raphael Hearne for a touchdown.

Art Briles ended the scrimmage after late hits were called on consecutive plays.

"We saw a little increased effort and that's really about all we were really looking for," Briles said. "It was a little more heated than we wanted it to be right there at the end, but when they get out here and they play there's going to be a few emotions show up, but we really tried to low-key it, tried to get out of it injury-free," Briles said.

A crowd of about 2,000 attended the game.

"It's been a good spring. We appreciate the fans who came out. We really do," Briles said. "We appreciate people taking the time to come out and watch us, and hopefully we will give them a good show next fall when we play for real."

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