Spring Game Impressions from Afar

I awoke this morning to my wife singing Happy Birthday to me and my 9 month old daughter sitting next to me on the bed with a huge 2-tooth grin, using my cheeks as a percussion instrument. The kid's got rhythm, but she plays everything on the downbeat. Anyway, at that point, I had a decision to make: Gear up and head out for the Blue Gold Game, or go to the best pancake place on earth to have birthday pancakes and see my daughter's first experience of pancakes ever and then off to the zoo to see my daughter's first experience of a giraffe. I've been to many B&G games. I'll probably be to many more. And the result of the game wasn't going to cause my guts to turn in knots, so guess which option I picked.

By the way, if you've never watched a 9 month old see a real giraffe for the first time, I highly recommend you try it.

Luckily, the lately-constantly-improving UND.com posted video of the event online, so I can watch and rewind to my heart's content, thus I can poke, prod, and comment to my heart's content. Here's what I think I'm seeing...

• ND may well have some lateral movement problems on the left side of the OL. That, or Ethan Johnson is cat-quick. Ethan Johnson is cat-quick, so then maybe ND doesn't have lateral movement problems. We could keep trying to figure this out, eventually boiling down to Big Bang Theory, or we could just move on.
• The play where McCarthy lights up Rudolph: Awesome. Buzzkill: The flag that would have been thrown by any conference affiliated ref in any real game because one of the LB held Armado Allen on his route to the point of spinning him around. Anti-Buzzkill: Allen moving out to the slot could be a real problem for opposing defenses this season.
• Hughes is healthy right now. I hope he stays healthy this season. Last year, against SDSU, he hurt his right leg, and after that his moves to the left were just not effective. I'm not even sure I saw any moves to the left. In this game, he tends to drift left again, just as he did in 2007. This is a very good thing. This is his natural running style.
• Speaking of natural running styles, Jonas Gray ain't got one. Maybe it's the lack of film on the kid, but he looks as comfortable going left as he does going right. I hope he learns to hold onto the ball, learns his blocking assignments, and gets onto the field quickly.
• Duck, Duck, Goose: Ever wondered if you're no fun? Watch the highlight of the entire defense playing Duck, Duck, Goose in the endzone after Blanton's TD return. If you love it, you're probably fine. If it makes you even slightly uncomfortable, consider the possibility that you're not much fun at all.
• Blanton will be a Team Captain Someday: I love this kid. When Charlie promised "nastiness" on the field, I think he was picturing kids like Blanton playing their positions in whatever way will most likely end up utterly destroying the opposition in the only way that matters; the score. It came as no shock at all that his TD came from jumping a slant. The kid sees slant throws in his dreams like I see Oreos.
• Well look at that - Armando Allen with vision. Funny what seeing the field better looks like. More cutbacks, fewer instances of getting plowed by the defense and possibly dropping the ball.
• Crist was in Early and Often: Crist went into the game in the series following the Blanton INT TD. No doubt a teaching opportunity for Clausen. But I also get the feeling Weis is, for the first time in his HC career, grooming a QB to be prepared to take over for the starter, be it Clausen leaving for the NFL or going down due to injury.
• Lots of Catches: Sure seemed like the defense caught the ball carrier more than plowed right over a ball carrier. I suppose this is to be expected, given the size of the defense. And sure, there were some nice hits delivered. It's just that catching ball carriers often results in a half-time look at the stats where the opposition holds a 50% time-of-possession lead. This was the same sort of thing I noted while watching the Oklahoma drill videos from practice this spring. Lots of high fives for the defense after a catching tackle. Oops. There's that knot in my stomach.
• Closer Than It Appeared: I hope Weis surprises the defense with some steaks tomorrow or soon after watching the scrimmage film, because that final score of 68-33 might as well be "47 hoohahs to eleventyone bimipags." I know a close game like I know porn: I see it.

That's about all I feel comfortable with trying to divine from the video of the game. And that's all divined from some pretty light material. And even if the material were full of "full 22" clips and easily identifiable personnel groupings, I'm not sure I'd want to try to delve deeper. No doubt someone will freak over Clausen's numbers without any appreciation for the circumstances of the scrimmage. No doubt we'll all come up with ways to describe the expected difficulties the defense will have with good running teams (I'm currently working on an analogy involving the Blue Ridge Parkway). No doubt we'll all drive each other bonkers until kickoff against Nevada. (Freaking Nevada!) I guess it's time to just enjoy some warmer weather, prep for our pre-season materials, and look forward to Phil Steele Day.