April 17, 2010

Finishing strong: Golden Eagles cap Spring drills and look toward 2010 season

A brief but solid outing Saturday wrapped up Spring drills for the Tennessee Tech football team. Sophomore quarterback Tre Lamb led the team to scores on all three of his drives and sophomore cornerback Dominick Baker had a couple of big plays on defense.

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Capping off what head coach Watson Brown termed a "really good spring," the Tennessee Tech football team went through a brief but spirited workout Saturday in Tucker Stadium to bring its annual spring drills to a close.

Slated to be the Purple & Gold Spring Game, the team instead went through a 43-play controlled scrimmage. With more than a dozen players sidelined because of injuries and continuing rehabs, the coaching staff scaled back the final day of practice.

"This was a really good spring," Brown told the players when they assembled at midfield at the conclusion of the day's work. "We had one bad day and 14 really good days, and I feel very good about our effort."

On Saturday, sophomore quarterback Tre Lamb directed the No. 1 offense to scores on all three of his drives, with two touchdowns and a 24-yard field goal by Tim Donegan. Lamb's numbers were impressive as he went 10-for-13 for 126 yards passing with one touchdown, and also rushed three times for 34 yards to account for 160 yard of total offense.

Junior quarterback Clint Brewster directed the No. 2 offense, eventually taking his group to the end zone with a 10-play, 65-yard scoring drive on their third possession. The first two were spoiled by sophomore cornerback Dominick Baker, who halted the first drive with an interception and blocked a 36-yard field goal attempt to snuff the second. Brewster finished the day 3-for-8 for 35 yards passing.

On the ground, Lamb (photo left) was the top ground gainer with 34 yards, while Tremaine Hudson stepped off the longest run of the afternoon, breaking three tackles for a 28-yard pickup on his lone carry.

Junior Jimmie Blair and senior Raymond Coleman got the bulk of the 20 carries during the day. Blair had six attempts for 13 yards, including a one-yard TD dive on the opening drive. That ended a 6-play, 65-yard march. Coleman had 29 yards on five carries, ending play with a three-yard surge up the middle for a TD.

In between, Alden Olverson (photo far left) caught a 40-yard scoring bomb from Lamb to account for the other touchdown.

Donegan hit two of his three field goal attempts, connecting from 24 and 35 yards and missing wide left from 42.

"The best thing about this spring is that we got people in the right places," Brown said. "Every position move we made helped us. On defense, the bigest moves were Jamere Hogue to the defensive line and Caleb Mitchell to cornerback. I think those moves will really help our defense.

"The big moves on offense were Malcolm Jones to tackle and Scott Schweitzer to guard," Brown said. "Those moves, along with Michael Baker stepping up at center, will really help our offensive line. Another good move was Alden Olverson going from an inside receiver to an outside receiver."

Baker's performance didn't go unnoticed by the veteran coach.

"He did some good things today," Brown said. "Dominick, Mauricio Wallace and Corbin Miles are going to be very important to us, and I think they all had a very solid spring. They are really going to get tested those first two games at Arkansas and TCU."