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."
-- photos by Thomas Corhern, Cookeville
Herald-Citizen
