Spring game thoughts

It wasn’t the most exciting spring game I’ve ever seen, but it wasn’t too bad, either.

The Gold beat the Brown 13-6, but how I looked at it was the No. 1 offense and No. 1 defense went at it, and the twos battled the twos.

For some reason I thought it would be the ones vs. the twos on both sides, but that wasn’t the case.

You can only get so much out of scrimmages, but it’s better when the best goes up against the best.

And on this day, the defense dominated.

It held the No. 1 offense to two field goals, zero touchdowns and 148 total yards.

“I think we can  have a pretty decent defense here,” UW coach Dave Christensen said.

And in terms of how the new 4-3 scheme is looking after 15 spring practices, Christensen added: “I’d like to say we’re right on schedule.”

Redshirt freshman defensive tackle Patrick Mertens had the best day for the defense with eight tackles and two sacks. He’s had a nice spring, and player to watch this fall. I probably should have added him to the list as part of my column/analysis piece. For that and more on the spring game, see Sunday’s Wyoming Tribune Eagle or Laramie Boomerang, or go online to www.wyomingnews.com or www.laramieboomerang.com.

Other news and thoughts from the game:

• Senior outside linebacker Keith Lewis and junior offensive guard Nick Puetz got hurt, but Christensen said their injuries were minor and could have returned if it were a real game.

• There were no turnovers and only three penalties.

• The play of the game was a 36-yard catch by junior receiver DeJay Lester where he stretched out to snag a pass from senior quarterback Dax Crum.

“I dove  and when I caught it the ball was on my finger tips and I tried to fall so the ball would cradle to my body,” Lester said. “It almost popped out when I hit the ground.”

• Sophomore kicker Ian Watts had a tough day with the wet and rainy conditions. He was 2 of 4 with field goals and missed miserably short on ones from 46 and 53. He also missed an extra point. There was no rush on any of his attempts, just Watts, his holder and the long-snapper.

• When asked why play the game outside in the rain instead of inside in UW’s Indoor Practice Facility, Christensen said: ”I looked on the schedule and there are no inside games so we thought we should just go ahead and play it outside.”

• More than 60 former players were at the game.

Christensen said he will meet with every player next week, and his staff will meet with them the following week. Then there are finals.

Players will report back the first Wednesday in June for eight weeks of voluntary workouts, get a week off and then start fall camp Aug. 4.

“We’re much more disciplined. We’re much more physical. We’re more athletic. We do everything better than we did a year ago,” Christensen said.