Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

Dang it was nice spending an afternoon/early evening staring out at Royce and Bunche Halls (sorry, poli sci major) in perfect weather while watching Bruins prepare for what should be a much better football season.  The talent upgrade is obvious, but with so much youth, there are so many questions.  Here are a few of my lame observations - I'm itching to hear yours.

Revelation:  Richard Brehaut looks like the real deal, though I'd redshirt him unless Mr. Prince goes down early.  It's nice to see the crowd support Kevin Craft after he toughed his way through last year.  That having been said, am I the only one who was incredibly intrigued by Nick Crissman?  Yes, his throwing motion needs a rebuild, but the guy has a gun, he's elusive, and he looked like he's got some serious football sense.  In those few chances he got, he sure looked like a guy who makes plays.  I hate to say this, but I can't think of a better way to express it: he looked a little Favrelike.

Problem:  Kevin Prince has a gun too - or did you miss that ball he threw 65 yards on a line?  He hasn't seen game action in two years.  He's going to be inconsistent - we know that.  However, just once, it would be nice to see more of his potential when he performs on the big stage.  I guess we'll see that in two weeks...I hope.

Revelation:  If I'm picking a starting tailback, I'm going Jetskiing.  It's not just that 60-yarder he broke off - he hits holes fast and cuts on a dime.  I'm also making sure Mr. Knox spends a lot of time on the field - does his motor ever stop when he's carrying the ball?  Between those two, Derrick Coleman, and a few spot carries from Damien Thigpen, it seems to me the tailback rotation is quite full.  (By the way, with regard to Thigpen, check out the way LSU uses Trindon Holliday.)

Setback:  April 2008 is officially a long time ago.  It's time for the kids to get their touches.  With all due respect to Christian Ramirez, it's time to move on.

Revelation:  Joseph Fauria is an extremely big man as tight ends go.  It's going to be a lot of fun to watch him next year.  Jerry Johnson is an extremely big man as wide receivers go.  If the lights really have turned on for him - and it looked like the switch was on today - it's going to be a lot of fun to watch him this year.

Dilemma:  How do we get Ricky Marvray on the field this year?  He looks like he belongs on a football field just like Taylor Embree looks like he belongs on a football field.  The coaching staff keeps picking up guys who just know how to play the game - how awesome is that?

Revelation:  The o-line was decent.  Not great, but decent.  Good thing they don't have to block Brian Price during games.  Speaking of lines, am I the only one who thought Iuta Tepa was a huge surprise?  Once he hit the field, I kept seeing the number 96 wherever the football was.

Philosophical Question:  If Brian Price knocks down an entire offensive backfield in the woods, does anyone make a sound?  At some point this year, an undersized tailback is going to run up the middle, and Mr. Price is going to break him in two.  Or three.

Revelation:  Kyle Bosworth used to be a pretty good linebacker.  Then he got hurt.  Apparently, while recuperating, he crossed DNA with Jerry Robinson. 

Impediment:  The d-line backups looked better than we expected, no?  Outside of Steve Sloan, who appears to have grown up a lot in the off season, I'm not so sure about the second string linebackers. 

Revelation:  Remember Courtney Viney?  We used to marvel at his speed.  Then we ended up with so much young talent in the secondary that he seemingly got lost in the shuffle.  After all, he's so small.  And when he wasn't breaking off that monster punt return (Was it 94 yards?), he hit a whole lot of receivers really hard.  Here's hoping we see lots more of him this year.

Shadow Of Doubt:  Repeat after me:  no holding in the secondary.  No holding in the secondary...

Revelation:  In case we weren't sure, speed really does kill.  Our best punt returner was off wearing a tux, and Randall Carroll never got turned loose, and we still had three monster kick returns, one 60-yard TD run, and one 60-yard catch-and-run.  Nice.

Quandary:  Or does our kick coverage just plain suck?  I'm sure the guys were laying off a little bit.  That, and I didn't see Sean Westgate, who was in the middle of everything in kick coverage last year, out there on returns.  That having been said, on every one of those returns, somebody should have made a play.

Revelation:  Aaron Perez was a great punter.  Jeff Locke appears to be an upgrade, particularly since he appears much better at ball placement.  I guess he can kick field goals too, should Mr. Forbath's injury prove more serious than expected.  That 53-yard job he hit cleared by, what, seven yards?

Cry For Help:  Can't somebody around here put a kickoff into the end zone?  We have two All-America caliber legs.  It would be nice to not see Jahvid Best catch a ball on the 10 yard-line this year.

It's going to be an up-and-down year, but things are headed in the right direction, aren't they?  I can't wait for September 5th. 

Go Bruins!