Final Huddle: 2023 UC Spring Game

Cincinnati has wrapped its spring schedule.

Author:
Russ Heltman
Apr 15, 2023 3:23 PM EDT

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CINCINNATI — UC football showcased its new look across the whole program at the 2023 Spring Game. It wasn't a full scrimmage between two teams, but Cincinnati showed off plenty of good reps and skills from the 2023 talent group.

Here's our Final Huddle from a beautiful afternoon at Nippert Stadium.

Run Game Strong

The strength of head coach Scott Satterfield's offensive system was on full display in front of the UC faithful. Cincinnati is using eight running backs this spring and all of them touched the ball with some modicum of success on Saturday.

Ethan Wright got the start alongside quarterback Ben Bryant. He ran well, as did Corey Kiner. The Cincinnati native was patient in his carries and did a nice job serving as a dump-off outlet in the face of a hungry defensive line. Kiner caught a handful of those passes on Saturday.

The offensive line starters went in this order: LT John Williams, LG Trevor Radosevich, C Gavin Gerhardt, RG Dartanyan Tinsley, and RT Phillip Wilder.

That group and the O-line in general did a better job run blocking than pass blocking as it has throughout the spring. The defense didn't get gashed on the ground by any means, but the offense consistently tapped into the run game as a chain mover on the afternoon.

No QB Answers

The big QB question still doesn't have a definitive answer as the spring period wraps up.

Emory Jones had arguably a smidge better day than Ben Bryant, but it wasn't a job-taking performance. Both passers had great throws in stretches, along with notable struggles.

They both threw two non-red zone touchdowns each and had some nice red zone scores. The battle is razor-thin right now and after Jones narrowly won the day, it feels like a dead heat. Jones obviously showed more with his legs, but Bryant isn't even 100% back from his foot surgery and it's still a tight race

Both had a fantastic highlight throw and some iffy ones. Satterfield told the media following the game that the staff will pour through all of the tracking data and stats before meeting with each QB individually next week.

Barry Blasts Onto Scene

The player of the day on offense was freshman wide receiver, Barry Jackson.

the Georgia native reeled in the most catches of any player and it was stamped by a 30-plus yard touchdown catch from fellow freshman Brady Drogosh. Those two could be a dynamic pairing in the Big 12 over the next few years.

Now, Jackson isn't going to necessarily lock in a starting role with this performance, but the true freshman has shown throughout the spring that he can hold his own at the FBS level as a young player. The transfer portal is almost definitely going to produce at least one more receiver for Cincinnati but the future is bright with Jackson.

He was the most consistent separator of any receiver and showed great hands throughout the day. My top defensive player would have to be a split with outside linebackers Daniel Grzesiak and Jah-Mal Williams.

The pair was disruptive from the start as Grzesiak stripped Ben Bryant on the opening play from scrimmage and added a great tackle for loss on a Barry Jackson carry later in the day.

Williams showed off some great tackling and zone-coverage abilities. He made two great pass breakups from those looks, including the lone interception of the day on a bad read by Brady Lichtenberg.

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