Joey McGuire's initial thoughts from spring game

Saturday's activities included the team going through several different scenarios, such as a two-minute drill, 3rd-and-long situations, and a red zone lockout period.

While several key players were injured and didn't participate in Saturday's spring game, head coach Joey McGuire remains optimistic about where his team will be once those guys are back.

But in the meantime, McGuire has gotten to see not only highly anticipated transfers make an impact, but some guys who are slowly and quietly making their presence known as well.

"I'm always down on one on ones and gravitate to coaching the defensive line and it's really cool to watch those guys and the way they help each other," McGuire told the media after the spring game on Saturday. "You'll see Howard (Sampson) say 'Romello (Height) I know you're going to do this just by your stance' and then vice versa."

The defensive line was the star of the show on Saturday, with Height, David Bailey, Lee Hunter, and Skylar-Gill Howard leading the starting front four for the majority of the day. As well as Charles Esters (switched in and out with Bailey for starting reps), Braylon Rigsby, Jayden Cofield, and AJ Holmes getting quality reps with the second team.

These guys were pushing the o-line all day, but there still some positive sightings from the offensive big guys upfront, obviously with Howard Sampson making the most noticeable impact holding off Romello Height and David Bailey as much as he could. With some gelling needing to happen with the o-line, there are still some starters that are sitting out from injury.

"It's good to know that I'll have Vinny Sciury back, and I'll have Hunter Zambrano back, who had played a lot of football," McGuire said.

"I do think with the guys that we have and the depth we have in the defensive line, that we should be able to pressure the quarterback at a higher level," McGuire said. "Especially just for rushing."

Continuing with injuries, we all know Will Hammond has been taking the starting snaps this spring in place of Behren Morton recovering from shoulder surgery. Hammond was solid on Saturday, or as good as he could be with a swarming d-line running straight at him right after the ball was snapped.

McGuire has been proud of Hammond for the growth he has had, but recognizes what the main issue was in Saturday's contest, especially with a new offense coming in from coach Mack Leftwich.

"I told him (Hammond) during the two-minute drill you can't take that sack there," McGuire said. "I think he did a better job in the red zone lockout of speeding things up... it's a new offense, but he has to speed up the operation.

You got to get the motion going. You got to be in a rhythm... that's not just Will being young, that's us being in a new offense, and we've got to continue to get better in operations."

If you were at the spring game, the most noticeable issue was the kicking, with Upton Bellenfant and Stone Harrington going 1-5 on attempts, which was not what McGuire was expecting from the pair.

"It was really surprising," McGuire said. "Our second scrimmage, they both kicked the 53 and 54 yard field goal in that red zone lockout... they've been really good in situations.

What we want to do in the next week is look for a combo guy, a guy that is a punter and a kicker."

Overall, McGuire expressed his appreciation for Red Raider nation, and thought the spring game was a success, but not even close to where they want and know they could be.

"I can't thank the Red Raiders enough. It was a good crowd," McGuire said. "We got a lot of work to do, and I'm excited about this team, but we got a long way to go where we need to be. The great thing is these guys really want to be special, and I know they'll put the work in."

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