Football ends spring workouts

The football team finished its spring season with a final scrimmage Saturday in front of several thousand spectators, an enormous crowd compared to recent years.

Tech's defense once again looks to be the strong point of the team, and the offense must regroup, especially on their line. But if the offense will be able to capitalize on outstanding defensive performances, the team has the talent to beat anybody on the schedule.

"We've got a good first group that I feel like can walk out there," Head Coach Chan Gailey said. "On offense our running back and receiving situations are very solid. If Reggie [Ball] will come on and use all that experience that he's got, that could be a very solid position for us as well. Then we'll see about offensive line and tight end."

Calvin Johnson proved that he was not going to be a one-hit wonder, and looks to be an even bigger factor this fall. Johnson caught six catches for 121 yards and a touchdown in the game.

"He'll get better just out of knowledge-knowledge of what he's supposed to do and knowledge of defense," Gailey said. "He'll get better because he'll become a better technical route runner. He'll learn more [about] how to control his body and his weight and where the defenders are and how to get away from them. I see production probably going hand in hand with that."

"There is nothing bad about him being one on one and running down the field and letting him go get it," Gailey said. "That's not real complicated is it?"

Senior receiver Damarius Bilbo also separated himself from the other receivers to solidify being the No. 2 receiver on the team during the course of spring practices. Bilbo caught two of the three passes thrown to him. Cornerback Jamal Lewis intercepted the other pass thrown to him.

James Johnson, Pat Clark and Xavier McGuire had solid spring practices as well. They have added some much-needed depth in the receiving corps with the departures of Levon Thomas and Nate Curry.

Quarterback Reggie Ball responded strongly to the competition from redshirt freshman Taylor Bennett and made himself stand apart during the course of the spring. Ball competed much the same way during the course of this spring as he had when he was going after A.J. Suggs' job as a freshman two springs ago.

"The thing that happens now is that I see him throwing to the right people. Sometimes he gets a little bit behind them like he threw the interception down here that Gaston [intercepted]. It was just a bit behind Calvin. It was the right decision, right place, right guy just a bit behind him."

"If you throw it up to Calvin or [Bilbo] 30 times one of them is liable to get picked, but Calvin or [Bilbo] are going to catch about 12 or 15 of those," Gailey said. "You are going to get interference on a couple of them as well, so the risk/reward for the gain that you get for the risk that you're taking is pretty good."

Ball completed 16 of 29 passes, for 181 yards in Saturday's scrimmage and is the starting quarterback regardless of the "sophomore slump."

"I don't know if there is anything to the sophomore slump, but expectations were so high after his freshman year that he didn't meet expectations," Gailey said. "He did get a little bit better. There were some mistakes that he made and we have to correct those. I think he has a chance to come out and have a big year this year."

One thing working in Reggie Ball's favor will be his experience with his receiving corps.

"I'm more much comfortable," Johnson said. "We are used to seeing [Ball's] throws and we're getting a good idea of where the ball is going to wind up on each route, so everything is going pretty good"

Taylor Bennett has developed into a strong backup quarterback. Bennett has a cannon for an arm, but may need improvement on throwing the underneath routes before becoming a starter.

The area of least concern for Chan Gailey was the running game, and it was quite apparent from watching the spring game that the backfield is ready to go. With the return of P.J. Daniels, Chris Woods and Rashaun Grant welcoming the Oklahoma transfer Tashard Choice to the backfield, the Jackets have a lot of talent that all want and deserve serious playing time in the upcoming season.

The biggest question mark for the Jackets will be the offensive line. If the line is porous, it doesn't matter how great any of the running backs, wide receivers or quarterbacks are.

Kyle Tuminello, Matt Rhodes and Brad Honecutt will be asked to anchor a line that will feature several new faces this season. If the continuity doesn't come quickly, the Jackets could be in for a long season.

"We came along a lot more," Ball said. "We had some new guys in some new positions at the beginning of the spring. Now like I said everybody has a lot more experience with [Defensive Coordinator]Tenuta on the other side of the ball throwing everything at us."

Tenuta returns the defensive coordinator for the renowned Jacket defense. The defense has been a major reason why Tech has won in the past, and it will likely keep the team in every game next year as well.

"We're going to have to be one of the top five defenses to be successful," said senior safety Chris Reis. "That's the kind of defense that we are, and we expect nothing less than to be that. We're really excited about the season and ready to get started already"

For the second year in a row, Reis is swapping positions in the Jacket defense. This time he's moving back to the secondary. Playing safety is a lot more natural for Reis to play, but Reis still garnered ACC honors for his work at linebacker last season, thus displaying his amazing athletic prowess.

"It's tough," Reis said. "The coaches knew that was the best move for the team and for everyone. I feel more comfortable back there. I'm not going to lie. It went well this season, and I'm really happy with the outcome."

"I'm not doing too badly. I'm getting better at my pass coverages, which I needed to work on more this spring. I'll do a little more over the summer, and I'll be ready for the season," Reis said.

Joe Gaston had an impressive spring and capped it off with a great spring game. Gaston picked off the first pass of the scrimmage for the Jacket defense on a Ball pass that was thrown behind Calvin Johnson.

"Anytime you can play you learn," Gailey said. "He's been on the field a lot this spring. That has really helped him. He's still not as consistent as we would like in assignments, but he's getting better every time we go out. That's the best Joe Gaston has played since we've been here."

After moving Reis back to the secondary, the team had a hole to fill in the linebacking corps as experience and lack of depth were certainly going to be an issue for the Jackets.

"I thought Gary Guyton made some good strides in spring practice," Gailey said. "Travis Chambers didn't quite get there like I hoped, but he's doing better."

One of the few positions where the Jackets are deep is at defensive end. This added depth may cause senior end Travis Parker to make a change back to defensive tackle. With Darrell Robertson showcasing his abilities on Saturday and Adamm Oliver making huge strides at well. The Jackets should have a strong defensive line.

"[Robertson is] in the rotation," Gailey said. "He's going to be a big part of it. He and Adamm Oliver have both made big improvements over the spring. [Robertson] just needs strength. Because he is light, he has learned to keep his leverage down and hold the point better in the run game. He's always been a good pass rusher."

The Jackets managed to escape spring practices without suffering too many injuries, but Damarius Bilbo will be having surgery next Saturday after battling turf toe for much of the spring.

Brad Honeycutt was also held out of the spring game. Unfortunately for the Jackets, sophomore standout Darryl Richard will miss the season after tearing ligaments in his right knee.

"He didn't quite finish through in shorts so we decided to be smart and keep him out," Gailey said.

Tech will be facing one of the more difficult schedules of recent school history.

The key to the success or failure of this team may ultimately come down to injuries. If the offensive line continues to improve and Ball is able to remove the inconsistency that plagued him last year, this will be a very good season.

Opening day for the Jackets is Sept. 3 at Auburn. The home opener is the following week against the North Carolina Tar Heels.