White 28, Blue 17
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Quarterback Shane Boyd directed three touchdown drives as the White Team, comprised primarily of first-team players, defeated the Blue Team, 28-17, in the annual Blue-White Game that marked the end of spring practice for the University of Kentucky football team.
Played before a crowd of 6,000 fans on a windy, overcast afternoon at Commonwealth Stadium, Boyd moved the White Team into scoring territory on all five possessions he played. Three drives were ended by touchdowns, one by a blocked field goal, and one by an interception, the only play that marred Boyd’s near-spotless performance.
“I feel really good about today,” said Boyd, who established himself during the spring as the successor to Jared Lorenzen as the starting QB. “We made a big step as far as where we need to go with our offense. We just need to continue to improve our execution.”
Boyd showed his progress on the White Team’s first drive of the day. Backed up on the one-yard line after a downed punt, he directed a 99-yard, 10-play march for the touchdown. Boyd immediately got the team out of the hole with a 25-yard scramble and he finished the drive with a one-yard sneak for the score. For the day, Boyd completed 9 of 16 passes for 160 yards and rushed for 30 yards on only three carries.
Boyd’s two other scoring marches were finished by tailback Arliss Beach, whose one-yard touchdown runs capped 63- and 46-yard drives. The White Team had 387 yards total offense and averaged almost seven yards per offensive play. Perhaps most encouraging to Coach Rich Brooks was the play of the inexperienced offensive line, which is replacing three starters and the top reserve from a year ago.
“The offensive line really made strides the last six practices of the spring,” Brooks said. “We have a fairly solid unit right now on our first string and we have some guys pushing in the backup positions.”
Aided by the offensive line’s blocking, the White Team got excellent production from its running backs. Draak Davis, who was much improved during the spring, led all rushers with 53 yards on eight carries, including a 19-yard scamper for the final TD of the day. Beach produced 48 rushing yards and two TDs and Alexis Bwenge zipped for 40 yards on only three carries.
“Offensively, I thought we did some pretty good things,” Brooks said. “We tried to throw it a little more today until the second half. Overall, Shane did a good job managing the offense and he did some good things with his feet as well as his arm.”
Meanwhile, the White Team defense limited the Blue Team to 160 yards total offense and only one field goal. Linebacker Raymond Fontaine led the White defense with nine tackles, including three tackles for loss. Fontaine had two of the White’s four quarterback sacks. The defense also claimed a pair of turnovers, an interception by safety Russ Throckmorton and a fumble that was caused by cornerback Warren Wilson and recovered by safety Muhammad Abdullah.
“I thought our first-string (White Team) defense did not play as well as they have been most of the spring,” Brooks said. “They didn’t play with as much intensity as I have seen them play most of the spring. They gave up two or three situations in third-and-long when they let the offense off the hook. (But) In reality, they gave up three points to the second-team offense.”
The Blue Team got both of their touchdowns on kickoff returns. Keenan Burton took the game’s opening kickoff and raced 93 yards for a touchdown and John Logan repeated the feat in the second quarter with a 99-yard scoring jaunt.
“The kickoff (coverage) units haven’t practiced (during the spring) and we had down-the-line players covering kicks,” Brooks said. “We have practiced kickoff returns, and it shows that we have two or three guys that have the ability to do some damage on kickoff returns if we are blocking.”
As he flashed occasionally last season as a freshman, and frequently throughout the spring, Burton continued to display his remarkable big-play ability. In addition to his kickoff return for a touchdown, Burton caught four passes for 99 yards. On the first series of the game, he wowed the crowd with a 44-yard diving sideline reception that set up Boyd’s touchdown run.
“Keenan has made tremendous strides and you can’t forget that this is the spring of his freshman year,” Brooks said. “What I want him to do is get stronger and become a more physical player. He has big-play capabilities and he runs great routes. He has to be a better blocker and continue to gain strength.”
Meanwhile, the Blue (second-team) offense played creditably against the first-team (White) defense. Quarterback Andre’ Woodson completed six of 10 passes for 58 yards for the Blues and was not intercepted. He also showed good mobility by running for 39 yards during the game. Running back Dominic Lewis continued his good spring by running for 26 yards on seven carries. Wide receiver Jacob Tamme led the Blue Team receiving by catching three passes for 35 yards.
Woodson also got in one series with the White Team, completing one of two passes for 18 yards and rushing twice for seven yards. He had struggled during the early parts of UK’s spring practices, but showed marked improvement as the spring continued.
“Woodson did some very good things throwing the football and managing the offense,” Brooks said.
There were some good individual performances on special teams. On kickoff returns, UK got the touchdowns from Burton and Logan. Punter Sevin Sucurovic, subbing for injured starter Anthony Thornton, punted three times for a 45-yard average. Backup kicker Clint Ruth nailed a 47-yard field goal. Starting kicker Taylor Begley had a 50-yard field goal attempt, but it was blocked. Ruth and Begley shared the extra-point duties and were perfect on three attempts each.
