The Red team dominated the White team 47-0 in the Kay Yow Spring Game Saturday. Here is a position breakdown for the offensive unit’s performance.

Quarterbacks

There is certainly a competition here; however, it did not feature any of the quarterbacks on the White team. Redshirt sophomore Jalan McClendon and redshirt freshman Jakobi Meyers both played on the Red team with the rest of the first-team unit, and overall, they each performed well against the second-team defense. 

Their stats were fairly similar — McClendon finished 13 of 18 for 120 yards and a touchdown, while Meyers finished 12 of 20 for 117 yards and one touchdown — but their style of play was much different. McClendon is more of a pocket passer with the ability to escape if he wants, while Meyers is athletic and almost seemed like he preferred to run, finishing with 10 carries for 40 yards and a touchdown.

“I think I did a pretty good job of commanding the offense and just being a leader on and off the field,” McClendon said. “Running the plays, doing what the coaches asked me to do. Everybody has butterflies coming into the game, but as soon as I got that first pass off, I was good.”

Each had trouble with accuracy, but part of that could be contributed to the treacherous winds in Carter-Finley Stadium. Either way, the quarterback competition will be interesting to keep track of as we get closer to the start of the season. Based on Saturday’s play, it would seem that McClendon currently has a slight edge for the job. Meyers has a chance to take it due to his athleticism but needs to be more consistent passing the ball.

“Both quarterbacks play well at times; both of them have good film to watch,” head coach Dave Doeren said. “It was a tough day to throw in this wind. Jalan is a little bit more comfortable in the pocket, while Jakobi is more of a runner, so we’ll take our time and see how it goes.”

Running backs

With four of the top five returning runners from last year — senior Matt Dayes, junior Jaylen Samuels, sophomore Reggie Gallaspy II and redshirt junior Dakwa Nichols — held out of the Spring Game, some of the younger guys who fans hadn’t seen much of got a chance to shine, most notably sophomore Nyheim Hines and redshirt freshman Johnny Frasier.

“They both had some nice plays,” Doeren said. “I thought Nyheim would. Eli [Drinkwitz] dialed up some good plays for him early in space, which was fun for him. Johnny broke some tackles and ran through some contact, which was good for what we hope he can be, and be a glimpse of where we’re heading with him.”

Hines was the best performer of this group, carrying the rock nine times for 72 yards and a touchdown, including a 42-yard scamper in which he left almost every defender in the dust for the longest play of the game. While he is listed as a wide receiver, he saw the majority of snaps at running back, and it will be interesting to see if that trend continues when the season starts.

Frasier also made his presence felt, finishing with 17 carries for 66 yards and two touchdowns. His best play came on a 32-yard rushing touchdown in which he bulldozed through two defenders and carried another on his way to the end zone. Redshirt sophomore Brady Bodine also played a fair amount of snaps, finishing with eight carries for 28 yards.

Receivers

With Samuels and senior Jumichael Ramos sitting out this game, this is another position that will be interesting to see how the depth chart pans out. Redshirt sophomore Stephen Louis led the team with five catches for 64 yards and played well with the exception of a third-down drop with a defender in pursuit. 

Redshirt sophomore Maurice Trowell added six catches for 37 yards and a touchdown and showed off his speed on a 12-yard reverse. Senior Bra’Lon Cherry made an excellent adjustment on a 34-yard catch, the longest passing play of the game, and finished with three catches for 49 yards. New offensive coordinator Eli Drinkwitz seemed keen on getting the wide receivers involved in the game, a position that was fairly absent last season.

With Samuels out, the tight ends weren’t very involved in the passing offense, as redshirt senior Clark Eyers led the group with three receptions for 36 yards and a touchdown and junior Cole Cook had just one catch for four yards.

Offensive Line

This group could be worrisome, as it lost three starters to graduation and was without junior guard Tony Adams for the game. However, the first-team group held its own, paving the way for 206 rushing yards and only allowing two sacks on 38 pass attempts.

This is a young unit overall who will have the task of protecting a young quarterback, and while it will be hard for it to play as well as it did last season, it will be crucial for it to protect the quarterback and open up holes for the talented group of running backs.