ACC Spring Game Results (April 15)

Miami held it’s annual Orange and Green Game Saturday at Sun Life Stadium and running back Mike James gave the Orange a tough 7-6 win over the Green team. Ryan Williams threw the ball with good precision and moved around pretty well, completing 15 of 27 passes for 169 yards, but also threw two interceptions. Rafael Kirby led the Orange defense with 5 solo tackles and 6 overall. The Green defense was paced by Ladarius Gunter who totalled 7 tackles and a forced fumble. Kendal Thompkins caught 6 balls for 45 yards and Rashawn Scott had four catches for 74 yards. Mike James had 15 carries for 57 yards and the games only touchdown while placekicker Jake Wieclaw kicked two field goals, a 35 yarder and he added a 29 yarder. With Tommy Streeter and Lamar Miller out of the action, the Hurricanes had problems moving the ball all day.

Clemson held it’s Orange and White Game Saturday and it took double overtime for the Orange team to beat the White team 23-20 in Death Valley. Chandler Catanzaro kicked the game winning 45 yard field goal for the Orange. A crowd of 28,000 watched as Catanzaro drilled 3 field goals on the day, a 40 yarder and a 20 yarder to go along with his game winner. Head coach Dabo Swinney had never seen a spring game go double overtime before and he didn’t want the game to end without a winner. “It was one of those deals where I really didn’t want to play more, but I certainly did not want to walk off the field with a tie,” Swinney said. DeAndre Hopkins was the star of the day with 7 catches for 120 yards and a touchdown. “It was a lot of fun,” Hopkins said. “If you are not out there having fun, then what are you doing it for? It was basically for the fans. We did not want to show too much, but we had fun and I feel like we played a good game.” Tajh Boyd was the QB for the White team and he had a good day going 20 for 26 for 229 yards and a touchdown, but he threw two interceptions. “I did okay, but again, I can’t turn the ball over,” Boyd said. “That was the story of the day. Other than that, I felt like I did pretty well. We have to operate within the system. Whenever we operate within the system, we are pretty good.” Jonathan Meeks paced the defense with 2 interceptions while Robert Smith had 10 tackles.

40,631 fans showed up to watch Florida State’s Garnet and Gold Game Saturday at Doak Campbell Stadium. The Garnet team came away with a 35-20 win as Clint Trickett, a redhsirt sophomore quarterback, went 12-23 for 173 yards and two touchdowns. “I was very pleased with his control in the huddle,” head coach Jimbo Fisher said about his back up quarterback. “I think his knowledge of what we’re doing right now is getting much better right now. He made some really good plays.” EJ Manuel closed out his last spring as a Seminole completing 28 of 51 passes for 255 yards, two touchdowns and a pair of picks. “I wasn’t satisfied with the interceptions but I am satisfied with our team,” said Manuel. Rodney Smith, a senior wide receiver, collected 7 catches for 71 yards. Middle linebacker Telvin Smith had 8 tackles to lead both teams. Head coach Jimbo Fisher thought the overall spring sessions went well. “It was a good spring,” Fisher said. “Glad we got through it relatively unscathed with no season-ending injuries for next year. Some young guys got some opportunities and some older guys did and guys are starting to come through.

New North Carolina head coach Larry Fedora showed off it’s new offensive look Saturday and it looked pretty good. Redshirt freshman running back Romar Morris scored three touchdowns in the first half and was arguably the games biggest star. “It felt great,” Morris said. “Once it started rolling, it felt like practice again, just like we was running on air. There was great movement, great motion, the offense was just rolling.” He and quarterback Bryn Renner led the Blue team to a 44-21 win over the White squad. Renner was 23-28 for 295 yards and two touchdowns in Fedora’s new no huddle offense. Renner saw most of the action under center because Giovani Bernard was forced from the game with a cut on the back of his head. There was no word on his condition. Tim Scott returned an interception 35 yards for a touchdown. Fedora sees ups and downs as players learn the no huddle offense. “For me, it was awful slow out there and sluggish in between the plays,” Fedora said. “We’ve still got a ways to go in understanding the tempo. But it’s not hard to see the stress you can put on the defense when you start moving the chains a few times and you’ve got tempo going.”

Scott Stadium was the site for Virginia’s Spring game Saturday and the Orange team came out with a 20-17 win over the Blue team. Running back Khalek Shepherd rushed for 102 yards to lead the Blue squad. Quarterback Michael Rocco was 12-21 for 194 yards to lead all QB’s. LaRoy Reynolds led all defenders with 8 tackles and defensive tackle Justin Renfrow had 3 tackles with two for a loss and two sacks. Head coach Mike London’s concern is getting his “go-to” guys the ball. “It was pretty good tempo,” London said. “The weather was good, it was what you want out of the last practice of spring practice. It was good to see the guys competing. We are going to continue to make downfield throws and try to get the ball in the hands of as many guys as possible. There is an emphasis on explosive plays, plays that move the ball beyond 15 yards. We have guys that can run, that were athletes and track runners in high school, and we are going to find ways to get them the ball.”

Ray Blanchette covers the ACC for the Saturday Blitz. . He also writes for Outside The Redzone. Follow along at www.outsidetheredzone.com. Blanchette is the owner of Blanchette Sports Holdings. Follow along with them at www.blanchettesh.elementfx.com or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100003521034703&sk=wall or on Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/BlanchettSports