College Football: 5 takeaways from April 7 spring games

April 7 is the first major day of college football spring games in 2018. Here are five takeaways from the weekend’s slate.

In the college football world, the spring game is the appetizer for the fall season. It’s live football; even if there is no contact on the quarterback for most of the programs and the forced storylines (I’m guilty) are more exciting than the game itself.

As we wait that long pause in college football from early January until late August our only taste of live action are the Blue and Gold Game or A-Game spring contests. Many are free to attend, some are on TV, but all are necessary both for fans to get a fix of their addiction and to establish the program.

Having played this weekend were top-tier programs in the Auburn Tigers and the Michigan State Spartans. Auburn is the S&P+’s sixth-ranked program in the preseason, and the Spartans are preseason 11th overall.

The TCU Horned Frogs are 22nd in the S&P+ and Gary Patterson‘s squad has to replace a few stars departing for the NFL. Rounding out the top 25 competition are the Ole Miss Rebels in the 25th spot. Matt Luke will have to keep the Rebels on track now that he’s in his first full-time season as the head coach after finishing 2017 with a 6-6 record.

Here are the five takeaways from the first major weekend of spring games.