Faulkner's inaugural spring game featured a little bit of everything on Saturday at the Cramton Bowl -- some offensive fireworks, some defensive dominance and lots of loose footballs.
The defense, or the Blue team, held the offense (White team) from scoring through the first nine series. The Blue team forced seven turnovers and came away with six sacks during the 142-play scrimmage.
Defensive lineman Ryan Nixon led the charge with two sacks and a fumble recovery. Another defensive lineman, Brett Edwards, added seven tackles and two more sacks. Nixon said the defense had been licking its chops since finding out the quarterbacks were live, meaning they could get hit.
"I thought (the defensive linemen) played the best we played all spring," Nixon said. "It felt good to hit (the quarterbacks). I ran over there to touch them and they didn't blow it did, so I figured I'd just lay them out."
Cornerback Dominique Johnson also turned in a strong performance, coming up with an interception and three tackles for loss.
Despite poor field position for a good portion of the afternoon, Faulkner head coach Jim Nichols was pleased with his defense's performance.
"The defense is going to be strong next year," Nichols said."We've got a lot of redshirts, a lot of young guys. We've got some good leaders over there. Our D-linemen were a lot better than (a scrimmage) last Thursday. They got a lot of pressure on the quarterback."
Philip Moore and T.J. Jacobs are still competing for the starting quarterback spot, but neither was impressive early.
In fact, it took a near-disaster to ignite the offense.
On a second-and-18, Jacobs had to chase a high snap down 15 yards behind from where he lined up in the shotgun formation. Once Jacobs picked up the loose ball, he scrambled right before firing a pass to Daniel Ross. Ross caught the pass near the 35-yard line, broke a tackle and then dashed 65 yards for the game's first score. Fumbles became a theme Saturday.
By game's end, there were 14 loose balls, including six errant snaps.
With Faulkner transitioning to Auburn's new offense, the centers are still adjusting to snapping in the shotgun formation on every play. Starting center Caleb Bagley has also missed the entire spring with an injury.
After the initial touchdown, Jacobs enjoyed a decent first half. He completed two more first-half touchdown passes -- on back-to-back snaps.
Jacobs' second touchdown came when he hit Jurrell Williams on a quick screen. He broke a tackle and wrestled another defender for 10 yards on his way to a 23-yard touchdown. On the next play, Jacobs pump-faked the same play. The pump caught Faulkner's entire secondary off-guard and Jacobs lofted a pass down the sideline to a wide open receiver and coasted to a 40-yard score.
Jacobs finished the day 14-of-30 passing for 192 yards and the three scores. However, he was also intercepted twice and sacked for a safety.
Moore didn't lead his first scoring drive until the following drive. Moore's first touchdown came when he kept on an option-read and scampered for an easy 8-yard rushing touchdown.
Moore threw for two touchdowns in the second half and finished the game completing 19-of-32 passes for 180 yards.
"I think the guys really wanted to perform," Nichols said. "They're both trying to compete for the job. In the second half, they both played really well."
Faulkner's new fast-paced offense didn't appear attractive early, but Nixon said the tempo wore on the defense in the second half.
It showed. The Blue team missed several tackles after the halftime break.
"It's tiring," Nixon said. "They're at full-speed every play."
The slow offensive start didn't concern Nichols. Playing in a new offense in front of approximately 600 fans, Nichols even said he thought several players were nervous. Still, the second-year coach came away thinking his offense had progressed significantly.
"This is our 14th practice as far as putting this offense in," Nichols said. "We know it's going to take time. We had a scrimmage last Thursday and we're 10 times better than we were last Thursday."
Luke Brietzke-Advertiser
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