I have to say, having watched practice all week, it was unique to watch just how consistently the players brought the same thing to the game, that they did to practice.
Rodger Saffold was superb. But, he was superb all week and I highlighted him a bunch of times.
Keaton Kristick brought the same thing to the game that I saw in practice, which is his fantastic coverage, especially on the Tight End. He jammed the ever loving hell out of the 6'9" and 280 pound Ali Villanueva during the game, then painted him in coverage, and not surprisingly Ali couldn't come up with the ball. That is absolutely something that Kristick had started to show by the end of the week. I believe he also had a big hit during the game, which is something else he showed.
Dennis Pitta rocked the practices all week, and when you consider the limited playing time, he rocked the game too.
Blair White had solidly slid home as being the best performing WR in Shrine practices. He brought that to the game.
Freddie Barnes was a solid performer all week, he brought that to the game.
Andrew Quarless showed himself to have nice soft hands and a propensity to use his size and body to create opportunities for the QB, also an ability to execute chip blocks and still run his routes. He brought that to the game.
Kam Chancellor was KILLING people all week long, named by Andre Anderson as the hardest hitter and you could tell the whole East team thought that way. He brought that to the game.
Van Eskridge made an interception during practice that looked identical to the one he made during the game. Errant pass, he'd been reading the QB's eyes and flowing to the football, but he wasn't really challenged athletically.
John Estes was the best West offensive lineman all week, noted for his extremely quick hands and stout anchor ability. He brought that to the game.
Late in the Tuesday practice, Pat Paschall showed me a run during scrimmage, he showed vision and agility, speed cutting to the outside and gaining big yardage out there. Then Wednesday, he exchanged his non-descript gold helmet for a helmet from his team North Dakota State, and he built on that run by flashing all over the place. He did the same on Thursday and he was absolutely the best RB in the game today.
Jeff Fitzgerald looks like a monster to me all week, and yet so too did Kyle Callaway. These two behemoths collided in the game today and something had to give...and they fought one heck of a battle with blows dealt from both sides. It was quality.
Greg Hardy, to me, showed all kinds of ability during Shrine practices, but he showed an alarming lack of strength in his arms when he swipes and punches. Yet, he stood STOUT to the double teams and against the run during the week. Well, can you guess who just blew by an offensive tackle, got his arms all over the 5'10" and 188 lbs Todd Reesing, and fell harmlessly to the ground without even jarring Reesing that much? Can you guess who stood up to double teams against the run, and made plays sweeping to the interior?
I think only two real things surprised me. They were O'Brien Schofield's interception on a nice undercut in man coverage, and Devin Ross' so-so performance. The first surprises me just because O'Brien really hadn't shown that all week, and yet it doesn't totally surprise me because his Wisconsin film was strong and I expected to see something like that all week and I thought maybe it would just take him longer to get used to it than others. As for Devin Ross' performance, that was a bit surprising to me because he was by far the best cornerback on either squad all during the week, showing an ability to jam the heck out of anyone at the line, turn and run with them, or equally to play off coverage and break heavy on the ball, forcing incompletions.
