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Three Big East teams held their spring games this past weekend. Let's check in to see how they did.

Connecticut: Junior college transfer Chandler Whitmer had an outstanding performance in the Blue-White game, throwing two touchdown passes to lead his White team to the win. "I think that probably from a media standpoint, Chandler had a productive day,” coach Paul Pasqualoni said. "He really did. He made some good decisions. He threw fairly accurately to hit the open receiver. His team won, so I’m sure he’s feeling good right now."

But the competition to win the starting job will go on through fall camp -- the second year in a row the Huskies have more than three players vying to be named the starter.

“We’ll come back in four weeks to start their summer program. Then we get to start this process all over again,” Pasqualoni said. “We’ll start up, the quarterback competition will start all over again and once we get into preseason camp and it’s clear, then we’ll make a decision. We won’t make a decision right now.”

Defensively, senior tackle Ryan Wirth had a huge game, with 4 1/2 sacks.

USF: Speaking of defense, that unit dominated the spring game Saturday night for the Bulls, turning around a dismal performance in a scrimmage the previous week. Ryne Giddins had a terrific day, with three sacks.

"I was really pleased with the way the defense came out and the way they competed," coach Skip Holtz said. "There is some speed on this team. This team is physical and they can run."

That defense harassed quarterback B.J. Daniels all day. Daniels went 9-of-26 for 88 yards, and was called for intentional grounding in the end zone in the first half, resulting in a safety. Not exactly the stellar play fans want to see out of their returning starter. Running back Marcus Shaw probably had the most impressive showing for the offense, with two touchdown runs and 61 total yards.

Syracuse: Defense seemed to be the name of the game this entire weekend in the Big East. The Orange did not score a single point on offense in their spring game Saturday, as defensive tackle Jay Bromley had a hand in both defensive scores. Bromley had a sack in the end zone for a safety and a forced fumble that Brandon Sharpe returned for a touchdown.

Linebacker Siriki Diabate also had a good showing, with a tackle for loss, sack and interception.

Offensively, quarterback Ryan Nassib played the entire game and went 11-of-18 for 163 yards. Marcus Sales, returning from a one-year suspension, had two catches for 68 yards to lead all receivers. Ashton Broyld, expected to be a heavy contributor this season, played running back and receiver in the game. He did have a 44-yard catch from backup Charley Loeb that was one of the offensive highlights of the day.

Syracuse played this spring without several key contributors, including Alec Lemon, Marquis Spruill and Keon Lyn to name just a few. All Big-East tackle Justin Pugh also missed the spring game after sustaining an upper body injury a few weeks ago during practice. In all, 14 players missed the game because of injury.

Syracuse has two early enrollees:

Ashton Broyld, QB, Henrietta, N.Y.

Myles Davis, LB, Verona, Pa.

Notes: Both players attended Milford Academy in the fall. Broyld will provide good competition with Charley Loeb behind Ryan Nassib. Before attending Milford, Broyld was a 2010 New York State Class AA Player of the Year after leading his team to a 13-0 record. He passed for 1,961 yards and 24 touchdowns, and rushed for 1,540 yards and 24 touchdowns. Davis spent 2010 at Milford, and was rated one of the top prep school players. He sat out 2011 with a knee injury.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Some observations after attending Syracuse's 13th practice of the spring on Tuesday (if there are any typos, it's because I spilled Dinosaur Bar-B-Que sauce on my keyboard):

• With the spring game on tap Saturday, the Orange did quite a bit of scrimmage work in a somewhat-abbreviated practice. The defense had the upper hand at last weekend's scrimmage and kept that going on Tuesday. The offense did well in some short-yardage work, but the defense dominated in goal-line and two-minute drills. That's notable, given that the offense returns far more starters than its relatively young counterparts on the other side of the ball. Doug Marrone said the offense had "some lingering bad taste" from Saturday's performance.

• Of course, the offense might have had a better day if Marcus Sales had caught a ball that deflected off his hands on fourth-and-10 from about midfield in the two-minute work. Sales said afterward that he would have caught that in a game. And the best news, at least for the offense, is that he was able to get behind the defense in such an obvious passing situation.

• Sales looked good the rest of the practice and seems to be carrying over his big Pinstripe Bowl performance. The receivers have a little more depth with him, Alec Lemon and Van Chew, who isn't fully healthy yet. Jarrod West looks like he can be a solid possession receiver. Dorian Graham is fast but still has trouble catching the ball.

• You don't hear much anymore about a quarterback competition. Ryan Nassib is the obvious starter and showed some nice skill in a couple of play-action bootleg passes to tight end Nick Provo. Nassib probably isn't going to wow you, but he's solid and there's no one really pushing him for playing time right now. Charley Loeb wold be the backup if the season started today.

• Antwon Bailey showed some nice moves as Syracuse really focused on running the ball during most of the scrimmage portions. He got around the corner a couple of times and flashed good shiftiness between the tackles. I have questioned whether or not the 5-foot-8 Bailey could hold up as an every-down back, but hey, Noel Devine and Dion Lewis have done it in this league. Prince-Tyson Gulley is also coming on. He had maybe the play of the day by the offense when he juked Jeremi Wilkes out of his shoes on a pitch play.

• True freshman Dyshawn Davis is currently running first-string at linebacker. Coach Dan Conley spent time giving Davis a lot of extra instruction. Syracuse could be awfully young at linebacker with Davis and true sophomore Marquis Spruill in the middle. Senior Dan Vaughan is trying to hold on to a starting job at the other spot and would give the Orange some experience.

• The other big question mark on defense is at the interior line spots. Cory Boatman (256 pounds) and Jay Bromley (273) were manning that position with the first unit on Tuesday. While they had success against a veteran line, they are still undersized for those spots. Marrone said the defensive tackle position probably would be filled by committee this season.
• Overall thoughts: The Orange are well-stocked on the offensive line, at defensive end and at safety and will have a veteran quarterback and some potential playmakers at running back. They will need the young guys at linebacker and defensive tackle to really come on, and for the passing game to improve over last year. But it's not unrealistic to consider them a Big East contender in 2011.

Spring practice is underway, and some of the first real scrimmages happened this weekend. Let's take a quick review of Syracuse's scrimmage on Saturday in Rochester, N.Y.

• The Orange took their show on the road, but the players probably would have preferred to stay at Manley Field House, as temperatures were below freezing. Head coach Doug Marrone liked the trip to Rochester to try and win back some fans from that area.

• Ryan Nassib completed 12 of 25 passes for 102 yards and an interception, according to the Syracuse Post-Standard. Backup Charley Loeb went 6-for-9 with a touchdown and a pick.

• Redshirt freshman Jarrod West caught the only touchdown pass, a 42-yarder. Marcus Sales led receivers with four catches.

• Antwon Bailey rushed 10 times for 44 yards, according to the Post-Standard.

• Olando Fisher had the interception for the defense. Phillip Thomas and Kevyn Scott dropped potential interceptions from Nassib.

• “We are progressing. We have some players,” Marrone said. “The players have to get used to playing with each other. There are a lot of different faces out there. You can see the difference this year. Our scrimmages are not controlled. We are trying to simulate a game and just play football.”

Here is the second part of my pre-spring conversation with Syracuse coach Doug Marrone. You can read Part I here.

We talked about Marcus Sales, so let's talk about the other receivers. How much can Van Chew and Alec Lemon improve?


Doug Marrone: Both players got hurt at the end of last year. I do like Van. I told everyone that last spring and no one really jumped on that. I guess they figured I didn't know what I was talking about. He had a good year for us and he's healthy, he'll be ready to go. Alec had a real good end of the year his freshman year, and last year he was a little inconsistent. He's faster right now than he's ever been, which is exciting. He's really worked hard, and there's more competition there. When you create a lot of competition at each position, you'll get better play.

Ryan Nassib started all 13 games for you at quarterback. Is he the no-doubt leader there again this spring?


DM: That's the way we feel now, but we have to go out there and make sure everything is set. He had 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions and completed about 56 percent. We try to get our quarterbacks up to 65 completion percentage. Does he have the lead going in? Absolutely, because he has the experience. But Charley Loeb has done some nice things. John Kinder had a great bowl practice for us -- he really, really did a nice job, so where does he go now? Jonny Miller is coming off shoulder injury, so it's going to be interesting to see him because he's a very good athlete. Does someone have to play extremely well to beat out Ryan Nassib? Yes. But Ryan Nassib has some pretty good competition behind him too.

Any redshirt guys or others who didn't play last year who you're expecting to make a move this spring?


DM: Well, we didn't redshirt many guys. But I think Deon Goggins, on the inside for our defense, is one. We've moved Marquis Spruill to middle linebacker. He played well for us last year as a true freshman [at outside linebacker], but there's still going to be a learning curve for the kid. At corner, Ri'shard Anderson was going to play for us, probably be our corner when went to nickel, until he got hurt last year and he's healthy now. Keondrick Lyn, I think, is a very, very good player there as well. So it will be interesting to see them and Kevyn Scott battle. Then there's Jeremi Wilkes, too. Micah Robinson and Max Beaulieu are two defensive linemen to watch, and Ollie Haney is coming off an injury. He had a pretty good spring last year.

You moved some coaches around this offseason. Was that just to prioritize some positions that need extra coaching this year?

DM: It was. You look at it now, and we have two coaches on the D-line, so coach [Jimmy] Brumbaugh can now spend that time coaching those young inside players. We have to do that to be successful. Our ends are returning, and I really think they'll do a heck of a job, all of them. Then with our linebackers, coach [John] Anselmo is down there now with with coach [Dan] Conley. With so many spread offenses, basically one of the linebackers will have to come out of the box, and coach Anselmo knows that stuff from being a defensive backs coach. So we wanted to strategically put coaches in areas where we need to play well in order to be successful.

You also promoted Nathaniel Hackett to offensive coordinator. Was that really much of a change, since he was calling plays last year anyway?


DM: It's really not. I know I can call plays, that's not a problem. Then when coach Hackett came in the spring, he'd call a segment of practice and I would call a segment. At the end of the day, we come from the same background, and our thoughts are going the same way. my philosophy is I want to be able to manage the game, know when to call timeouts, when to punt, when to do everything. So it's very simple for me to say, 'You know what, go ahead and call the plays, and at the end of the year we'll make sure you have the title because you deserve it.' But every play goes through me, on offense, defense and special teams.

Last year, you publicly stated your goal was to get to a bowl game. What's next?


DM: We're going to go through spring and create this goal for ourselves when we start this preseason. I think it's very important to do things together with the players. Obviously, we won eight games last year and have a challenging schedule this year. What that goal actually is will be verbally communicated when we get closer to the beginning of season. We've still got a lot of time to get ourselves ready and a lot of work to do.

I've said before that the toughest thing to do is turn around a college football program. I think the second toughest thing to do is maintain it. That's the key. So we have a lot of hard work in front of us.

You definitely turned things around, and I know you had a very detailed plan when you took over. Winning eight games and a bowl your second year, how did that match up with your plan?


DM: In the beginning, every coach comes in thinking they're going to win and go to a bowl game. Those were our thoughts coming in. I let other people say where they think we are. I thought we should have been in a bowl game that first year, but we fell short in a couple games. Last year we were in a position where we could have won more football games but we didn't.

So how do we get ourselves playing at the highest level every single week, and still do all the other things that's expected of us as student-athletes -- going to class, getting high GPAs and being leaders on campus? We expect a lot of our players. So we'll sit down and break down these goals, because we have to take it to the next level.

Some interesting offseason happenings at Syracuse as reported by Nolan Weidner in the Syracuse Post-Standard this morning.

Coach Doug Marrone issued a post-spring depth chart, and neither of the team's prominent Carters -- E.J. and Delone -- are on it.

Linebacker E.J. Carter, who started last year, had apparently left the team before coming back at the last minute for spring ball. Well, it seems Carter is gone again. Marrone, who doesn't comment on players who have left the team as part of his policy, declined to give details except to confirm that Carter was gone.

Ryan Gillum is listed as the starter at weakside linebacker, where he had been playing ahead of Carter this spring.

Less surprising was the omission of running back Delone Carter. The 1,000-yard rusher from last season has been suspended from school until the fall after being charged with punching a fellow student back in February. According to Weidner, the first day of fall classes is Aug. 30, though it's unclear if Delone Carter will be allowed to practice before then. The Orange open their season Sept. 4 at Akron.

Marrone also officially listed Ryan Nassib as his starting quarterback. The sophomore had gotten a push from freshman Charley Loeb in spring practice, though Nassib had the edge in experience from playing behind Greg Paulus in '09.

“I look at that, as who gives us the best chance to win,” Marrone said. “We feel we have two good quarterbacks, and that’s a comfortable feeling."

You can view the entire Syracuse depth chart here.

Spring is over. Players have shown what they're capable of doing and what they still need to work on. So it's time to start breaking down each position in the Big East to see who is the strongest.

This is a ranking of the entire position group, so while having frontline talent helps, depth matters too. Let's start with the position that everybody always looks to first: quarterback.

1. Cincinnati: Zach Collaros will enter the season with probably the highest expectations of any Big East signal-caller, given his spectacular four-game starting stint in 2009 and the offense he'll play in for Butch Jones. Chazz Anderson also had a strong spring and could easily win games if something happens to Collaros.

2. Connecticut: Surprised? Don't be. Zach Frazer looked sharp this spring after ending the 2009 season strong, and his backup, Cody Endres, has already proved he can win games in the Big East. Michael Box is a promising prospect, Johnny McEntee does some things well and Leon Kinnard is a lightning bug who could help out in certain packages. This may be the deepest team in the league at QB.

3. Pittsburgh: No, Tino Sunseri has never started a game. But Pat Bostick has, and he's won some big ones. Sunseri is skilled and has a lot to work with, while Pitt can feel comfortable with one of the more experienced backups in the league. Remember, depth matters.

4. Rutgers: Though only a true sophomore, Tom Savage has more career starts than any returning starting quarterback in the league, amazingly enough. But the situation is perilous behind him, with only Steve Shimko there now. Can incoming freshman Chas Dodd help out this summer?

5. South Florida: Talk about your dangerous backup situations. B.J. Daniels is an electric player, but right now he only has walk-ons behind him. Incoming true frosh Jamius Gunsby will serve as his backup, but the Bulls don't want to have to go down that road this year.

6. West Virginia: This is one of those rankings that will look silly in time. I think Geno Smith will develop into one of the league's better quarterbacks. But since he was limited in the spring by a foot injury, the jury has to remain out on the sophomore until he's healthy. Coley White stood out this spring when given a bunch of snaps, but he'll likely move to receiver this fall as the Mountaineers see what they have in true freshmen Barry Brunetti and Jeremy Johnson.

7. Louisville: Depth is not a problem for the Cardinals, who are still deciding between Adam Froman and Justin Burke, with former starter Will Stein in the wings. Freshman Dominique Brown will be given a look this summer as well. The problem, instead, is the lack of an elite player at the position.

8. Syracuse: The Orange enter the season as one of only two Big East teams to not return a quarterback with starting experience. Ryan Nassib did play a lot this year, and redshirt freshman Charley Loeb pushed him this spring. Highly-touted recruit Jonny Miller arrives this summer.

Heather Dinich did this for the ACC and Adam Rittenberg followed with the Big Ten, so I'm jumping on board with the Big East. It's time to examine offensive and defensive units that are in need of repair in the league and see which ones are closer to recovering.

Up first: offense.

In need of repair

1. Louisville: Steve Kragthorpe took over as his own offensive coordinator last year with pretty disastrous results. The Cardinals averaged only 18.1 points per game, their lowest total in more than a decade, while finishing last in rushing offense. They were particularly brutal in the red zone, where they left a lot of points on the table.

2. Syracuse: The Orange offense did come on late in the year, scoring 31 points each against Rutgers and Connecticut. Before that, however, Syracuse had totaled 26 points in its previous three games, all losses. The mid-year dismissal/defection of receiver Mike Williams stymied the passing attack for a while, and Syracuse had the worst turnover margin in the league.

3. Rutgers: The stats say the Scarlet Knights finished fourth in the league in scoring at 28.8 points per game. In reality, they benefited by pouring on the points against the weaker opponents on the schedule (and there were a lot of those). Rutgers also had a lot of scores either produced or set up by its defense and special teams. But the offense lacked a powerful running game or a lot of big threats in the passing game outside of Tim Brown.

Fastest road to recovery

1. Rutgers: This is a team that has a lot of pieces to be a good offense, starting with quarterback Tom Savage and receiver Mohamed Sanu. The wideouts as a group have greatly improved this spring, and with either an improved Joe Martinek, De'Antwan Williams or some incoming freshmen this summer, coach Greg Schiano hopes the running game will become more explosive. It will all rest, however, on how well a rebuilt offensive line comes together.

2. Syracuse: Head coach Doug Marrone has take over the reins of the offense after letting Rob Spence go. Marrone was the offensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints before getting the Syracuse job, and there were whispers that he had a bigger hand than usual in the Orange's last two games last season, when they broke out some new tricks to get back on track. Syracuse has strong running backs and some emerging receivers. The Orange need quarterback Ryan Nassib or Charley Loeb to become a real leader.

3. Louisville: The Cardinals' offenses looked pretty good at times this spring, but it was also going up against a patchwork defense. New offensive coordinator Mike Sanford is installing a Florida-esque spread attack, and while Louisville has good tailbacks, the receiving position is full of mostly unproven guys outside of Doug Beaumont. Adam Froman and Justin Burke are still battling to win the starting quarterback job, but neither of them has shown to this point that they are at the elite level. The Cardinals should improve on that 18.1 points per game average, but the question is how much.

2009 overall record: 4-8

2009 conference record: 1-6, T-7th in Big East

Returning starters
Offense: 4. Defense: 6. Punter/kicker: 2

Top returners
RB Delone Carter, LB Derrell Smith, LB Doug Hogue, C Ryan Bartholomew, RB Antwon Bailey, DE Chandler Jones, S Mike Holmes, QB Ryan Nassib

Key losses
QB Greg Paulus, DT Arthur Jones, OL Jim McKenzie, TE Mike Owen

2009 statistical leaders (* returners)

Rushing: Delone Carter* (1,021 yards)
Passing: Greg Paulus (2,024 yards)
Receiving: Mike Williams (746 yards)
Tackles: Derrell Smith* (82)
Sacks: Doug Hogue* (9.5)
Interceptions: Mike Holmes* (3)

Spring answers

1. New-look offense: Head coach Doug Marrone took over as his own offensive coordinator in the offseason, and this spring offered a glimpse of what a Marrone-controlled attack might look like. In the spring game, the Orange looked to throw the ball downfield a lot more than they did last year under coordinator Rob Spence, who favored short passes and screens. Also gone is the no-huddle and spread, replaced by multiple formations and two-back, two-tight end sets, even some option. The goal is to create more big plays, something Syracuse lacked in '09.

2. Improved depth: Syracuse still didn't have enough players to stage a full spring game. But the Orange are in much better shape than they were last year, when attrition through injuries and other issues meant they could have taken a short bus to away games. There's depth at running back, linebacker and in the secondary, while the numbers are improving along the lines.

3. Defensive aggression: Getting Derrell Smith back healthy and having him alongside returning sacks leader Doug Hogue gives the Orange a stellar 1-2 punch at linebacker. Shamarko Thomas and Philip Thomas played well at corner, and Marrone likes the pass rush off the edge with Chandler Jones and Mikhail Marinovich. Scott Shafer's Syracuse defense surprised some people in 2009 and could be better in '10.

Fall questions

1. Quarterback competition: Ryan Nassib entered the spring as the presumed starter after serving as Greg Paulus' apprentice last season. But Charley Loeb pushed him in practice and had a strong spring game. While Nassib probably holds the edge, Loeb or incoming freshman Jonny Miller could make things interesting in fall camp.

2. Go-to who? Since Mike Williams left the team in the middle of last year, Syracuse hasn't really had a go-to wide receiver. Marcus Sales had a big spring game, while Alec Lemon and Van Chew had their moments as well. Perhaps this will be a spread-the-wealth offense, because Syracuse does have three versatile tailbacks. But the emergence of a true No. 1 receiver would sure help.

3. Whither Delone: Star tailback Delone Carter's arrest and subsequent suspension from school at the end of spring practice creates some questions for the fall. While Carter's lawyer said the senior can return to school in time for the season, he'll miss all of the team workouts this summer and possibly fall practice. It remains to be seen if Marrone will issue further punishment as well.

Doug Marrone may want to keep this Doug Marrone guy around as his offensive coordinator.

The Syracuse offense showed off some explosiveness in Saturday's spring game, as fans got a chance to watch Marrone call plays for the first time. The offense won 66-58 in a modified scoring system, and the passing game accounted for 400 yards and four touchdowns.

Ryan Nassib went 10-for-19 for 141 yards and a touchdown, but he's still got some competition from Charley Loeb, who was 18-for-23 for 259 yards and three scores.

Marcus Sales led the wideouts with eight catches for 158 yards and two touchdowns, while Alec Lemon had five catches for 82 yards and a touchdown.

Averin Collier ran for 70 yards on 14 carries, and Antwon Bailey added 47 yards on 11 tries. Leading returning rusher Delone Carter was suspended for the game.

Cornerback Phillip Thomas had an interception for the lone turnover of the scrimmage.

Spring practice is all but over for five Big East teams, and it's time to have some fun. Five teams will have their spring games this weekend, and here's a quick preview of what to expect:

Louisville

The Cardinals kick things off Friday night at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. The game will pit the first-team offense (Red) against the second-team defense (white) and the second-team offense versus the first-team defense. There will be four 15-minute quarters with a running clock.

The defense has struggled at times this spring and could use a good performance. Quarterbacks Adam Froman and Justin Burke will make their case to be the starter.

Connecticut

UConn coach Randy Edsall has already asked fans to come out and show support in numbers for Saturday's spring festivities. Former stars Donald Brown and Tyler Lorenzen will serve as honorary coaches for one team, facing off against three members of the 2004 team, including Dan Orlovsky.

Normal scoring will take place in four 15-minute quarters.

Pittsburgh

The Pitt spring game will be televised on the NFL Network beginning at 2 p.m. and features a pretty knowledgeable color analyst: Dave Wannstedt.

The game will feature the offense vs. the defense with a modified scoring system.

South Florida

Skip Holtz's first spring game will involve the first-team offense against the first-team defense. Quarterback B.J. Daniels will play but will be wearing a non-contact jersey to protect his surgically repaired shoulder. Holtz will watch the first half from the press box.

Syracuse

With a thin roster still, Doug Marrone won't have a traditional offense vs. defense scrimmage.

"We're going to put the ball at the minus 20-yard line and we're going to say, 'Let's go play football,'" he said. "Eventually, when we get our numbers up, we will split this team up into a true game."

Ryan Nassib is trying to hold onto the quarterback's job with Charley Loeb making a strong charge.

Several teams went through full-scale scrimmages on Saturday as spring practice draws closer to its conclusion. Here are some notes from several of those scrimmages:

Louisville

The Cardinals' offense played well again in Saturday's 120-play scrimmage after a slow start. With Victor Anderson and Jeremy Wright sidelined, Bilal Powell ripped off some long runs and finished with 169 total yards. Josh Chichester caught a pair of touchdowns. Adam Froman was 11-of-14 for 98 yards.

But the offense also struggled with the quarterback-center exchange and committed three turnovers, including Justin Burke's pick in the red zone to Zed Evans.

Pittsburgh

Dion Lewis only played about 30 seconds, and Ray Graham was out with an injury. In their absence, Chris Burns ran for 89 yards and three touchdowns. Burns could play for a lot of teams, but you can't sit Lewis.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Paul Zeise has lots of good observations from the scrimmage and says Greg Cross, Devin Street and Tyrone Ezell were among those who stood out.

The offensive line and secondary remain concerns for Dave Wannstedt.

Rutgers

Saturday's 150-play scrimmage was the first full-scale one of the spring for the Scarlet Knights, and it was a rough day for the offense.

Rutgers didn't produce a touchdown except during goal-line drills. Darrell Givens, who let a kickoff sail past him for a touchdown on the very first play, redeemed himself with a 49-yard pick six off Steve Shimko. Tom Savage was just 7-of-14 for 54 yards, though he was working through a sore thigh on a windy day. Shimko was just 8-of-21 with two interceptions, highlighting a concern if Savage gets hurt this season.

The offensive line, which is going through a major upheaval, struggled to protect either QB. The defense is obviously pretty far ahead of the offense right now.

South Florida

The Bulls held their final scrimmage before this week's spring game, a 170-play workout at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice facility.

Skip Holtz liked the work of running back Demetris Murray, who's making a push for playing time and Lindsey Lamar, who's adjusting to a new role at receiver. Receiver Dontavia Bogan, cornerback Daniel Bryant and linebacker Michael Lanaris also stood out.

Offensive linemen Mark Popek (hip) and Chaz Hine (foot) suffered minor injuries but are expected back soon. With Zach Hermann ending his career because of a neck injury, the Bulls can't afford many more injuries along the line.

Syracuse

The Orange went through a full-contact, 18-series scrimmage on Saturday. Ryan Nassib was 14-of-28 for 151 yards, a touchdown and an interception, while backup Charley Loeb went 19-of-28 for 215 yards and three scores. Delone Carter ran 15 times for 75 yards and a score.

Hofstra transfer Aaron Weaver had a pair of touchdown grabs and 88 receiving yards, looking like he intends to be a major contributor this season. Linebacker Derrell Smith scored on a 95-yard interception return.

Ryan Nassib takes a philosophical view of what spring position battles really mean.

"Spring is when you earn your job, and the fall is when you win," he says. "Nothing really matters until you've got a place at the table at the beginning of the first game."

Nassib learned that lesson firsthand last year. Early on in the spring, he was named Syracuse's starting quarterback even though he was just a redshirt freshman with no experience. After spring ball ended, however, Greg Paulus transferred in from Duke and was named the starter during fall camp. Nassib did nothing to lose the job, really, but Paulus was the veteran, even if he hadn't played football in four years.

But Nassib didn't just ride the pine. He played in 10 games and got plenty of snaps in several of them as the Orange began to groom him for the future. He also came in on special packages, sometimes even lining up at receiver. Against West Virginia, after Paulus struggled, he completed 7-of-16 passes for 120 yards and two scores.

"I didn't have the typical role of a second-string quarterback," Nassib said. "I got a chance to get in and experience real-life game time. I had some success and some failures. I learned a lot from it."

He completed 52.9 percent of his throws for 422 yards and three touchdowns, plus an interception. Doug Marrone said Nassib learned lessons that were just as valuable simply by watching how Paulus went about his preparations.

"He was great to look up to," Nassib said. "He was a veteran college athlete. He taught me some great things, not only on the field but in locker room with the team and how to handle yourself."

Nassib entered this spring with the upper hand on the quarterback job, but Marrone hasn't anointed him as the starter. Freshman Charley Loeb is pushing him in practice, and highly-regarded recruit Jonny Miller will arrive this summer. Nassib knows that nothing is certain.

But he's in a much better frame of mind this spring than he was this time a year ago.

"I have a better understanding of what college football is and what it takes to compete at this level," he said. "Last spring, I was like a freshman, not knowing much. Now that I've got a whole year under my belt and have experienced a lot of things, I feel a lot more confident out on the field."

Nassib hopes he's on the field as the starter come September. He's not taking anything for granted this time around, though.

Spring practice is still just getting going at most Big East schools, but Saturday brought some scrimmages in various forms for several teams. Here are a few notes and updates from those weekend drills:

Louisville

The Cardinals went through a controlled scrimmage in their first day of pads under new coach Charlie Strong. The offense had the upper hand.

"[On Friday] I kind of put it on the offense and asked them if they were going to come out and move the ball against the defense, which they were able to do," Strong said. "It was great to watch them run the football and run downhill."

Darius Ashley, Jeremy Wright and Bilal Powell split carries while the quarterbacks rotated snaps. The team focused on fourth down in the red zone and other short-yardage situations. Linebacker Brandon Heath intercepted a pass in the end zone.

South Florida

Skip Holtz invited season-ticket holders to the Bulls' first scrimmage of the spring, and about 700 fans showed up. Quarterback B.J. Daniels was late to the practice because a close friend was involved in a serious car accident Friday night.

Sophomore running back Demetris Murray had the only rushing touchdown of the scrimmage. The biggest pass play was a 40-plus yarder from Daniels to tight end Isaac Virgin. The lone passing touchdown was from Daniels to Victor Marc.

Safeties Jerrell Young and Jacquez Jenkins stood out on defense.

Syracuse

Not a lot of details available from the Orange scrimmage, but the Syracuse Post-Standard's Nolan Weidner has a few notes, including:

• Shamarko Thomas intercepted a Ryan Nassib pass
• Alec Lemon and Van Chew worked with the first-team offense at receiver, with Chew catching a 45-yarder from Charley Loeb.
• Safety Dorian Graham picked off a Loeb pass.

“At the end of the day, you’re happy with some of the things on offense, you’re happy with some of the things on defense,” Doug Marrone said. “So as a head coach, you’re going to feel OK about that.”

Connecticut

Like Syracuse, details are scarce from the Huskies' scrimmage. But here are some observations from the Hartford Courant's Desmond Conner.

Syracuse finished with another poor record -- 4-8 -- in 2009, but there were some positive developments under first-year head coach Doug Marrone. Despite dealing with a depleted roster due to injuries, dismissals and departures, Marrone and the Orange were in a lot of games, and they pulled off a big upset of Rutgers in their second to last game of the year.

Marrone now enters his second spring practice at Syracuse with some optimism that the program is getting closer to competing for a bowl game. I caught up with Marrone this week to preview the Orange spring drills, which begin Monday. This is Part I of my interview; check back Monday morning for Part II.

Before we look ahead, let's quickly review last year. All things considered, what are your thoughts on your first year there in the job and what you accomplished?


Doug Marrone: Obviously, the loss total was not what we were looking for. But there are signs that things can get better. If you just look at two basic concepts of football, we have to learn to not turn the ball over as much as we did on offense, and then on defense not give up as many big plays and to force turnovers. And then special teams-wise, not give up so many big plays. It's easy to say that, if you take care of those two things you'll be a better football team. But truly we will. There's more to it than that, but that's basically what it comes down to.

As far as getting through that first year, the chemistry among the team and the coaches is continually something that needs to be built yearly. From that standpoint, what I'm excited about going into spring is that there will be much better communication from player to player, from player to coach, from coach to coach now that we've been with each other for a year. The other thing I'm excited about is that the players here are stronger, they're faster, they know exactly what to expect when we step on the field on Monday. So we're in a better stage right now than we were a year ago at this time. That's exciting.

Your roster numbers were pretty low at times last year. Where are you now with that?


DM: Our numbers are still down. I don't know off the top of my head whether it's 56 or 57 scholarship players that are here on our campus now. We had seven players come into our program midterm, and so that leaves us with 24 student-athletes who've signed national letters of intent who are ready to come in. We're not at the numbers where we want to be in the spring, the ultimate numbers of what you would like. So we have to be very smart of how we practice and make sure we're able to get the maximum amount of time in teaching and on the field, but do a good job of making sure they're not out there for times that would put the student-athletes in jeopardy from an injury standpoint.

We're a little bit of a young team. We're a little bit more experienced on defense, where we have some guys who have played. Offensively, we have less experience back. The specialists are all coming back. There are new coaches on staff also. Two of the four are former NFL players -- Rob Moore played here at Syracuse and is coaching wide receivers, and Tyrone Wheatley, who played at Michigan, is coaching our running backs. Jimmy Brumbaugh is our defensive line coach and he played at Auburn, and Nathaniel Hackett came from the Buffalo Bills. So it's been an exciting offseason, too, putting everything together.

Speaking of coaches, you took over as offensive coordinator this offseason. What will a Doug Marrone-run offense look like?


DM: Obviously, offensively, it's multiple. There will be some carryover from last season. The terminology of how a play is called has to be able to come out of my mouth very easily, so the terminology will be different in how we call plays. But it's still the same game as far as how we play football. The good thing is the staff, the new coaches and the coaches that are here, pretty much everyone has a background in how we call this offense. So there's a comfort level and you're not really teaching them.

Let's go position by position, starting with quarterback. Ryan Nassib played a lot of snaps for you last year. Is he the No. 1 guy going into spring?


DM: I always look at it as there's competition for every position every spring. But some of the things that Ryan has to build on are obviously the experience of playing last year and dealing with the players, and also being around Greg Paulus. I think that's something that can help Ryan. And you know Charley Loeb was a freshman last year, and you're excited about some of the things you saw him do during the course of being on the scout team. We're looking forward to seeing his ability to come in and his leadership and see the two compete against each other.

What did Nassib do last year that you liked during his time on the field and what does he need to get better at?


DM: Again, it's the ability to handle the situation and handle the offense. The play's coming in and being able to call the plays and get everyone on the same page, and the ability to go out there and execute at a level where we can win. Obviously we're always looking for more at that position as we are every position, because we weren't satisfied with the won-loss record. With the situations we put him in last year, I felt he did a very, very good job. But now can he or Charley or any other quarterback who's coming in do it for all four quarters throughout the whole season with the consistency that we need at that position?

You're a former offensive lineman, so I know you look closely at that group. How do you feel about that unit going into the spring?


DM: I like this group. I think we have some athleticism and some size on that line. I'll be interested to see, at the end of the day, at the end of spring, some continuity with that group. I think we still have to focus on some diversity among those players. I don't think we can lock in a player at a certain position where if they can play that, that's good, that's set. We have to find a way to get the best five out there, so some of those guys during the spring may play a different position. I'm looking forward to seeing some of the young kids we signed last year step up and to see what they have. And we brought some new kids into the program midyear that we think will be able to help us. So I think we've created good competition at that position, and the best five will play.

How's the depth there?


DM: The depth is good, but again because of the overall numbers, it's probably a little short as far as going into the spring. Like trying to develop a third center during the spring is probably something we'll be looking at. We've got a center coming in as a freshman -- Coach Mac's son, Macky MacPherson -- but he's still in high school. So developing that third center is something we're looking at.

You were looking for some receivers to step up last year, and at the end of the season a couple of young guys like Alec Lemon were playing better. Where does that group stand now, and are there players that maybe we're not talking about right now?


DM: Alec Lemon did a very good job at the end of year for us making catches, and obviously we're looking forward to seeing how much better he's gotten in the offseason program. Mike Jones is an interesting kid. He was a running back initially, he returned kicks for us and through some injury situations he wound up moving to the receiver position and really did well. He's someone who can make plays with the ball in his hands. And then we have some younger kids with Marcus Sales and Van Chew. They have some skill and we'll see how they compete. The wild card in all of this is, we were able to take a kid from Hofstra because they dropped their program named Aaron Weaver. He has a very good build -- he's a big kid at 6-foot-2, 220 pounds -- who was very productive for Hofstra. He's a very bright kid. I'll be interested to see what he can do to help us.

And at running back, you bring back your top three guys -- Delone Carter, Antwon Bailey and Averin Collier. You must be happy with that position right now.


DM: Yeah, it's a pretty good group. All three players bring a little bit different dynamic to that position. Delone is a big, strong powerful runner with good speed who can do a lot of things. Antwon Bailey did a lot of nice things; he played quarterback in the Wildcat offense and was able to line up in the slot position and catch a couple balls vertically down the field. Averin Collier came on at the end of the year and really did some nice things to make some plays. You're excited about where you are with that group. It's just a matter of how many touches each of those guys get.