Defense was front and center at SU Football's Spring Game Saturday afternoon, in fact there was no scoring from the offense at all in the 90 minute scrimmage. The split-squad format had one team led by assistant coach John Anselmo and the other by assistant coach Rob Moore.
The first score came when Jay Bromley sacked Charlie Loeb for a safety. Brandon Sharpe later returned a fumble 17 yards for a touchdown.
Quarterback Ryan Nassib was the one and only quarterback for Team Anselmo, and his main target was for CBA Star Marcus Sales, who led all receivers with two catches for 68 yards. The senior Sales was back in the mix after missing all of last season with legal problems, and said after the game it felt good to finally be back playing at the Dome, albeit in the Spring Game.
"Just getting back in shape and getting back to the speed of the game was the thing that I wanted to focus on during Spring ball," said Sales, "and I think I was able to accomplish that."
Nassib finished the game 11 of 18 for 163 yards. Freshman quarterback Ashton Broyld looked very versatile, playing the whole game at running back and slot receiver for Team Moore. His 44 yard run off the pass from Charlie Loeb was Broyld's big play of the day.
"The way I look at Spring football, you don't put it all in on one day," said Head Coach Doug Marrone after the game, "I look at is as the entire body of work. People are getting better; a lot of the younger players from practice 11-13 made an outstanding push, and we really saw a jump in their ability, and that's exciting."
Sikiri Diabete finished the game with 5 tackles for Team Anselmo, including one tackle for loss, a quarterback sack, and a 20 yard interception return. Shamarko Thomas and Dan Vaughan each had four stops while Cameron Lynch and Bromley had three tackles apiece.
