The Buccaneer ootball team concluded spring practice with the Blue and Gold game last Saturday at Memorial Stadium, but were unable to solve the quarterback question that has plagued them all spring.
The Bucs’ Gold squad was victorious, 10-0, over the Blue, but the decision of whether to go with senior Matt Wilhjelm, junior Jatavis Sanders or redshirt freshman Dashannon Gamble as the starting quarterback next fall is still up in the air.
The Gold squad, which included the Bucs’ No. 1 defense and No. 2 offense, was quarterbacked in the first half by Gamble, who connected with junior Michael Rader for the game’s lone touchdown, a 33-yard pass with 6:04 to go in the first half that put the Gold up 7-0.
Gamble, who completed five of nine passes for 74 yards and ran for 91 yards on 13 attempts, may see his stock on the rise for the starting position after his performance last weekend.
“There is no question he will be a tremendous quarterback,” Head Coach Paul Hamilton said. “(The question is) is he ready to take the role as leader of this football team.”
“He is a dangerous quarterback (Gamble),” he said. “He makes everyone around him better with his ability to create things when they aren’t there.”
Wilhjelm, who completed eight of 15 passes for 55 yards, and Sanders, who was five of 12 for 24 yards and rushed for 21 yards on nine carries, did not have their best days of the spring, but going up against the Bucs’ top defensive squad may have had something to do with it.
“Jatavis and Matt were a little tight,” Hamilton said. “They pressed a little bit. They did some things they haven’t done all spring.”
“The defense did a good job today,” Wilhjelm said. “At quarterback we didn’t make plays when we needed to.”
“Gamble had a great day,” he said. “He made plays when the opportunity presented itself.”
The Gold defense was led by sophomore Travis Williams, who had eight tackles and 1.5 sacks, and sophomore Mike Cornegay, who had six tackles, with two of those tackles causing the Blue squad to lose yardage.
“The defense stepped up today,” Williams said. “We stepped up and played at a different level today.”
The Gold squad added to their score in the fourth quarter with 1:19 to go when junior Wes Sands kicked a 26-yard field goal that put them up 10-0.
Wilhjelm marched the Blue squad down the field in the final minute and connected with receiver Charvin Clark in the end zone as the buzzer sounded, but Wilhjelm had crossed the line of scrimmage when he made the pass.
The Buccaneer defense has been improving all spring, which is a step up from when the offense had their number when practice began.
“I think the first part of the spring, our offense was ahead of the defense,” Hamilton said. “As spring goes along the defense catches up.”
“Our defense has gotten a better feel of what we’re doing,” he said. “I think our corners can be very good football players.”
The Buccaneer corners shut down the Buccaneer receivers last Saturday and held junior Cecil Moore, the Bucs’ top receiver from last season, to just two catches and five yards.
The Buccaneer players also enjoyed the format of this year’s game with the No. 1 offense facing the No. 1 defense.
“The one versus one makes us better,” Williams said.
“Coach changed the structure of practice this year,” Wilhjelm said. “It gave us a lot better competition and it’s been fun.”
“The No. 1 versus No. 1 is much better to give us a feel of where we are at and what we need to do,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton is still concerned, though, about his quarterback situation, which he hopes to have resolved before the season begins Sept. 1 at Pittsburgh.
“The quarterback situation will help shape what kind of offense we’ll have,” he said.
“We’ll have to make a choice that this is our guy to give him confidence that we’ll stick with him,” Hamilton said.

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