There was a clear-cut division of the rosters yesterday when Irish coach Charlie Weis announced the lineups for Saturday's Blue-Gold Game.
For the Blue team, quarterback Brady Quinn; running backs Darius Walker and Rashon Powers Neal; receivers Maurice Stovall and Rhema McKnight and tight end Anthony Fasano will lead the offense. On the defensive side, linebackers Brandon Hoyte and Corey Mays, safety Tommy Zbikowski, and defensive tackle Trevor Laws will lead the group.
The Blue team will also feature kicker D.J Fitzpatrick, and all five returning offensive linemen.
On the other sideline, the Gold team will be led by quarterbacks Marty Mooney and David Wolke; running back Travis Thomas; receivers Chase Anastasio, Michael O'Hara, and Chris Vaughn; and tight end Marcus Freeman.
On defense, Joe Brockington will lead the linebackers, Brandon Harris the defensive backs, and Dan Chervanick the defensive line.
With that said, Weis threw in what he called "equalizers" to compensate for the fact that the teams were divided in such a fashion.
"Because the Blue team has a little bit more ability than the Gold team, and a little bit more experience, what we are trying to do is make it a little fun for the Gold team and give them a chance by favoring the rules in their way," Weis said.
The Gold team will be allowed to fake kicks, rush the quarterback, run multiple defensive sets and use other strategies in order to make the game more even, while the Blue team will be forced into a less aggressive game plan.
Weis explained that he split the teams up accordingly in order to simulate an actual game most realistically.
"One of the things I talked about doing was having a draft, where you just draft players one [at a] time," Weis said.
"But then you get used to, the guys are making line calls next to each other and then all of a sudden, [there are] guys that haven't been out there playing with each other.
"Now all of a sudden someone's making a call ... and they have no idea what you are talking about."
Other stipulations of the game include:
uTwo-point conversions can only be used in order to win the game in the final two minutes and field goals cannot be kicked to tie the game in the final two minutes. Instead the team has to go for the first down or touchdown.
uAfter every touchdown, the team that is losing at the time of the score will regain possession at the 35-yard line.
Notes:
uBefore announcing the rosters of Saturday's game, Weis announced that Justin Hoskins was back in practice today and has officially been reinstated by the team.
"We had an issue that has been resolved and he was back out there today in practice," Weis said. "He's not going to be talking to you [but] he would have said we had an issue." Hoskins will not be playing in the Blue and Gold game because he has not met the NCAA rules for a minimum amount of practices this spring.
uOn Tuesday, Weis announced that Tregg Duerson was no longer playing with the team, citing unstated personal reasons as the cause. Duerson is still enrolled at the University and there is no official word about his future status.
