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Sports TwitterMiami football announces spring game rosters for Friday
Thursday, April 19, 2007
The Miami University football team announced the Red and White rosters for the 2007 Spring Football Game, which is slated for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff Friday at Yager Stadium. The intrasquad scrimmage will feature four 12-minute quarters with a running clock, and admission is free to the public.
The Red team features many of the projected offensive starters for the 2007 season, including quarterback Mike Kokal and running back Brandon Murphy. A second-year starter, Kokal finished second in the Mid-American Conference in passing last season, while Murphy, who was limited by injury as a junior, looks to return to his 2005 form when he was a second-team all-MAC selection and rushed for over 1,000 yards.
Extras
Other storylines to watch with the Red team involve the wide receiving corps and the offensive line. The Red team features three wide receivers, junior Sean McVay and redshirt freshmen Eugene Harris and Armand Robinson, who figure to challenge for starting spots in the fall, with McVay as one of Miami's two returnees at wide receiver. The spring game also provides the first game action for third-year starter and first-year center Steve Meister, who has shifted from familiar position at left guard to quarterback the offensive line.
Many of the projected starters on the defensive side of the ball will suit up for the White team, including returning starters Craig Mester (DE), Joe Coniglio (DE), Jerrid Gaines (CB) and Robbie Wilson (SS). As one of two retuning senior defensive starters, Mester is the veteran leader of the defensive front with 12.0 career quarterback sacks, while Coniglio returns as the defensive line's leading tackler from a season ago. Gaines, a senior who started 11 games last season, is expected to fill the role of Miami's shut-down corner, and Wilson, a junior who forced two fumbles last year, looks to fill the void left by the graduation of hard-hitting all-MAC safety Joey Card.
A pair of special guest coaches will roam the sidelines for the Red and White teams, as Miami head basketball coach Maria Fantanarosa will lead the Red team and Miami ice hockey head coach Enrico Blasi will serve as honorary coach for the White team. Both Fantanarosa, a 1990 Miami graduate, and Blasi, a 1994 Miami graduate, are the winningest coaches in program history for their respective programs.
Prior to the Spring Game, Miami will hold its annual Surplus Equipment Sale. This year, the sale will run from 2 p.m. -7 p.m. on Friday, April 20 in multipurpose room the Walter L. Gross, Jr. Student-Athlete Development Center (behind Millett Hall). Items from football, ice hockey, field hockey, women's soccer, men's basketball, women's basketball and softball will be available for purchase. Cash, checks or credit cards will be accepted.
Miami football fans also will have the opportunity to order tickets for the 2007 season, as the Miami Athletic Ticket Office will be open in the south end zone ticket booths to take orders for both season ticket packages and single-game tickets.
