Shrine game goes to defense

February 3, 2023

Shrine game goes to defense … Its not a good sign for the offense when the game’s best player may have been a kicker, but that was the case in last night’s East-West Shrine game in Las Vegas which turned into a defensive slugfest. In the end, the West team won 12-3 on four FGs by Michigan PK Jake Moody, including a couple from over 50 yards. And there were some nice runs along the way, but none of the QBs was ever able to get anything going. Indeed, as a group, the 6 QBs in Vegas combined to complete just 24 of 56 passes – for the mathematically challenged that’s 43% – for a measly 212 yards, no TDs and three picks. Those numbers included some disappointing figures for Dorian Thompson-Robinson of UCLA and Purdue’s Aidan O’Connell, the Shrine’s two best known QBs who no doubt were looking to use the game to boost their draft stock, but DTR was just 7 of 17 passing, while O’Connell was 6 of 16. It certainly didn’t help that they were under pressure all evening as the defensive lines pretty much overwhelmed the Olines. In fact, on first we thought the best player on the field in Vegas was Eastern Michigan DE Jose Ramirez. However, we are going to have another look at the tape this morning and hope to file a more detailed report on who stood out in the last night’s Shrine game a little later today.