Black 23, White 14

Dustin Grutza wasted no time letting everyone know that he intends to be the University of Cincinnati’s starting quarterback next fall if Ben Mauk is not granted another year of eligibility by the NCAA.
The senior from Maysville, Ky., began the Bearcats’ spring game Saturday night by directing an 18-play, 70-yard touchdown drive that ended with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Armon Binns.
“An 18-play drive to open up a spring game says a lot,” said UC coach Brian Kelly, “because everything’s got to be working in the right direction. I was pleased with his steadiness.”
Grutza, running the first-team offense with the White team against the Black team, which had the first-team defense, completed 13 of 18 passes for 100 yards and two touchdowns. He was intercepted once on a ball that was tipped at the line of scrimmage.
“I’m going out there competing as hard as I can,” Grutza said. “I thought I had a pretty good night.”
In the end, the Black team posted a 23-14 victory before 10,142 fans at Nippert Stadium, thanks to a 57-yard touchdown pass from Notre Dame transfer Demetrius Jones to Marty Gilyard with just over a minute left.
Ohio State transfer Brandon Underwood then intercepted a Chazz Anderson pass and returned it 67 yards for a touchdown to account for the final score.
While Grutza played well, it was clear that he will not be without competition when the Bearcats reassemble for fall camp.
Anderson, the redshirt freshman who caught Kelly’s eye this spring, was 9-for-20 for 97 yards and was intercepted twice. He also ran nine times for 47 yards.
Jones, playing with backups against the second-team defense, was 5-for-9 for 136 yards and one touchdown.
“The young kids aren’t ready yet to the level that I want them to be,” Kelly said. “Dustin Grutza is the starter if Ben Mauk’s not back.
“Now, those kids are going to be given every opportunity to take that job away from Dustin Grutza. I’m not going to hand it to him. We’ve got five weeks of pre-season camp. That’s a long time. If we’ve got to sort it out, that’s fine.”
That’s OK with Grutza.
“You’ve got to prove that you’re capable of being the man out there,” said Grutza, who started for two years before Mauk showed up last season. “I’m going to go out and compete. From now until summertime, I’m going to be working my butt off every day.”
The other offensive standouts with Gilyard, with 8 receptions for 171 yards and two touchdowns, and running back John Goebel, who carried 12 times for 51 yards.
But the defense dominated most of the game, led by linebacker Ryan Manalac, who picked off two passes.
The play that pleased Kelly the most was a sack by defensive end Connor Barwin, who ran across the field to chase down Anderson and force a fumble.
Barwin, who was switched this spring from tight end to defensive end, said he knew five days into practice that he could handle the new position, but the sack provided more evidence.
“For a defensive end, a sack is like scoring a touchdown for a tight end,” Barwin said. “So it felt really good to get that.”
It was exactly what Kelly envisioned when he made the switch of Barwin and quarterback Craig Carey to defensive end.
“(Barwin) and Craig Carey showed that they can help us at the defensive end position,” Kelly said. “That’s what we’re looking for, athleticism on the field, off the edge.”
In addition to what transpired on the field, Kelly said he was happy with the atmosphere surrounding the game.
“Was it sold out?” he said. “No. It wasn’t Alabama with 90,000. But as I’ve said before, we’re making strides in the right direction. We had an exciting atmosphere for a spring game.”