College football spring game lightning recaps: April 20, 2013

With 40 spring games played Saturday, April 20 was the busiest day of the 2013 spring football calendar. Here's all you need to know about what happened.

Auburn

83,401 fans showed up for the spring game of a team that went 3-9 last year. It was a cheerful A-Day, as fans rolled the trees at Toomer's Corner for the last time following the scrimmage:

Alabama

Nick Saban was not happy with his offense, and rightfully so: After building a quick 10-0 lead, the first team Alabama offense went scoreless for eight consecutive series and turned the ball over four times. A late T.J. Yeldon score saved face, but Saban railed against his team's complacency afterwards.

Notre Dame

Louis Nix weighs 340 pounds and wears number 1, so of course Louis Nix ran a quarterback keeper for a two-point conversion.

Tennessee

Butch Jones' much-anticipated debut at Neyland Stadium was nearly upended when one of the guys from Duck Dynasty showed up. The Vols had to score 168 points just to match his star power.

Virginia Tech

The all-new Hokies offense, unsurprisingly, looks a lot like the old Hokies offense.

Arkansas

Brandon Allen is probably the starting quarterback after 51,000 witnessed him control the first team offense for a half in Fayetteville. Bret Bielema is the anti-Saban.

Wisconsin

Just over 12,000 braved the cold to watch the debut of Gary Anderson with Bielema's old squad. Joel Stave is both the youngest and best quarterback on the team right now.

Penn State

Coach Bill O'Brien didn't get too far out of his base sets in the PSU spring game. He did, however, broadcast his playcalling over the Beaver Stadium PA system, which made his offense almost as predictable as Jay Paterno's.

West Virginia

Holgo chucked it deep. Also, new uniforms!

LSU

Zach Mettenberger and Stephen Rivers combined for 421 yards passing and four touchdowns against a secondary full of walk-ons who are still faster than your favorite team's scholarship cornerbacks. And The Valley Shook recaps.

Oklahoma State

Justin Gilbert intercepted two passes, and four-star linebacker Gyasi Akem committed to the Cowboys. It was the most defense-happy thing Mike Gundy's done since the "I'm a man! I'm 40!" tirade.

Texas Tech

A record crowd came to Lubbock to watch Kliff Kingsbury in action, but with Eric Ward, DeAndre Washington, and Bradley Marquez out with minor injuries, not even Kingsbury's offense stood a chance. The defense scored the first 23 points in Kingsbury's modified spring game scoring system and won 34-28. Texas Tech fans discuss the game MVPs.

Georgia Tech

Friday night, new quarterback Vad Lee looked a little bit better than previous Yellow Jacket passers, but there still aren't any receivers.

UConn

UConn played a "spring game" in the same way that store brand macaroni & cheese can be called Italian food.

Washington

There was no formal scorekeeping at the Huskies' spring scrimmage, and Steve Sarkesian's vaunted new high-tempo attack was left under wraps. Throw in a few key holdouts on the offensive side -- specifically quarterback Keith Price and tailback Bishop Sankey -- and you get defensive domination.

Missouri

The Tigers drew 18,384, which is at least slightly more than Vanderbilt. SEC! SEC! Also, four picks from the backup quarterbacks.

Mississippi State

The Bulldogs played a full spring game, and managed 791 yards of total offense despite having just one healthy scholarship quarterback. Senior Tyler Russell went 13/24 for 179 yards and two scores.

East Carolina

Noah Robers, who is eight and is fighting cancer, ran for a touchdown. The rest of it didn't matter much:

Michigan State

The Sparty defense scored twice on three turnovers. In related news, Andrew Maxwell still has eligibility. The Only Colors has the video highlights.

N.C. State

The Wolfpack debuted their new up-tempo offensive package, brought in by new coach Dave Doeren, to less-than-stellar reviews. However, the game raised $20,000 for the Kay Yow Cancer Fund.

Syracuse

Offensive coordinator George McDonald, who was at Arkansas, asked for an SEC-like crowd of 20,000 for the Spring Game. He got 3,822 and a year's worth of snark for his trouble.

Utah

Sophomore-to-be Travis Wilson cemented his role as the starting quarterback, competing 13/17 passes for 210 yards and three touchdowns in the first half of the Utes' scrimmage. Wilson started the final seven games of last season as a true freshman.

Iowa State

A raucous crowd estimated at 15,000 descended on Ames to watch a kicking exhibition. Also, the Cyclones have three senior running backs who could be really good, but the plurality of carries Saturday went to sophomore DeVondrick Nealy, who ran 18 times for 142 yards.

Washington State

Mike Leach wasn't happy, so he added a full second half to the game at halftime. He also accused his players of "performance anxiety." So clearly lessons have been learned. Coug Center has more notes.

Wake Forest

The Demon Deacons went through 14 offensive possessions before a Chad Hedlund field goal gave the offense a 3-0 win over the defense. This was the worst soccer game you've ever seen.

FAU

The game was stopped early due to weather, with the offense ahead of the defense 44-41. Quarterback Melvin German was 8/13 for 88 yards and ran for another 27, and the Owl defense recorded nine sacks. It was the most Carl Pelini game ever.

FIU

Ron Turner's team ran about 100 plays while those in attendance asked how it was that they ended up with Ron Turner.

Southern Miss

Todd Moenken coached his first spring game with the Golden Eagles at nearby Petal High School, as Southern Miss' stadium was damaged in a February tornado. They should consider playing at PHS more often: Cole Weeks went 26/41 for 310 yards, and presumed backup Kyle Sloter added 13/23 for 161 and a score.

Utah State

With head coach Gary Anderson now at Wisconsin, Utah State resorted to defense and experience. The Aggies' top two quarterbacks went a combined 28/57 with two interceptions.

Idaho

Friday, Paul Petrino's independent Vandals found a quarterback in Chad Chalich while playing in the most expensive spring game of all, the Silver and Gold Game.

Western Michigan

Western Michigan, coached by the youngest coach in FBS football, P.J. Fleck, now calls its spring game "The Wooden Oar War". The game is still played in Waldo Stadium. If you don't already have a favorite MAC team, this should probably be your pick.

Troy

There was no attendance figure for the Troy spring game since the entirety of Alabama was at Auburn or Tuscaloosa, but T-Day was fun for everyone involved. White defeated Cardinal 22-14, both quarterbacks were excellent, and the head coach ran the scoreboard clock for a while.

Temple

We're still laughing at the list of things prohibited from the Temple spring game. As for the game itself, Connor Reilly is probably your starting quarterback after completing 25 of 41(!) attempts Saturday.

Louisiana-Lafayette

The Ragin' Red team defeated the Cajun White team 30-23 Saturday, though the score was a much tighter 17-13 without audience participation points.

You read that correctly.

The Red team had a 6-4 lead before the game even started due to the results of a Greek flag football tournament played earlier that day. Later, another fraternity defeated the cheerleaders in a tug-of-war contest to get the Reds another seven points, while the Whites got six of their own from the same game. I don't think they understand tug-of-war in Lafayette.

Western Kentucky

Bobby Petrino has not left Western Kentucky for another job after the spring game. This is a win for all Hilltoppers.

Middle Tennessee

The MTSU offense scored on its first six possessions en route to a 52-40 win over the defense.

SMU

New offensive coordinator Hal Mumme has promised a "21st Century version of the Air Raid" with Garret Gilbert at the helm. And SMU just became the most interesting team in the history of football.

Ball State

Ball State doesn't keep stats for its spring game, but senior quarterback Keith Wenning is pretty good.

Buffalo

BUFFALO BUFFALO BUFFALO BUFFALO BUFFALO BUFFALO BUFFALO.

Colorado State

Garrett Grayson is the leader in the clubhouse for this fall's starting quarterback position after a 16/28, 153-yard performance Saturday.

Nevada

Quarterback Cody Fajardo completed 17/25 for 251 yards and two scores in a 20-7 Blue team win that was seriously called "perhaps the best Silver and Blue Game in history."

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