What Joe Moorhead Said After Scrimmage No. 2

What Joe Moorhead Said After Scrimmage No. 2

August 17, 2019 | Football

Watch: Joe Moorhead Media Session Photo Gallery

by Brandon Langlois, Associate Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – Heading into the home stretch of preseason camp, Mississippi State scrimmaged for the second time Saturday night.

Coach Joe Moorhead's Bulldogs practiced for roughly two hours under the lights at Davis Wade Stadium in preparation for their Aug. 31 season opener against Louisiana in New Orleans.

Quotes from head coach Joe Moorhead's media session – Aug. 17, 2019

On initial thoughts from the second scrimmage …
"Last Saturday we were rained out, and we were supposed to scrimmage at the stadium. Coming into this environment – I know there are no cowbells or a full house – but for the young guys coming into Davis Wade Stadium, it's a different feel … There were some wide eyes with the game moving pretty fast. But as a head coach when you scrimmage, what you want to see is a great level of effort and increased understanding of the scheme and improved execution. You want both sides of the ball to be competitive, and you want to see special teams do well. I thought, for the most part, the kids had great urgency. They knew what they were doing. We'll get some things cleaned up, but I thought it was a competitive practice."

On his thoughts on the quarterback competition …
"We kind of had an idea, heading into the scrimmage, where we were, based on all the information available and statistics – completion percentage, touchdown to interception ratio, explosive plays and all those things. You kind of have your gut feel watching it, but we'll grade it tonight, talk about it tomorrow and make a plan moving forward from there. I think both of them are taking positive steps forward and pushing each other and making each other better. I also think the young guys, particularly Garrett Shrader, are taking nice strides. He had a nice scrimmage today."

On if the coaching staff was in the booth with headsets during the scrimmage …
"We didn't do that today. Traditionally, during the first two scrimmages we don't use the headsets. On Wednesday, we'll have a dress rehearsal, where we'll come in, get on busses, do the Dawg Walk, bring them into the stadium and do our pregame routine in terms of stretch, warmup and things like that. We'll play a first half, thud scrimmage with headsets and all the game day assignments."

On where the team is at from a health standpoint …
"In talking to the training staff, no one is out from an extended period of time. I think 15 or 16 practices in, there's normal bumps and bruises of camp with no one out indefinitely or for an extended period of time."

On how different the quarterback competition is compared to last year with a returning starter …
"I think the difference is there's not an incumbent. Where, Nick Fitzgerald had played a lot of football and won a lot of big games, and kind of had a young guy behind him you were looking to evaluate and develop. Now I'd say both are tested guys, and one guy has played in this system for one year and one going on his fourth year. I mean, every depth chart is written in pencil, every spot is open. But that was one where Keytaon Thompson would have had to do something out of the ordinary last year to unseat Nick. Now it's a true open position battle."

On penalties last year and if he's seeing more discipline this preseason camp …
"Yeah, I think after Kentucky we got it cleaned up pretty nice. I think statistically we were in the middle to upper half of the conference in penalties. With the bowl game, we kind of lost track of that a little bit. To me there are going to be holds, there's going to be pass interference, there's going to be things like that. But it's the pre-snap offsides, the post-snap deals. But yeah, I think in year two when you talk about discipline as you're mentioning, that ties into the culture. I think we're seeing great leadership and chemistry, and I would hope discipline on and off the field in this program."

On how close he is to a rotation at wide receiver …
"To a rotation? They're making it hard, which is a good thing. I mean, when you look at the Z position you've got Osirus Mitchell and JaVonta Payton, they're really pushing each other. And, he is a guy coming in from junior college that has made a lot of nice plays in camp. Deddrick Thomas and Isaiah Zuber and Austin Williams. And Stephen Guidry and Cameron Gardner, those guys are all pushing each other. I don't know that it will define itself up until game week, but to me it's a good sign when you have guys pushing each other and there is true competition."

On if anyone stood out today or any notables …
"We spread the ball around pretty good. Kylin Hill had limited work, but he had a couple of nice runs. We started it off backed-up at the minus-one, the offense needing the first down and the defense needing to hold. Kylin cracked a big one there, and then we put it at the 35 going in. We did tight red zone, then we did overtime. So, I think the good thing offensively is we spread it around, a bunch of different guys made plays. I can't think of who all the touchdowns were. Martin Emerson had the one interception, the one turnover he made a nice play on the sideline towards the tail end of it. That is something I've got to go through with a fine-toothed comb, but those are the things that kind of stood out initially."

On if he has an idea who might play four games and redshirt this season …
"Funny you say that. At the staff meeting this morning we have a chart that's red, green, and yellow where we kind of take everyone who is a true freshman or is a returning player who hasn't utilized their redshirt. And on a game-by-game basis – green means they are going to definitely play, we're going to utilize them and not redshirt. Yellow means we're not sure, and red means they're definitely going to redshirt. So not tomorrow but the Sunday following we'll kind of assess that."

On JaVonta Payton …
"He's got very good speed. He's got unique body control. I know we kind of compare him to a guy when I was at Pitt, which was a long time ago. Kind of real quick start-and-stop, change of direction. He's got good natural hands. He's the kind of the guy at the Z position, or he could probably play the slot, too. He combines good athleticism with good change-of-direction, natural ball-caching skills. And he's kind of taller than you think, too."

On who's been taking the third-team reps at running back …
"Lee Witherspoon has been taking those reps. And you've got Alec Murphy, Robert Rivers, and another walk-on, Conner Hegan taking reps. But right now it's Kylin Hill, Nick Gibson and Lee. Lee had a touchdown tonight, right? And a couple of long runs, he scored a touchdown tonight, yeah."

On Lee Witherspoon in pass protection …
"He's improving. The first thing is knowing who to block. And the second thing is when you've got Brian Cole or Erroll Thompson ripping off the edge you have to stand in there and block them. So we'll take the first step, know who to block and after that … But the thing is, the will-to is better than the skill-too sometimes. He'll stick his face in there and block. We just have to get him reps and teach him technique."

On Chauncey Rivers stepping into a leadership role …
"Exactly what you said. Last year it was kind of hard not to get caught in the shadows of Montez Sweat and Gerri Green. They cast a pretty big shadow." But now with him, Kobe Jones, Marquiss Spencer and Fletcher Adams kind of taking that role, and when you're in last year of eligibility you have that senior year urgency. So, everything that he's doing is characteristic of a guy who knows what he needs to do in his last year personally and for the team."

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