Making The Most Of It
April 08, 2023 | Football, Joel Coleman
With rain falling, Bulldogs conduct second spring football scrimmage.
(NOTE: Watch head coach Zach Arnett's full post-practice press conference by clicking the image above.)
STARKVILLE – Rain, rain go away? Nah. Zach Arnett is just fine with a little precipitation.
Mississippi State conducted its second scrimmage of the spring at the Leo Seal Jr. Football Complex on Saturday with less-than-ideal weather, but you'd be wrong if you thought MSU's head coach was disappointed by the conditions.
"I kind of liked it," Arnett shared immediately after practice. "Guys have to make a decision. You can either decide to come out with a mindset of, 'It's going to be miserable, wet and rainy, but we still have to scrimmage,' and then make a miserable day out of it, [or] some guys you can tell decided to have a little fun with it and [had the attitude of], 'Hey, it's football weather and we're going to compete anyway, so we might as well come out and make the most of it.'"
Rain. Shine. Sleet. Snow. The forecast doesn't seem to matter at all to Arnett. You only get so many chances to improve in the spring and Saturday was one of those days for his Bulldogs.
Like a week prior, State showed promise and progress in all phases of the game Saturday. It wasn't perfect. April practices – or any practices for that matter – never are. But MSU again flashed its potential on offense, defense and special teams.
Seasoned veterans had their moments including a sack and a quarterback pressure early on from linebacker Nathaniel Watson. Then, in the day's 7-on-7 action, quarterback Will Rogers had a couple of touchdown passes – a 15-yarder to Lideatrick Griffin and a 10-yard strike to Jacoby Bellazar.
Some of the day's biggest plays were made by younger Dawgs. Redshirt freshman safety Trent Singleton recorded an interception. Meanwhile fellow redshirt freshman, linebacker Khalid Moore, picked up a sack and a couple of tackles for loss.
State's early enrollees got in on the action, too. Linebacker Zakari Tillman had a sack as well as a pick during a 7-on-7 period. Running back Seth Davis stood out on multiple occasions, perhaps most notably on a sequence where he caught a pass and exploded for a long run on back-to-back plays, accounting for more than 40 total yards to put the MSU offense inside the 5-yard line.
Arnett continues to be grateful for all the work guys like Davis and Tillman are getting this spring when most individuals their age are instead preparing for high school senior proms.
"Any chance you get to get those guys on campus early and get a spring under their belt really before their true freshman year even starts, that's a bonus for a coach," Arnett said.
MSU also found kicking-game success Saturday. Both redshirt senior Nick Barr-Mira and redshirt freshman Jordan Kennedy hit 33-yard field goals and added to a well-rounded scrimmage for the Dawgs.
No championships were won on a spring Starkville day of course. However, one State player did pick up a ring. Graduate defensive tackle Jaden Crumedy missed Saturday's scrimmage because it was his wedding day.
"You probably would [normally] get mad at a guy scheduling his wedding right in the middle of spring practice but seeing as to how [Crumedy] didn't have to come back this year and he could've been doing Pro Day a couple of weeks ago and be in the NFL Draft, we were happy to excuse him for his wedding," Arnett quipped.
It was surely a super Saturday for Crumedy and his bride, only a week before what'll be Super Bulldog Weekend in Starkville. The weekend's festivities will include MSU's final spring scrimmage – the Maroon and White Spring Game – next Saturday at noon inside Davis Wade Stadium.
But first, a couple of practice days remain for State on Tuesday and Thursday of the upcoming week. The spring is winding down, but there's still time to work and improve. You better believe, just like on Saturday, Arnett and company will take advantage.
"We've got to figure out what we're executing in the manner we want, then the things we've got to get a lot better at, we've obviously got to prioritize [this coming week]," Arnett said. "We'll get one more scrimmage to evaluate where we're at on both sides of the ball and on special teams. We need a good week of practice, and then we'll try to make the most out of next Saturday."
Players Mentioned
