MSU Head Coach Sees Offensive Improvement
While the defense essentially controlled the one-hour, 95-play scrimmage by holding its offensive counterpart to one touchdown drive and three field goal attempts, it was the offensive execution that drew the attention of head coach Sylvester Croom.
"There is no question right now that our passing game is ahead of where it was at the end of last season," Croom said. "We are on schedule and getting better. Omarr (Conner) threw the football well. We just had four critical drops. But the tempo of the offense was good, and we did not have many pre-snap penalties."
Conner completed 11-of-18 passes for 119 yards, and led the first offense on the touchdown drive on the initial possession of the scrimmage. Reserve halfback Brandon Thornton finished off that six-play, 65-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown burst. The redshirt freshman from Birmingham, Ala., rushed 13 times for 28 yards on the day.
Conner went three-for-three for 56 yards on that drive, hitting KeonHumphries with a pair of passes for 51 yards. The redshirt freshman widereceiver from Montgomery, Ala., who sat out last season after sustaining afoot injury that required off-season surgery, finished with four catches for65 yards.
After that possession, however, the defense took control. It held theoffense to three plays and out on seven of the next 13 series, a streak thatincluded an Andrew Powell fumble recovery, three pass interceptions (MarcusEvans, Mario Bobo, and Fred Akines), and two missed field goals.
"I don't think there was a whole lot of hitting going on out there," Croomsaid. "You can count on Quinton Culberson and Brad Horton to make somenoise, but that was about it."
Back-up quarterback Michael Henig completed eight-of-12 passes for 54 yardswith one interception, while reserve halfback Derek Ambrose rushed seventimes for 24 yards. Wide receiver Tee Milons caught three passes for 24yards.
The only other offensive highlight of the full-scale scrimmage was a 44-yardfield goal by Andrew Gambrell, a freshman non-scholarship player fromMeridian, Miss. Gambrell, Adam Carlson and Keith Andrews also connected onfield goals during a kicking-only portion of the practice.
Croom announced following the scrimmage that freshman defensive back CoreySpells, a safety candidate from Atlanta, Ga., had been dismissed from theteam for a violation of athletic department policy.