MSU Finishes Second Scrimmage, Preps For SBW
After allowing the first offense to score on its initial two full-field possessions, the defense held the offense in check for most of the remainder of the drill, which included a set of short-field series as well.
Junior quarterback Omarr Conner led the offense 30 yards on seven snaps and 65 yards on six plays for a field goal and touchdown, respectively, on the scrimmage's first two series. Junior place-kicker Keith Andrews culminated that first drive with a 52-yard field goal, and Conner hooked up with junior wide receiver Will Prosser on a 39-yard touchdown pass on the second drive. Overall, Conner was 15-of-18 passing for 147 yards and no interceptions.
Following those two initial successes, however, the offense struggled the remainder of the scrimmage. The defense held the offense without points on the next 11 possessions, only one of which ended with a missed field goal. That streak was snapped on the 12th set when Andrews added a 27-yard field goal into a substantial wind. Andrews later added a 23-yard three-pointer.
"I thought our offense started off well," MSU head football coach Sylvester Croom said. "We had good tempo on those first two possessions, and we didn't have any pre-snap penalties.
"But our protection was terrible," Croom continued. "We lost a couple of good linemen from last year, and we're not very good at offensive tackle right now. The success of our offense is in the hands of our offensive tackles, and we might end up starting two freshmen next year. If they're the best, we'll start them."
The running of redshirt freshman Brandon Thornton, who scored on a 1-yard dive, and a 20-yard completion in the series from Conner to sophomore Joey Sanders, gave the offense some life as the next short-field drive came to a close. Thornton rushed 21 times for 38 yards, while Sanders hauled in a pair of aerials for 30 yards.
Redshirt freshman halfback Demarcus Johnson spearheaded the offensive charge the rest of the scrimmage, gaining 86 yards on 19 attempts, scoring on a 7-yard touchdown run. In one sequence, Johnson carried 10 straight times for 50 yards.
The defense allowed just 235 yards on 90 snaps, a number that includes 14 quarterback sacks for 94 yards in losses.
"We have a chance to be a pretty good defensive football team," Croom said. "I'm happy with our pursuit to the football and we're tackling better. Sometimes it's hard to tell exactly how good we might be, though, because the offense is not challenging them.
"Overall, we've come a long way," Croom said, "but we have a long we to go."