Leach sees positives and negatives in Saturday scrimmage
(NOTE: You can watch head coach Mike Leach's full post-scrimmage press conference with the video at the top of this page. It's Leach's first non-virtual interview with local media in about a year.)
A mixed bag.
That seems to be what Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach saw as his Bulldogs held their second scrimmage of the spring on Saturday at Davis Wade Stadium. There was some good. There was some bad. But the good news is, according to Leach, the effort was there throughout.
"I thought it was competitive," Leach said. "I thought we ran around hard and we battled. I thought we were sloppy on offense. I thought the defense came out with a high level of urgency, which I think probably – anytime you play hard it’ll mask any sort of errors you might make. I thought defense, we played harder. I thought offense did some good things. Inconsistent though."
There's little doubt that there were plenty of Bulldog positives and negatives on Saturday. To the good, the MSU defense had plenty of big moments. Cornerback Emmanuel Forbes had an impressive interception in the end zone to turn away a scoring drive. Other picks came from corner Decamerion Richardson and even defensive lineman Jaden Crumedy. Linebackers Aaron Brule, Tyrus Wheat and DeShawn Page all had sacks. So, too, did linemen Jordan Davis, Randy Charlton and Izuchukwu King Ani.
"I think what they did really well defensively today was they ran to the ball," Leach said. "That’s the thing. Everybody’s trying to have perfect execution on a play. You don’t get that very often but if you run to the ball you solve a lot of problems."
There were several offensive highlights, too. Receiver Rufus Harvey had a couple of touchdown catches and totaled 43 yards for the day.
"Rufus is kind of an uncanny guy," Leach said. "Rufus is competitive. He’s got some intangibles. He’s definitely getting better."
Jaden Walley looked like the playmaker he was all last season as he hauled in four passes for 77 yards and a touchdown. Receiver Caleb Ducking had several big moments as well, catching three passes for 45 yards, including a 19-yard touchdown reception. Was Ducking's showing a sign of things to come in the fall of 2021?
"He’s got to stay focused the whole time," Leach said of Ducking. "Caleb needs to get tougher. He needs to focus more consistently, but I do think he’s got some talent and we need it to surface all the time."
As for Leach's quarterbacks, Jack Abraham and Chance Lovertich put up big numbers Saturday. Lovertich completed 11 of his 16 passes for 127 yards and three touchdowns. Abraham was 11-for-13 for 121 yards and two scores.
Meanwhile Will Rogers – facing mostly the top of the defensive depth chart – had a little more of an inconsistent day. He completed 16 of 27 passes for 164 yards and a touchdown, but also threw a couple of interceptions. Leach wasn't incredibly impressed with Rogers' day, but has seen good things the last few weeks as a whole.
"He’s a work in progress," Leach said of Rogers. "I think (all the quarterbacks are) works in progress. I think (Rogers) does some good things. I didn’t think this was his best work today. But I think he has been relatively consistent throughout the spring."
Rogers and the rest of the Bulldogs now enter the stretch run of spring practice as they seek to iron out any remaining kinks heading into the summer offseason period. They'll put all they've learned on display next Saturday at 11 a.m. central in the Maroon and White Game as part of Super Bulldog Weekend. Leach said Saturday he's still trying to nail down how he'll conduct next weekend's exhibition.
"I’d like to split (the team) into two different groups," Leach said. "I’m going to have to look and see what kind of depth we have to do that. If you do that, it limits a little of what you can do. It makes it competitive. It’s fun. But you have to have the depth to do it. But it is pretty good if you can split the team in half."
Leading up to next Saturday, Leach and his team will try to finish the spring by making a few more strides forward. The Bulldogs probably won't completely satisfy Leach, but hey, he's not one to be satisfied.
"There’s never that," Leach said. "I can’t say I’ve ever been involved where I thought we achieved that. I think we’re making progress. I think we play hard and we try hard. That’s where it all starts."
Saturday's scrimmage stats
Scoring plays
- QB Jack Abraham 34 yard TD pass to WR Christian Ford
- QB Chance Lovertich 18 yard TD pass to WR Brodie King
- QB Will Rogers 30 yard TD pass to WR Jaden Walley
- QB Jack Abraham 19 yard TD pass to WR Caleb Ducking
- RB Jo'quavious Marks 1 yard TD run
- QB Chance Lovertich 18 yard TD pass to WR Geor'quarius Spivey
- QB Chance Lovertich TD pass to WR Rufus Harvey
- QB Daniel Greek 18 yard TD pass to WR Rufus Harvey
Passing
- Will Rogers 16 for 27 - 164 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT
- Jack Abraham 11 for 13 - 121 yards, 2 TD
- Chance Lovertich 11 for 16 - 127 yards, 3 TD
- Daniel Greek 6 for 17 - 43 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT
Rushing
- Dillon Johnson - 4 rushes for 10 yards and 1 TD
- Jo'quavious Marks - 4 rushes for 6 yards and 1 TD
- Will Rogers - 1 rush for 12 yards
- Chance Lovertich - 2 rushes for 10 yards
- Jack Abraham - 1 rush for 10 yards
- JJ Jernighan - 3 rushes for 9 yards
- Omni Wells - 1 rush for 3 yards
Receiving
- Malik Heath 2 for 15 yards
- Jaden Walley 4 for 77 yards - 1 TD
- Makai Polk 2 for 37 yards
- Jo’quavious Marks 7 for 24 yards
- Dillon Johnson 4 for 28 yards
- Christian Ford 3 for 45 yards - 1 TD
- Austin Williams 2 for 31 yards
- Omni Wells 2 for 4 yards
- Javonta Payton 3 for 32 yards
- Bo Brooks 1 for 4 yards
- Rufus Harvey 3 for 43 yards - 2 TD
- J.J. Jernighan 2 for 9 yards
- Brodie King 2 for 19 yards - 1 TD
- Caleb Ducking 3 for 45 yards - 1 TD
- #84 (NOT ON ROSTER) 1 for 12 yards
- Tulu Griffin 1 for 5 yards
- Geor’quarius Spivey 1 for 18 yards - 1 TD
- Jacquez Terrell 1 for 1 yard
Defensive big plays
- Emmanuel Forbes - 1 INT
- Aaron Brule - 1.5 sacks
- Jordan Davis - 1 sack
- Izuchukwu King Ani - 1 sack
- JP Purvis - 1 TFL
- Sherman Timbs - 2 TFLs
- Nathan Pickering - 1 TFL
- Tyrus Wheat - 1 sack
- Randy Charlton - 1 sack
- Jaden Cumedy - 1 INT
- Decamerion Richardson - 1 INT
- Deshawn Page - 1 sack
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