Mississippi State wrapped up its spring work with Saturday’s Maroon & White Game. There were plenty of questions when 2015 ended and thanks to injuries and multitudes of capable hands, there are still plenty of questions.
Here are five takeaways as the Bulldogs ponder their moves before the season-opener Sept. 3 against South Alabama.
1. If coaches know who’s leading the quarterback competition, they’re not saying
Quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson bounced every question off his chest like he had on Tony Stark’s metal suit.
Asked after Saturday’s spring game how long the team could realistically run a competition between four quarterbacks: “Eventually you’ve got to start pairing it down, but…”
Asked if there was a pecking order in his head: “No, if you really look at the reps throughout spring ball … we were very, very detailed in making sure everybody got a realistic evaluation.”
Junior Damian Williams has the only college start among the four. But that was the 2013 Egg Bowl. Saturday he threw for 165 yards and two touchdowns on 14 of 20 passing. Fewer drops and those numbers would look even better.
Redshirt freshman Elijah Staley, an imposing 6-foot-6, 248-pound sophomore, arguably had the best spring, but there’s also sophomore Nick Fitzgerald (10-20-127-1 Saturday) and redshirt freshman Nick Tiano (one touchdown pass Saturday).
“You’d like to see some natural separation throughout the summer,” Johnson said, “but we’ll evaluate it as much as we need to.”
2. Teammates, but fierce rivals
The four quarterbacks in the race for the job share a goal of wanting to help the team win any way they can. They also want the same job and are keeping an eye on each other as the spring turns to summer work and fall camp.
“Coach Johnson said something really, really important the other day,” Fitzgerald said. “’You have to watch everybody else. You don’t want to make the same mistake someone else made.’”
Fitzgerald said the biggest job battle he’s ever been in was a three-way race in high school. This one is time consuming. Fitzgerald said after class he watches film before workouts, watches film on the iPad during lunch and watches the previous day’s film after practice.
They watch themselves, but their in-house competition too.
“We love each other to death,” Fitzgerald said. “I think at the end of the day all of us just want whoever is going to be the best for Mississippi State to play.”
3. Don’t count two redshirts out of busy running back competition
Aeris Williams, Ashton Shumpert and Dontavian Lee are the second, third and fourth names brought up in the 2016 running back race behind Brandon Holloway.
Don’t forget about redshirt freshmen Nick Gibson and Alec Murphy. The two rushed for a combined 124 yards on 22 carries Saturday, each averaging 5.6 yards per carry. Gibson managed 14 carries for 79 yards and a touchdown.
“All them boys, they go hard, sophomore WR Malik Dear said. “They work hard in practice. They go above and beyond and they’re trying to be great.”
4. Defense won scrimmage rubber match
Mississippi State’s defense forced seven turnovers in the first spring scrimmage, none in the second. Saturday’s game featured four interceptions – two by sophomore safety Mark McLaurin and one each by senior DE A.J. Jefferson and redshirt freshman LB Leo Lewis.
“We’ve been stressing, just the effort and enthusiasm you come out here with,” defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon said. “That’s something that everyone individually has to control. From a coaching staff, you’re always trying to inspire and motivate but a lot of that is internal.”
One of McLaurin’s interceptions came against former quarterback Dak Prescott, who snuck in from the sideline and threw a pass from former running back Anthony Dixon.
“My teammates had given me the heads up about it and I knew it was coming,” McLaurin said. “So when I saw (Dak) I just had to run up and grab it. It wasn’t a normal formation so when I saw Dak on the sidelines I had to go get it.”
5. Malik Dear is going to make plays, wherever he is
Several top returning wide receivers were missing Saturday. Fred Ross and Donald Gray are recovering from injuries. De’Runnya Wilson is going to the NFL draft and Fred Brown was dismissed from the team.
Sophomore Dear stepped in nicely. Dear, who had 22 catches last season, had six catches for 67 yards and a shifty touchdown Saturday. He also had a 3-yard TD pass to QB Elijah Staley after Shumpert flipped him the ball, and one rush for a single yard.
Will he lobby coach Dan Mullen to throw some passes this season?
“Whatever (Mullen) wants to do,” Dear said, then smiled.
The sophomore is already a veteran, asked to lead guys like redshirt freshmen Jonnas Spivey and Keith Mixon, both with touchdowns Saturday.
Dear played running back, receiver and quarterback in high school. Asked if he thought he could do so at the SEC level, he said he believed he could.
He was only sort of joking.
