University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
First Golden Eagle Scrimmage A Good One
8/14/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
First Golden Eagle Scrimmage A Good One
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- While finding plenty to work on in upcoming practices, Head Coach Jeff Bower still was happy with the overall performance of his Golden Eagles after their first major scrimmage of the fall practice period.
"I thought the effort was good," Bower said. "When you go good against good, there's going to be some good and some bad. The offense did a good job during the goal line period and that was pleasing, because up to that point they were a little inconsistent. The defense had a good day, and that's typical because we've thrown a lot at them (offense) from a scheme standpoint, and typically the defense is ahead of the offense at this stage of fall practice.
"We've also got to learn to take care of the ball better than we did today. Probably the worst thing we did today was on first down. We didn't make plays on first down, when we had chances to make them, we had a lot of dropped passes, had it in second-and-long a lot, and it's hard to overcome that."
Despite today's lapses, Bower says practice has been good. "The team has worked hard and that's what you look for," he said. "You want a good attitude, and they've done everything we've asked them to do."
Offensively, all four quarterbacks saw action. Junior Zac White completed 7-of-12 passes for 111 yards, sophomore Micky D'Angelo 5-of-11 for 62, freshman Dustin Almond 3-of-9 for 31 and freshman Chris Crumpton 5-of-6 for 39 yards. Eleven different receivers caught at least one pass, led by sophomore Rocky Harrison, who had four catches for 74 yards before leaving with bruised ribs after a "lay-out," 41-yard reception from White. Sophomore Marvin Young led the receivers in catches with six for 45 yards. Freshman Karlin Riley added three for 21 yards.
Freshman walk-on William Adams led the rushers with 42 yards on eight carries, but it was sophomore James Walley, who drew praise from Bower for his 11-carry, 33-yard performance. "We missed some cuts at times at that position, but I thought Walley did some good things during the scrimmage." The running backs got some extra reps Wednesday when senior Derrick Nix did not participate in the scrimmage after slightly pulling a hamstring Tuesday. "We didn't want to risk aggravating that injury," Bower said. "We need to get him ready for the Saturday scrimmage. It'll just be a wait-and-see thing with him."
In addition, junior defensive lineman George Brice hyperextended a knee and missed much of the workout and offensive lineman Ben Culp missed the entire workout with a shoulder injury.
Bower says the quarterback situation has not changed. "I don't know that anybody stood out over the others today," he said. "But they're all working hard. Dropped passes today hurt at times, and we had the chance to make some throws today that we didn't make."
Overall, Bower also was not pleased with his team's offensive line play. "We had some missed assignments, especially with the No. 2 offensive line," he said. "I'm a little disappointed there. We really need to pick it up there. And, we have to be more physical on offense. I've talked about that earlier, but it's just something we have to do."
Defensively, freshman defensive end Akeem Lockett had five tackles and three sacks. Senior linebacker Joe Henley had five tackles, including two for losses. Sophomore linebacker Michael Boley had five tackles, including a quarterback sack, a tackle for loss and a pass breakup. Sophomore defensive lineman Eric Scott recorded a blocked field goal and three tackles, and freshman defensive back Jasper Faulk grabbed the only interception of the day, and returned it eight yards.
Following today's scrimmage, the team will work twice Thursday and Friday and scrimmage again at 11 a.m., Saturday, following a morning rules clinic with C-USA game officials meeting with players and coaches.
Classes start Aug. 19, and the Golden Eagles open the 2002 season Aug. 31, at home, against Jackson State. Southern Miss follows that with two more home games, against Illinois, Sept. 7, and Memphis, Sept. 14, before hitting the road for the first time, Sept. 21 at Alabama.
