University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Football Practice Report: April 16
4/16/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
Southern Miss Football Practice Report: April 16 Venue: M.M. Roberts Stadium Format: Full Pads Upcoming: Full Pads (3-6 p.m., Tuesday, April 19)
Report: The Southern Miss football program went through its third scrimmage of the spring Saturday morning at Carlisle-Faulkner Field at M.M. Roberts Stadium. Nick Mullens threw for 99 yards on 9-of-13 including a 17-yard TD pass to Korey Robertson. Backups Kwadra Griggs and Parker Adamson passed for 78 (11-of-22) and 71 (7-13) yards, respectively, as Griggs hit William Potosky III for a 3-yard touchdown and Adamson connected with Shawn Brickley for a 30-yard score and a 13-yarder to Shannon Smith.
Ito Smith rushed for 128 yards on 14 carries with a one-yard touchdown run, while Griggs added 72 yards on 16 carries. Marquise Ricard led all receivers with 58 yards on three catches, while Brickley added three catches for 34 yards.
Defensively, Kelsey Douglas registered an interception while Sherrod Ruff and Ja'Boree Poole each collected sacks.
The Golden Eagles have one more week of spring practice and will conclude their drills next Saturday with the 12 noon Black and Gold Spring game at Roberts Stadium.
Head Coach Jay Hopson Impressions of Saturday's scrimmage "I felt like this one was a draw. The first scrimmage kind of went to the offense, and the second scrimmage went to the defense. This was pretty even. There was a lot of good competition. Certainly - and I'm going to sound like a broken record - we've got to correct all our mistakes.
"We played fairly physical, but we didn't tackle very well, defensively, as well as we should have. Offensively, we left a few plays out there, execution-wise, but there were a lot of bright spots, also.
"Nick (Mullens) and Ito (Smith), with that (first) offense, thought they had a real good day. Thought Kwadra (Griggs) had a good day, and (second offense) came out and did some good things. It's going to be fun to go back watch it and see who was really good and who has more work to do."
On the backup quarterback situation "The competition, we're just letting it play out, and the best man will win. Kwadra and Parker, they both had some good moments, had some bad moments. But at the end of the day, I thought they did some good things. I saw some positives out there (Saturday).
On whether the Golden Eagles' progress is where he expected/hoped it would be at this point of the spring "To be honest with you, that's really a good two-a-day question, when you start closing in on the season. That's when you know you have to be ready and really need to be where you want to be, and you really don't know that until that first game, when you get out there and really do it for the first time, live and for real. But, we've installed a lot and that there's been good retention. The players have worked hard and you definitely see those improvement signs every week, which is always a good thing.
"The coaches, they're doing a good job teaching, and the players, they've done a good job putting pen to paper and executing what they've been taught.
Southern Miss junior running back Ito Smith "We've been coming along this spring. We've got good chemistry on this offense, and we've been growing together every day. The line did a great job (Saturday) and the wide receivers did a great job of blocking (Saturday), too. The defense didn't wrap up. You've got to wrap up. "Every day, I come out here and treat it like it's my very first day when I first got to Southern Miss. When I come out here, I'm going to play hard. I've got a chip on my shoulder, like I've got to prove something every day."
Southern Miss senior offensive guard Brandon Farmer On the progress the line has made this spring "After last year, we lost a couple of key people, and we've been trying to find replacements for those people. After (Saturday's) scrimmage, I feel more confident and in my O-line and my team. We've been executing all the things that people were skeptical about. We have all the tools to get the job done."
On the ground game "Our running backs are awesome. We're not missing a beat."
Tickets: Season tickets for the 2016 Southern Miss home season can be purchased by going online at SouthernMissTickets.com, or by calling the Athletic Ticket Office at 1-800-844-TICK (8425) as well as visiting the Pat Ferlise Ticket Center on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
