University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss Spring Football Report: Day 5
3/31/2017 12:00:00 AM | Football
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- The Southern Miss football team was back out on the practice fields Friday afternoon, gearing up for their first intersquad scrimmage. The Golden Eagles were in pads for the makeup session after rain postponed Thursday's practice.
On today's practice:
"I thought we had a good energy day today. I thought we flew around well. Again, it's spring training, there's a lot of room for improvement, but I was pleased with the effort. I thought we were pretty sharp."
On if the team is where he hoped it would be at this point:
"I think so. I really think our quarterbacks have had a good spring, our young linemen are doing some good things and our young linebackers are doing some good things. So, I'm pretty pleased. Like everything, there's still a long way to go and big room for improvement, but overall [I'm] pleased."
On who's stepping up on the defensive line with the absence of Dylan Bradley:
"LaDarius Harris, to me, is having a really good spring. Demarrio Smith has had a good spring. Draper [Riley] has had a good spring. Delmond [Landry], getting inside, has had a good spring. Derrick Dixon [too]. We've talked about this earlier, but we're slowly getting bigger. We're getting some big bodies inside, which is always a good thing.
On the size of the linemen:
"[Derrick Dixon] is about 270 now, looks good right now. He's that hybrid guy that could play the three, the five. He could play both. Of course Delmond [Landry] is a 300 pounder, Draper [Riley] is a 300 pounder and Demarrio [Smith] is up to 270, 285, so there's some guys there who have picked up some size in the off season. On the defensive and offensive line that's a good thing."
On what he's looking for in tomorrow's scrimmage:
"I want to see a fundamentally sound and clean scrimmage."
On when the depth chart starts to shake out:
"Right before the spring game we'll start to have a really good idea who the ones and twos are. We've got some fun Saturdays ahead, so we'll see what happens. First you got to get them to the field with the lights on and you've got to see when it's live and they're tackling. You can only see so much now. When they get on the field, [and] it's live football, that tells a big tale."
Defensive lineman LaDarius Harris
On what spring has meant for him:
"Spring has been another step for me to get better. I'm doing a lot better than I was last spring, and I'm learning more about the defense."
On his position status:
"Coach has tried moving me around to get as many positions along the line. It will be a group effort. We've got bodies on the d-line, so we have some good players to rotate in, and everyone's gonna get more playing time."
Defensive lineman Xavier Thigpen
On how his spring has gone:
"Spring has gone real well for me. I emphasized on a few things going in to improve on from last year, and I've gotten real good at those. Defensively, as a team and guys like Jeremy Sangster and Darian Yancey, we've told a few guys some pointers."
On how he views competition and the first scrimmage:
"There's competition at every spot. We just have to come out and compete every day like my spot is on the line. It's the first chance to showcase your talent in a game-like situation. It'll be good for everyone."
On his top goal of his senior season:
"Getting to the quarterback and getting them down."
