For more than a month now, the Mississippi State football team has been back on the playing field. The Bulldogs have also once again become accustomed to the familiar sights and sounds, such as high-pitched whistles, screaming coaches and even air horns.
Whether it was inside the Palmeiro Center due to rain, chilly temperatures and blustery winds or outside on the usual designated practice field in ideal weather, the Bulldogs have taken part in drills and scrimmages.
And on Saturday at noon they will march onto Scott Field to take part in a scrimmage to give fans a peek at how the team is shaping up when they take part in the annual Spring Game as a part of Super Bulldog Weekend.
Fans will enter Davis Wade Stadium for the first time since last season’s thrilling Egg Bowl victory over Ole Miss, and they will quickly notice some new players in positions vacated by seniors.
But the thoughts of those players should quickly exit, especially on the offensive side, as rising sophomore starting quarterback Wes Carroll said that the players on his side of the ball will be focused on proficiency.
“What we need to concentrate on is execution,” he said. “There’s no reason for us not to execute 100 percent of our passes and 100 percent of our runs.”
Carroll was 5-for-8 and passed for 46 yards in limited minutes during Tuesday’s scrimmage.
The remaining minutes were devoted to redshirt freshman Chris Relf and junior walk-on Tyson Lee as they continued their auditions for the back-up role to Carroll.
The two could also see minutes in Saturday’s scrimmage.
Both quarterbacks logged quality minutes during the scrimmage, with Lee finishing with the better numbers on the day.
The former Itawamba Community College standout completed 19 of his 24 passes for 201 yards and threw for two touchdowns and an interception.
Relf finished the day 6-for-22 for 100 yards and a touchdown. He also ran the ball five times for 31 yards.
Croom said he was pleased with the play of both quarterbacks, and his decision as to who will be the back-up quarterback will come at the end of training camp. But he has elements he likes in Relf.
“Chris has a strong arm, quick release, and he pulls the ball down and runs,” Croom said of the 6-foot-3-inch, 211-pound Relf. “It’s like having another Anthony Dixon in there.”
And he is also fond of the 5-foot-11-inch, 190-pound Lee.
“Tyson knows how to make plays,” the head coach said. “He still has a lot to learn about what we’re doing offensively, but he has grasped a lot of the things faster than what I had anticipated.”
Just as Carroll didn’t take many snaps in Tuesday’s scrimmage to give some time to the back-ups, starting halfback Anthony Dixon also sat out for the majority of the scrimmage.
The majority of those snaps went to redshirt freshman Robert Elliott and converted defensive back Wade Bonner. Elliott rushed for 87 yards on 23 attempts while Bonner ran for 17 yards on 7 attempts.
Croom said he was slightly disappointed in those numbers, but he expects the two youngsters to add much-needed speed to the team.
“They’re going to give us some explosiveness that we haven’t had since Jerious Norwood,” Croom said.
Saturday’s scrimmage will also feature a defense that Croom said is a little banged up but should still be effective.
“We have to get them healthy, because we have had a lot of injuries,” Croom said.
Defensive back Jasper O’Quinn said the defense is shaping up nicely and should once again be an asset to the team.
“I feel like we’re learning the system so we’re playing harder every day,” said O’Quinn, who had seven tackles in Tuesday’s scrimmage.
A player who is learning part of the system and who is filling some big shoes in the defensive end spot vacated by Titus Brown is Quinton Wesley.
“Wesley has finished out the spring really strong,” Croom said. “Right now he seems to have the lead at the left defensive end spot to replace Titus. If we can drop 20 pounds off him, he will be a far more effective player.”
Wesley and all of the remaining Bulldogs from last season, as well as some new faces, will attempt to help ease the fans into the transition from last season to the upcoming one.
And O’Quinn said Saturday should go a long way in doing that.
“We have great fan support, and we just love playing in front of our fans,” the rising senior said. “We never want to let our fans down, so we play hard for our fans, the coaches and team. We never want to let each other down, so it’s going to be a fun day.