Mississippi State University football is two weeks out of the first game of the season and Charleston Southern University on September 2. They finished their last scrimmage of fall camp tonight.
Here is Mullen’s recap of the scrimmage and more in his weekly interview with media. 
What did you think of the evening’s scrimmage? 
“Not bad. A lot of things to correct out there on the field. We got a lot of different guys some reps at different things. And we moved a couple of guys around here and there, trying to solidify spot. Not just who is starting, but backup or really who is your pair-and-a-spare, you know? Of who are our top five d-tackles, and not just who is one, two, or three. Who is going to be in the rotation in games at the wideouts, tight ends, o-line, everything as we move guys around. Who is getting ready to be on the field.”
“So that was kind of the objective, so a lot of younger guys got a lot of reps. We’ll go see the film. There were some good plays both sides of the ball. Now, the key I want to go watch and make sure it’s guys making the great play; over somebody making a bad play that made somebody else look really good. That’s going to be important moving forward.”
Is this the transition stage from preseason to game preparation? 
“Yeah, this really ends training camp for us. This next week is a transition week. They’ll be off tomorrow. We’ll practice Saturday before Fan Day, just helmets-only practice. They’ll be off Sunday, then we’ll practice Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday. And that’s kind of going into transitional. That will be still teaching, still a lot of different things. Good-on-good, getting reps, improving. But also starting to work a little on scout team and a little bit of gameplanning in that time next week. We’ll practice Thursday morning in kind of a mock game-prep, then we’ll give everybody the weekend off. To give them a long weekend, go home and see their families, take a breather as we get ready to start the season. So this kind of wraps up the one part, we go into a little bit of transition week before game week starts.”
With the school semester underway are you at the full 120 roster now? 
“I think we are. Today, tomorrow we’re going to be at 120 kind of moving forward now with guys on the roster.”
How has Stewart Reese grown into his spot at right tackle?
“He’s coming along. I see some really good things sometimes. And then some mistakes that we’ve got to get fixed.”
“He’s going to get the opportunity to play an awful lot as a redshirt freshman. So you see him do things and say wow, he’s going to have a great future here for us. And then still makes some mistakes that we’ve got to get cleaned-up that we can’t have as we get into games. He’s going to get thrown into the fire quickly and we’ve got to see how he responds.”
Is that inconsistency typical of linemen his age?
“It’s just tough. He is a young player, he’s still developing. But you see a lot of positives with him. And what we’ve got to do is just limit hopefully the errors of the learning curve as he’s getting ready to be the every-down player at the right tackle.”
Who would you say had the upper hand in the scrimmage, offense or defense?
“I don’t know that. I mean, we did more of a game scrimmage. So there was different times probably where the offense didn’t score and the defense stopped them. But maybe didn’t win because they gave up too many yards, and all of a sudden you punt and then your corresponding offense is back to the wall, know what I mean?”
“So it’s hard to say. There were some positives on both sides of the ball. The biggest one for me is who our playmakers are going to be on offense is going to be big. And for me defensively is as I keep telling Todd (Grantham), let’s find 30 guys. Or what’s our number that we can go out and roll guys through so we can be as aggressive as we want to be.”
“And I really like the way our defense is coming along and hopefully creating that depth for us, of guys really coming wave after wave attacking you.”
Has any kicker separated himself?
“Still battling at that part. It was a weird deal, we didn’t end up kicking many field goal attempts today. A couple of extra points here and there. At the end we had Tucker (Day) and some guys just kick a couple just to get some feel because we’re in the stadium.”
“But I think the competition is going pretty well. We’ll have to see. If I have to give an edge probably Tucker Day has the edge today. But it’s pretty close, kind of changes daily.”
At what point do you want to say that’s the guy? 
“Hmmmm. Two weeks from Saturday?! I mean, it’s not like that guy is stepping the huddle like the quarterback or the middle linebacker, leading the whole show. He’s got to run out there and put the ball through the uprights. So that competition might even go through pregame.”
“You know, we’ve got all these guys, I can’t tell how they’re going to react after the Dog Walk! They’re going to come in and be shell-shocked after the Dog Walk, it’s all new for all of them. That’s not something that’s going to have a huge effect on the team, that decision of who is going to go out there and kick. I mean they’ve all done pretty well, so I think our players probably have a lot more confidence in the kickers than they did in the spring at this point. Just because they’ve watched them perform and be pretty impressive in practice.”
You mentioned identifying some offensive playmakers, who are some of those guys that have stuck out to you so far? 
“Jordan Thomas at times is coming along a little bit better, but he is really up and down and inconsistent right now. We have got to see the consistency out of him. You have your guys you already know and expect. When you are looking at Aeris (Williams), Donald Gray, and Gabe Myles. Guys that have already been around making plays for us.”
“You know those guys, I see some of the backs make good runs with Nick Gibson and Kylin (Hill) and even D-Lee (Dontavian Lee) being a physical between the tackles runner. Those things. Deddrick Thomas continues to really take big steps forward and Jesse Jackson takes steps forward. It is good to see those guys get to what we expected of them in recruiting.”
Has the consistency improved from the younger guys from last week to this week? 
“We are still getting there, because it is consistency. I see them do somethings sometimes where I go, ‘okay, they are ready to go,’ but then I watch two plays later and am like, ‘we can’t put that guy on the field right now.’ That is what is frustrating but that is kind a lot of times what happens with these young guys. They are talented but they have to understand the intricacies of the game. It is not about making one special play, it is about the consistency of making every play.”
With Fred Ross leaving, how has Donald Gray stepped into that leadership role? 
“He has done a great job. Just a great leader. He is a tremendous work ethic guy who is not afraid to be vocal. He has been around the program for a while and understands the standards and expectations. He does a good job as a leader.”
How important is it for you to find a number two option to take pressure off of Gray the way he took pressure off of Ross last season? 
“It is big for us, but I think a part of our offense when we are most successful is when we can spread the ball around to everybody. That is when we are most successful. If you look when we have had our biggest years passing and most successful, efficient, years passing. I don’t know that we have the one go-to guy, but we may have a guy who has a big game one week and then the next week they are doubling him. So somebody else has a big game. I think that is what is important is not just the one guy. It is having multiple guys to be able to keep it balanced and spread out.”
There are several linebackers with high expectations for their individual play. Has that collective linebacker stood out in anyway so far? 
“I am pleased with where Dez Harris is, really coming along. He had some injuries early in his career. A guy that was a high school quarterback and had to grow into the position. Always knew he was really athletic, but had to grow into the position. So some of that may have set him back but I am really starting to see him become a guy that could be one of the better linebackers in the SEC this year.”
You have mentioned a rotation in the defensive backfield several times, is it difficult to manage getting three or four guys ready to play at the same time? 
“I hope not, because I want all of them to roll in and out. To me you are most successful on the final drive of the game if the guys have only played 35 to 40 plays and are pretty fresh and can fly around and go make things happen out there on the field. I am not just talking in the back end but all 11 guys.”
“I always go back to a key moment a couple years ago when we were playing Auburn, here in a big game. They were driving, we were up a couple scores and they’re trying to go two-minute. They were No. 2 we were No. 3 in the country. They are driving and in their final drive we had a big sack by Preston Smith, Chris Jones tips a ball and it is caught by Justin Cox to kind of seal a victory for us in the end.”
“Those guys, none of them had played 40 plays in that game despite being big time guys, starting type players for us. In a big game they were all in the lower reps, so they were so fresh at that time of the game to go make that play to win the game. That is why I keep stressing with our defense because then I go tell the other story of how we had a double overtime loss here (Arkansas 2010) a couple years ago. Charles Mitchell had played 105 snaps defense and special teams. How do we expect him to make a game winning play in double overtime on snap 106? That is close to two full games he played in a two hour span.”
“So we can’t put our guys in that situation. That to me is where we have to grow that depth and have those guys ready to play.”
Will we get a roster soon? 
“We don’t have a roster right? I’m sure we’ll print one up at some point here when we get going. The thing about rosters, we’ll have one for the game day. It’s not that big a deal, you know most of the guys that are on the team. Fitz is here, he’s playing!”
“I mean it’s not shocking anybody. But dealing with what jersey number am I wearing, it becomes a lot more headaches sometimes that it’s worth. It’s making sure everything is exact, everybody knows what they’re number is going to be so that doesn’t become an issue.”
This will be good for game program sales? 
“You can’t tell the player without a program.”
Is there any clarity on Brian Cole’s situation? 
“Yeah, he’s going to have to take an academic redshirt this year.”
How does that work with him? 
“There are different standards within the academic redshirt standard now. The eligibility standards to qualify and to play are different level standards in both junior college players and high school players now.”
Did you know this when he signed? 
“No, because his final grades hadn’t come out. But we knew that there was a chance that would happen. But there is a lot with him too going on. There is a lot of, whether or not he played his freshman year or not. Michigan came out with a ruling that he had even though I think he tore his ACL and played in the first game only. Which would qualify him to be an academic redshirt. They qualified him as not. So he has a redshirt year available.”
“And there is the adjusted scale that they approved two years. Last year was the first year it was in effect, so this is the second year.”
You signed a handful of junior college guys there were worries about, is anyone else that may be an issue? 
“Yeah, we’re waiting on one other guy. On some clarity on some things for him. Again, it would be a similar type deal, that he qualifies but within the new standards there is a mandatory academic redshirt.”
“I don’t think any of our freshmen this year fall in that category.”
When do you anticipate getting final word? 
“Hopefully this week or next week. But I’m not sure, Cordavian Suggs might fall into that for high school. The standards changed within the NCAA for last year’s signing class, this is the second year of it. So you can qualify but you still would have to take an academic redshirt if you are not at a certain level, if that makes sense.”
Does not having to prepare him for a season change how you work Cole moving from safety to corner? 
“I think he’s done a really good job embracing it. In training camp he’s still getting reps, so it will transition. If a guy who is going to redshirt is not going to get in a game he is going to transition a little bit moving out of training camp and being scout team.”
“But he’s really handled preparing himself for January of next year, being ready to step in and hopefully be a starter for us. Whether it be at corner or a safety. He keeps telling me he’s a big-time wideout, too!”
Would you try him out on the scout team at some point?
“You never know! Throw him out there, have some fun.”
Right now who would be your third quarterback? 
“I don’t know who the second guy would be right now. That’s going to be a tough decision for us. You know what I mean, with where we’re at.”
“Keytaon Thompson will probably be our second guy. But that’s going to be a tough decision for us, of how we handle that. Whether or not we’re going to play him, if we’re not forced to play him. Where we stand on all that is something we’ll have discussions over the next two weeks about.”
You’ve mentioned completions percentage with Nick Fitzgerald. Is there a number you want to see him reach? 
“I have a pretty high standard. I like 70, but that’s probably… I think Alex (Smith) was close to that one year, he was pretty good! He was also the first pick in the draft! My standards get very high.”
“It’s hard to say at times. It’s hard to put an exact number on it, because a lot of it has to do with me and how we’re throwing the ball. Are we really trying to stress people vertically down the field? You might not have as high a completion percentage but you’re going to have more yards per attempt, yards per completion taking deeper shots. If we go into a game and try to keep it underneath a little bit more then we have to be at a much higher percentage.”
“So I think it fluctuates just on what we’re doing and the types of throws we’re making, what his percentage is on certain given throws.”
Do you use any advanced metrics to evaluate that other than an arbitrary percentage?
“The advanced metrics in football, I know there’s a lot of it out there you can study. And there’s some good things that are out there. But OK, they don’t take into account the left tackle MA’ing. So you look, OK, that was an incompletion…well maybe he threw it away because the left tackle went the wrong way. The tailback missed his protection.”
“(Or) just throwing the ball off his back foot, maybe a poor decision but it’s hard to mathematically assess good and bad decisions. I guess I can calculate good and bad decisions but we do that by grading them every single day at practice. We kind of already use our own deal.”
“Some of the things at the quarterback position, there are so many little variables that can come in. In the big picture, there probably are some interesting stats you can find that way. But sometimes it’s hard. Because there is a lot more variables.”
“I love baseball stats. I mean there’s a pitcher and a batter, right? The left-fielder has nothing to do with that pitch and nothing to do with how the guy contacts the ball. The left guard has a lot to do with the quarterback’s throw in football. So the variables make it sometimes harder for me to put too much exactness into those.”
Contact Taylor Rayburn at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter.