The 29th annual Super Bulldog weekend wrapped up this past weekend and one of the main attractions during the weekend was the annual Maroon vs. White scrimmage game. The Maroon team edged out the win against the White team 41-38 when sophomore Evan Sobiesk kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired.
A crowd of 21,710 fans attended the game Saturday anxious to get a glimpse of what the Bulldogs have in store for the 2014 football season.
Head Coach Dan Mullen said this was the team’s best spring game since he took the job, and he liked the energy and the that spectators displayed at this year’s game.
“I appreciate our fans. We had a great crowd today,” Mullen said. “We have some good talent and experienced players coming back, and the guys coming back have shown great leadership and great push from themselves to get better everyday.”
There are a lot of expectations for the team this upcoming season. The Bulldogs did not lose many of its starters, so experience will be on MSU’s side this year.
Junior quarterback Dak Prescott led the offense for the Maroon team. The starting QB had an efficient outing as he went 7-9 through the air with 131 passing yards and one touchdown. Back up quarterback sophomore Damian Williams also had an impressive outing as well. Williams was 21 – 32 with 347 yards passing and four touchdowns. One of his touchdowns was thrown to former running back Anthony Dixon.
Multiple players saw action in the running game. Senior Nick Griffin led the team with 37 yards on nine carries, and Josh Robinson added 22 yards on five carries.
This year’s receiving corp is the most experienced group Mullen has had since he has been at MSU. All four of the team’s top receivers from a year ago will return. Sophomore Fred Brown led all receivers Saturday with 10 catches for 219 yards and two touchdowns.
Prescott said this year’s receiving group has a lot of talent and momentum going into the season, and he has complete confidence in them.
“We did a good job excelling in the passing game this spring,” Prescott said. “We really turned it up a good bit. I love to coach them and get them better. We completed some balls all spring long, and we came out here in the spring game and it showed.”
On the defensive side,
sophomore Beniquez Brown recorded 10 tackles to lead the team. MSU returns its leading tackler from a year ago, Benardrick McKinney, along with their entire secondary, with its exception of Nickoe Whitley.
Defensive end Chris Jones had an outstanding freshman season and said he is looking to pick things up right where he left off last season.
“I feel like I have to make an even bigger impact this year,” Jones said. “Last year was a learning year for me as I was learning the speed of the game and stuff like that, but this year I want to do more and make a big impact.”
Special teams was the biggest concern for the team heading into the spring game. The kicking game gave the team its biggest woes a year ago. Mullen said special teams has been a main focal point for the team in the offseason, and that has become evident, especially since the spring game ended on a game-winning field goal.
“It’s not a matter of whether they can do it, it’s just our confidence and consistency to do things,” he said. “We just have to get that constant confidence out there to know we’re going to kick it straight down the middle every time.”
Things are definitely looking bright for this year’s team. MSU has plenty of depth at every position and to top things off, Mullen signed a four-year extension last month.
The Bulldogs will officially kick off their 2014 season on Aug. 30 in a home opener against in-state opponent Southern Miss. This will be the 100th year of games being played at Scott Field.
