Philadelphia Eagles safety Brian Dawkins is known for bringing bone-shattering hits to any opposing wide receiver who enters his space. And while Mississippi State safety Keith Fitzhugh may not be on Dawkins’ level, he’s doing his best to reach the level of the All-Pro NFL safety he emulates.
“I like Brian Dawkins for two reasons. One, because of his high energy, and two, because he played under coach Harbison,” Fitzhugh said. “Dawkins’ motor is always running, trying to make a play.”
Saturday, during the Bulldogs’ second spring scrimmage, Fitzhugh had his motor running at full speed.
The first string offense stood at the one yard line, trying to go in for its first touchdown of the afternoon.
The ball went to running back Christian Ducre, who then fumbled, only to have cornerback Anthony Johnson recover the ball; Fitzhugh took over from there.
Johnson turned and lateraled the ball off to Fitzhugh, who then revved up his engine and jetted down field to the endzone for a 100-yard touchdown, juking quarterback Michael Henig twice along the way.
“I saw that Anthony was about to get tackled, so I called his name, and he pitched me the ball,” Fitzhugh said. “I was running up the sideline, saw Derek, saw Mike, cut back and ran up field.”
On his second cutback, fellow safety Derek Pegues “politely” removed quarterback Michael Henig from the pursuit, giving Fitzhugh an open lane to the endzone.
Fitzhugh knows that he may have put his quarterback in jeopardy of injury but says that’s OK.
“It’s all good. We gotta put up points too,” he said, smiling, after the fact.
Fitzhugh was extremely happy the return was not longer; he didn’t have much left in the tank.
“I thank God he gave me a lot of energy, cause I was about to die,” Fitzhugh said.
In the previous scrimmage, the offense got the best of the defense, but Saturday, the defense reigned supreme.
After its initial drive, which saw running back Anthony Dixon bounce off tackles for a 46-yard gain and resulted in a 41-yard field goal, the first team defense terrorized the first offense all afternoon.
The white-clad defense forced the offense into quick throws, dropped passes and deflected balls, two of which belong to Fitzhugh, who is enjoying his second season at safety.
“I thank God for the change (from cornerback),” Fitzhugh said. “I think it’s better for me. I like having to think more and trying to get a better understanding of the game.”
The second string offense was able to move the ball on its counterpart however.
The unit led by junior college transfer quarterback Josh Riddell, marched downfield, chewing up 80 yards, and capped the drive off with a 7-yard touchdown by Christian Ducre.
Even though the statistics didn’t show it, Croom saw improvement since the team’s first scrimmage two weeks earlier.
“We were certainly better this week than we were last week. We still have to develop more mental toughness,” he said.
The first offense was able to get points on the board once the units began work on short field situations, but the day belonged to Fitzhugh and the defense.