The production from Southern Miss’ offense during the Golden Eagles’ first fall scrimmage was unmistakably the high point on the day.
Southern Miss divvied up equal snaps for the first, second and third-string teams during the live contact for nearly two hours. The entire practice day lasted three hours.
Between each group, the Golden Eagles converted 11 plays for 20 or more yards, eight of which were for 30 or more.
Quarterback Battle Still Close
Southern Miss head coach Will Hall had said earlier in the week that he hoped that the upcoming scrimmage would be critical in determining between Houston transfer Holeman Edwards to Clemson transfer Billy Wiles for the starting quarterback job.
The only problem is that each quarterback had near identical numbers, with neither turning the ball over. Edwards was 7-for-12 and threw for 157 yards and a touchdown, while Wiles was 7-for-12 and threw for 101 yards and a touchdown.
Edwards’ three drives resulted in a turnover on downs after driving 40 yards, a 10-yard touchdown pass to Antavious Willis and then a turnover on downs after moving the ball 20 yards.
Wiles wasn’t much different as his three drives resulted in a turnover on downs after driving 35 yards, a 36-yard touchdown to Ty Mims and then a three-and-out drive.
Hall has said that he will name a starter on Aug. 22, the day after classes start.
Crawford Pushes Third String QB Job
One of the most impressive players on the day was true freshman Ethan Crawford. Crawford, along with Kyle McCormick were cleared to go live, meaning the defense could tackle each quarterback.
"I thought those first three quarterbacks really executed at a high level," Southern Miss coach Will Hall said. "I thought they all three made some plays. I thought they read things perfectly. There are some things that they are going to want to do a little better. We grew at that position."
Crawford, who enrolled early and spent the spring finishing his recovery from ACL surgery, was 3-for-5, tossed for 127 yards, a touchdown and ran for 29 yards and a touchdown on four attempts.
"I think Ethan Crawford is heavy in the lead to take the 3-spot right now with the way he is playing," Hall said. "He’s pushing. He’s going to be a dynamic player if he keeps it going.
"The way Ethan has been playing the last five days, I think he has jumped ahead of everybody else for that 3-spot."
Notably, last season’s starting quarterback Zach Wilcke was not with the team as the sophomore was, “handling a family issue.” In addition, defensive back Michael Carraway missed the scrimmage to attend a funeral.
Willis Goes Off
Will was critical in almost every quarterback’s drive.
"Everything the offense did today, I wasn’t impressed (because) it’s something that we are used to, and that’s something we are trying to do as far as taking the offense to the next level," Willis said. "In our running back room, we have a lot of explosive guys. We have guys that we can put just about anywhere to get the play done. The chemistry that we have, we really have something going on. We have something special."
Willis made four catches for 64 yards and a touchdown and ran for 38 yards on three attempts. Willis also returned a kickoff for an 80-plus yard touchdown.
"Compared to last year to this year, I think the offense will have a way better chance," Willis said. "I think we have guys that can do things outside their norm. Being versatile, depending on which play Coach Hall calls, we should be able to adapt to whichever and still get the play executed."
Willis wasn’t the only superback/running back to produce, with Chandler Pittman having three catches for 72 yards. A key highlight for the offense was how involved the running backs were in the passing game. Kenyon Clay had two catches for 35 yards, while Dreke Clark had two catches for 10 yards. Clay also had the only rushing touchdown by a running back on the day as he scored on a 5-yard run.
Defense Has Had Better Days
The flipside to the offense having a productive day was that the Golden Eagle defense struggled at times, especially with wrapping up tackles during the passing game.
Despite giving up the big plays, Southern Miss’ defense did force out three fumbles and recovered two of them. The biggest highlight was defensive lineman Brodarius Lewis forcing a fumble out and freshman Sentario Willis coming up with a scoop and score.
Jay Stanley recovered the second fumble, with MJ Daniels forcing it out. The defense also picked up two sacks against Wiles.
“Our young guys on offense have to learn to protect the ball,”
“I thought our hybrid guys made a lot of plays today. They are extremely hard to tackle. I thought there were times when we tackled well on defense and times when we could have had a better approach on tackling. That’s something we work on every day.”
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