Southern Miss football has commenced its first day of fall camp, and the main topic of discussion was who would earn the starting quarterback job between Houston transfer Holeman Edwards and Clemson transfer Billy Wiles.
As expected, there wasn't much separation between the two quarterbacks, but regardless Southern Miss head coach Will Hall is high on both players.
"I thought it was a good first day," Hall said. "I think they are really taking to the offense. I thought our kids were able to make a lot of plays with the ball location and made good checks.
"We are looking for people that can execute the play call the way we coach it. If the play call is there, we want it executed. That's putting your eyes on the right spot and throwing it in a way that it can be caught. After that, it's who can make plays off-script. Who can make plays when it's not there, and who can create a little bit."
Both Edwards and Wiles said that their focus during the summer was to have a better grasp of the playbook.
"(I was) just trying to get the playbook down and get comfortable with the playbook," Edwards said. "I feel comfortable with the guys and the system.
"Day 1 is just kind of knocking the rust off and getting back with all the guys on the field. I thought it was a good first day overall. The offense operated well. For me, personally, it was rust on some throws. I was off a little on a couple of throws."
Wiles, who said he has fully recovered from oblique muscle strain from the spring, believes that one of the critical factors for his team will be the depth at the skill positions.
"We are going to win a lot of games with the (skill position players)," Wiles said. "They can go make plays when we need them to.
"I'm getting the offense down more and more. I feel really comfortable with it now. I'm competing in the weight room, on the field and getting better physically and mentally. I've been trying to get better every way I can so that I was ready for Day 1."
Oak Grove alum Brandon Hayes made several noticeable catches and was able to show off his speed after going down last season to an ACL tear during practice. However, Chandler Pittman had the highlight of the day as he came down with a one-handed 30-yard catch on a post route.
"I thought we made some big plays at wide receiver," Hall said. "It's good to have Brandon Hayes back. It's really good to have Chandler Pittman back even though he toughed it out and played last year."
Southern Miss was without starting linebacker Averie Habas for an undisclosed medical reason.
"Averie has a medical issue right now that I can't talk about," Hall said. "He's out for a little while. We have great hope that we are going to get him back really soon.
"He's going through something that is above my pay grade to talk about. We hope to have him back in the near future."
Southern Miss will begin practicing with pads on Friday, which is when Hall believes that will allow for him to have a better assessment of his team.
"We have to put pads on," Hall said. "You can convince yourself of anything when you don't have pads on. At the end of the day, football is played with pads. Some people rise to that, and some people sink below that. We have to get through another day tomorrow and then put the pads on. That's when you start figuring things out.
"All in all, it was a good first day on install."
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