STARKVILLE — In the eyes of Mississippi State University fifth-year coach Dan Mullen, the spring football season is effectively over.
The Maroon-White spring football game, which is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Saturday, is seen as a celebration of the work over the last three weeks of practice where thousands of fans get to see the closest thing to a finished product as anybody could imagine with 133 days in between the 2013 season opener in Houston against Oklahoma State University.
Under NCAA rules a college is allowed to hold 15 spring practices that must be completed within a period of 34 consecutive calendar days and the spring game has become by default and television the final organized session before coaches are no longer allowed to have instruction with their student- athletes until August.
“That’s what we talked about (Tuesday) because they have to get some rest, get ready to go (Thursday) and come out with the right mindset,” Mullen said. (Thursday) was really it. The spring game is really kind of a celebration, for our fans to be out there and their first look at a lot of these guys and a real fun deal for them.”
However, the argument can and quite honestly should be made that the plays, numbers and relevance of anything that happens during the spring game be taken in a understandable context knowing that situations may change in those next 133 days. The best example of context being needed for spring football can be traced back to as early as last year when the two offensive stars of the spring game at Davis Wade Stadium were wide receivers Jameon Lewis and Joe Morrow after they combined for 16 catches. The duo then combined to make 15 total catches in the upcoming 2012 season.
“There is a lot of time before we’ve got to go play and those young guys are going to have a lot more opportunities to make plays,” Mullen said. “I want to make sure they’re making the right plays. I always get worried when a guy will make a spectacular catch after running the wrong route. That’s a big negative to me. I mean it’s great that he made a spectacular catch but so it’s bad that he ran the wrong route.”
Three years ago, Tyler Russell was booed after throwing his first pass in Davis Wade Stadium for an interception but will see a majority of the action Saturday as the only healthy scholarship quarterback on the roster. In a scrimmage last Saturday, Russell had four interceptions and while he knows he’ll go into fall camp as the projected starter, the competitor in the former Parade All-American selection out of Meridian High School wants to showcase his skills in front of a large crowd this week.
“At first it was a lot of pressure but I redshirted a season, just sat back and learned,” Russell said. “Now I’m finally sure what it takes every day to become a good quarterback at this level.”
The coaching staff divided up the rosters evenly today although it is still unclear how many snaps Russell will take with either side to make sure he is finding a comfort with different line and receiver combinations throughout the day.
On the defensive side of the ball, the spring game is the first time inside Davis Wade Stadium that Geoff Collins will be calling the signals as the Bulldogs defensive coordinator. Before officially getting the promotion following Chris Wilson’s departure to the University of Georgia to be the defensive line coach, Collins was handed the play-calling duties by Mullen for the 2013 Gator Bowl that MSU lost 34-20 to Northwestern University.
“David Turner and I have talked a lot about establishing a great run defense and that’s what we’ve focused on in the spring,” Collins said. “If you can play great run defense, create negative downs on first and second down, get them in third-and-long situations, defensively you’re going to have a pretty good day.”
Due to injury concerns, Collins may not be able to test his new run defense scheme against the premier backs of MSU Saturday as senior LaDarius Perkins has been held out of practices due to an unknown ailment and sophomore Josh Robinson has been slowly been moved back into active duty after a shoulder injury.
“You’d like to have them all out there to evaluate and showcase their skills but throughout spring you have to expect some injuries,” MSU running backs coach Greg Knox said. “The one thing it’s allowed us to do is experiment with a guy like (converted wide receiver) Brandon Holloway that brings a little something extra to the table.”
The one guarantee that immediately differs from last year’s ordeal is MSU will play on a full field this season after everybody on the roster and coaching staff acknowledged was a glorified scrimmage for the announced crowd of 22,604 on a converted 60-yard football field. The field dimensions were due to concert for the band Sugarland after the spring game was over in a marketing attempt for the MSU athletic department as they pre-sold tickets for the combination of both events for the first time in school history.
Such a marketing ploy will not be instituted in 2013 as the game is free of charge this Saturday and no concert stage will be blocking room in the south end zone this time around.
“We have such a young team that there’s an awful lot of change going on,” Mullen said. “Not just physically but mentally we’re a whole new team. That means there’s great opportunities out there, there’s a lot of opportunities to go play.”
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