STARKVILLE — Joe Moorhead’s days of having a vested interest in the offense over the defense in practice are over. In all his years as an offensive coordinator, he had the same demeanor he presumed every other offensive coordinator has: he wants his offense to do well at all costs, even if the defense suffers with an embarrassing day. Now, as Mississippi State’s head football coach, he wants to see some back and forth.
He got just that Saturday.
The offensive and defensive lines put on an entertaining battle in MSU’s first intrasquad scrimmage of the spring on Saturday and took turns getting the best of the other. For instance, the offensive line cleared enough room for senior running back to Aeris Williams to run nine times 41 yards; on the other side, sophomore defensive end Kobe Jones had three tackles, one of them for a loss.
“I think it’s a great battle and it’s a microcosm of what we see everyday in practice,” Moorhead said. “I tell the guys all the time if one side is whipping the other side’s but throughout the practice, you’re going to have a long season. We want all of our practices to be a 15-round heavyweight fight that goes to the card; by period and by day, these guys have been competing and getting after each other.
“This was a representation of what we’ve done all spring.
“As a head coach, you want to see a good give-and-take through practice: offense making plays, defense making plays, and I think we did that. I think we did a great job of forcing turnovers. Offense did a good job of moving the ball between the 30s, but got in the red zone and had a couple of turnovers. The other side, I thought we ran it well, had some explosive passes and got the ball in the end zone a few times. I thought it was good work by the guys.”
Back on the line of scrimmage, senior defensive end Gerri Green had a sack and junior defensive end Chauncey Rivers had a tackle for a loss and a pass break-up. Defensive tackle Lee Autry added a sack.
Williams also scored a touchdown in a goal-line drill; Nick Gibson ran six times for 26 yards, Dontavian Lee ran four times for 23 yards and Kylin Hill ran twice for nine yards.
Moorhead saw a similar dynamic for the offense and defense overall, outside of the line play.
“I’m, as I always say, pleased but not satisfied,” Moorhead said.
Scrimmage stats
Sophomore quarterback Keytaon Thompson took the majority of the reps with starter Nick Fitzgerald held out of any drills with a live rush. Thompson completed 15 of his 28 pass attempts for 180 yards, scoring two touchdowns and throwing three interceptions. He also rank seven times for 17 yards, with three sacks costing him 16 yards.
MSU also intercepted reserve quarterback Rip Kirk once, with the four interceptions coming from linebacker Tim Washington, cornerback Chris Rayford, linebacker Cameron Miller and safety Stephen Adegoke. Safeties C.J. Morgan, Londyn Craft and linebacker Erroll Thompson tied for the team lead with five tackles, Thompson adding a pass break-up. Adegoke and fellow safety Mark McLaurin had three tackles each.
Sophomore linebacker and Starkville product Willie Gay stood out among the linebackers with four tackles, two for a loss, and a forced fumble in the goal line period.
Tight ends and wide receivers split the touchdown receptions, Osirus Mitchell and Jamal Couch scoring for the wide receivers and Powers Warren and Justin Johnson scoring for the tight ends. Dontea Jones led all receivers with 33 yards, Couch not far behind with 29 and Cason Grant catching two passes for 22 yards.
Jace Christmann made two of his three field goals, hitting from 23 and 26 yards after a close miss from 41 yards. Jordan Lawless made two point after attempts and Dan Mills’s 37-yard field goal attempt bounced off the left upright.
Not participating
MSU was without cornerback Jamal Peters, defensive lineman Marquiss Spencer and wide receiver Stephen Guidry in the scrimmage. Peters and Spencer were both out dealing with family issues, Moorhead said. Guidry was not seen at practice all week; Moorhead said he was, “taking care of some stuff off-field,” and that he looked forward to having Guidry back in Tuesday’s practice.
The scrimmage also continued the absence of safety Brandon Bryant. Moorhead said at the beginning of spring Bryant was dealing with some academic things and would return once those are resolved.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter, @Brett_Hudson
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