Southern Miss showcases new faces in final spring football scrimmage

Southern Miss ran its final scrimmage of the spring season on Saturday, alternating between drills, live tackle scrimmage and special teams work.

Head coach Will Hall’s third final spring scrimmage at USM was a “Will Hall scrimmage,” a non-traditional spring game designed to maximize reps in various situations.

With two practices to go and neither in full pads, it served as a final opportunity for coaches and fans to see the players in live action before summer break.

“The main thing I really liked, besides staying healthy for the most part, was it was almost exactly the opposite of the last scrimmage,” Hall said following the spring game. “Last scrimmage the offense started hot and the defense reacted and finished strong. Today, the defense I thought started hot and the offense reacted and finished strong.”

The offense had a strong showing a week ago against a defense missing several pieces in the middle. With the same collection of players out, newly promoted defensive coordinator Dan O’Brien’s unit responded with a disruptive day.

The Golden Eagles defense registered five sacks, a pick-six and a pair of forced fumbles against an offense that still hit on its fair share of chunk-yardage plays.

Roughly 80 plays were ran throughout the day over live scrimmage, red-zone work and two-minute drill. Among the players held out for rest or recovery were running back Kenyon Clay, safety Jay Jones and linebackers Josh Carr Jr., Hayes Maples, Swayze Bozeman and T.Q. Newsome.

Running back Frank Gore Jr. was an expected healthy scratch, though he did appear without a touch in the first few plays of the day.

By opening up reps with rested starters, newcomers shined on both sides of the ball and flashed the depth the staff has accumulated since arriving after the 2020 season.

“It’s like comparing apples to oranges; it’s a totally different dynamic than when we first got here,” Hall said. “Our first spring, we didn’t have enough people to really do a scrimmage. We had seven scholarship O-linemen and one scholarship quarterback when we got here. We couldn’t even have a real college practice. Three years later, we can.”

Hall said he has had two full groups throughout the spring and expects to have four by fall camp.

Defense creates opportunities

The first possession of the day was a short one. Wiles was noncontact “sacked” by junior college transfer linebacker Jalen Sims on the first play. Latreal Jones lost 2 yards on a reception in the flat before Sims recorded another sack on third down.

Sims took full advantage of the extra reps at inside linebacker early in the day. He picked up a third sack in 20 offensive plays, this time knocking the ball free from Wiles’ hands.

“He is going to be a really good football player,” Hall said of Sims. “He comes in and you can just see him getting better all throughout spring because of him learning the scheme. It’s been awesome for him and Kolbe Cage as transfers. ... When we get those three guys that are injured back we should have a lot of depth at linebacker.”

The secondary had a strong day, recording multiple pass breakups and turnovers. One of the latter resulted in six points for the defense.

Corner Ques McNeal read a Zach Wilcke pass that was tipped at the line of scrimmage, jumped in front of the intended wide out and returned his stolen property to the house.

The elder statesman of the defensive backfield, safety Jay Stanley, also had an eventful day. The senior picked up a sack against Wilcke and later stripped and recovered a ball from Antavious Willis during two-minute work.

Arkansas transfer Eric Thomas had the day’s other two sacks off the edge, one of which coming on fourth down with Jake Lange at quarterback.

“We’ve been trying to get that ‘Nasty Bunch’ culture,” linebacker Jalil Clemons said. “I don’t feel like we’ve gotten there all the way yet, but we’re still working. We’re still grinding every day. When we come back for the summer, we’re going to be on.”

High praise for quarterbacks

Five different quarterbacks saw the field with incumbent starter Wilcke battling transfers Wiles and Holman Edwards for the starting job.

Wiles, who arrived from Clemson, primarily worked with first team while Wilcke and Edwards worked with mostly second- and third-teamers.

The trio combined to complete 10 passes in 19 attempts for 125 yards with one touchdown and one interception between full-field and red zone work, unofficially.

“They’ve really taken to the system quickly,” Hall said. “They spend a lot of time and energy in there studying. They’re really good at the things you can’t see. Protection checks, run checks, functionality behind the O-line. They’re very accurate and they’ve had good springs.”

Edwards had the biggest play of the day, a 50-yard strike down the sideline to an open Davis Dalton. Edwards completed three of his four pass attempts for 71 yards.

He also hit tight end Cole Cavallo on a second-and-long for a 15-yard gain.

Despite some early hiccups, Wiles had a decent afternoon. He went 5-for-7 for 48 yards with a touchdown pass during red-zone work to a sliding Ty Mims, who needed only one hand to make the grab.

“I definitely feel like we maybe even have more than three solid options,” running back Chandler Pittman said of the quarterback room. “All the guys coming in, they have the same mindset to work. These are guys that want to play. ... These guys are older, even Wilcke. He’s older and has a year under his belt so he knows how to control the game. Same way with the other two guys.”

Redshirt freshman Kyle McCormick was given one possession. He completed 3 of 5 passes and threw a 26-yard touchdown to Zavian Hales. True freshman Ethan Crawford, who suffered a torn ACL last fall while still in high school, participated lightly in seven-on-seven and routes-on-air drills.

Running game flexes behind improved offensive line

All eyes may have been on the quarterbacks, but it was a former Tigers who stole the show out of the USM backfield. Newly added back Dreke Clark was the primary ball carrier throughout the day and showcased both strength between the tackles and speed on the edge.

Clark ran the ball 10 times and picked up 59 yards with three touchdowns. He scored twice from the goal line and outran the secondary on a 28-yard touchdown run down the sideline.

“They already had everything, I just feel like I can add on just a little bit,” Clark said. “I can catch, throw, run. I just like to win and be a playmaker.”

Hall helped sign Clark out of high school in his lone season as an assistant for the Tigers in 2018. The redshirt junior and Starkville native announced his intent to transfer to USM in January.

“We feel like we have a really legitimate, bonafide Division I running back room,” Hall said. “That’s just another position where when we got here, we had some good players. Now we have a lot of good players.”

It also helps the offensive line has the most depth Hall has seen since arriving. With four returning starters and an experienced two-deep, the running game found consistency it often lacked over the past two seasons, even if pass protection was spotty at times throughout the scrimmage.

“It’s been consistent all spring,” Hall said. “We’re just a lot better up there. We’re older, we’re more experienced, we’re more talented. It’s our second year with (offensive line coach) Sam Gregg, a great coach. They just really understand what’s going on and it’s been good to see. It’ll be by far the best front we’ll put out there since we’ve been here.”

Southern Miss will have two practices left to run before putting a bow on the spring period. According to Hall, they’ll go hats-only for the next practice before focusing on developing the younger players on the final day while the experienced rest.

The Golden Eagles open the 2023 season at home against Alcorn State on Sept. 2.