MSU scrimmage
There has to be some real impressive things take place to catch the attention of Mississippi State football coach Mike Leach.
When it came to the first scrimmage of the preseason on Saturday for the Bulldogs, Leach came just about as close as he probably will in giving his team a complete thumbs up.
Leach called the workout “very productive” and said “I would have to categorize it as cautiously optimistic and a little better than I thought it would be.”
Opening with the quarterbacks, Leach took several questions through a media video conference call on Saturday about many positions. He likes where everything stands across the board.
“The most positive thing is we played together as units when you consider where we are in the course of things,” Leach said.
On offense, Leach said K.J. Costello and Will Rogers had the best days among the quarterbacks, while the coaches were able to mix and match on the offensive line and get many looks.
“We were able to play three full groups,” Leach said. “It did look like football and I can’t say that it always does. Some of the down the list guys I thought were competitive.”
Leach said the defensive line was pushed, but played the run well and liked the open-field tackling of the defensive backs.
“A lot of times at this point you don’t tackle as well as you
want,” Leach said. “I haven’t seen the film so I don’t know as far as what our thoughts are defensively as far as guys being in position. Our receivers at times did a good job getting separation and making some plays.”
When MSU gets back on the practice
field next week, Leach doesn’t see any major changes based on what he saw during the scrimmage.
He looks forward to sharpening up what has already been installed and move forward.
“There are no scheme overhauls,” Leach said. “If anything, we’ll cut some things rather than add plays. As we identify where we are really good, we’ll polish that up. Nothing really dramatic.”