STARKVILLE — With less than two weeks before Mississippi State football kicks off its season on Sept. 2 against Southeastern Louisiana at Davis Wade Stadium, the Bulldogs are still working through fall camp adjustments.
That was evident coming out of the team’s weekend scrimmage.
“I don’t think you walk away from any scrimmage feeling excellent,” MSU first-year offensive coordinator Kevin Barbay said. “There is always room for improvement.”
Even for Barbay, who gave himself a modest grade after Saturday’s practice.
“A C-minus,” Barbay said. “I am hard on myself. I thought there were some good things done out there today. I think the reality is you are always looking for something you could correct better on every single day.”
Although Barbay is a long-tenured coach in the college ranks, in his first season in Starkville, each day of practice has been a learning experience as he gets comfortable with a new group of players.
“For me, it is just as important as I practice each of these situations,” he said. “When is the time to go fast, take a shot, sequence a play call. Practicing those situations, going through it in my head, listening to the staff and what their ideas are. At the end of the day it is all of us together.”
Barbay enters the fray, taking over an offense filled with experience. The Bulldogs return seven starters on the offensive side of the ball, including four offensive lineman, two wideouts and a running back. But none will be more important to MSU’s success than senior quarterback Will Rogers.
As Barbay continues to learn how to best utilize MSU’s talent on the offensive side of the ball, he’s been able to lean on a starting quarterback who’s been around the Southeastern Conference block a few times.
“We see a lot of stuff the same way,” he said. “When something is rolling off my tongue, he will already have it called because he knows what I am thinking. That is really important throughout the season as we get comfortable with each other.”
Younger guys pushing for playing time on defensive line
The Bulldogs also have a strong returning core of players on defense, especially in their defensive front with Jett Johnson and Nathaniel Watson at linebacker and Jaden Crumedy and Nathan Pickering on the line.
Still, MSU is looking for some young guys on the defensive line to take that next step.
So far, freshman Kalvin Dinkins, as well as Donterry Russell, Deonte Anderson and Trevion Williams have all shown instant-impact potential throughout camp.
“I think they are going to have to contribute a lot,” first-year defensive coordinator Matt Brock said of MSU’s young defensive lineman. “Our expectation is they will continue to get better. I think they have had a good camp, have hit that camp wall a bit and will have to freshen up and be ready to go.
“The fact of the matter is we got to find the most consistent 11 football players to put on the field to give us a chance to win and play good defense.”
Seth Davis tuning heads in team scrimmages
Within MSU’s crowded running back room, a new name continues to stake his claim to potential playing time this fall in true freshman Seth Davis.
“He had a good spring, came back to fall camp and has done a really nice job,” Barbay said of Davis during this weekend’s media availability. “He is youthful, but he is hungry and runs hard. When you put the ball in his hands he has a chance to break a couple tackles and score some touchdowns.
“I think the good thing about guys like that is you have to find ways to get them on the field.”
Davis, a three-star in MSU’s 2023 class out of Katy, Texas, was compared to former Kansas State running back Deuce Vaughn due to his small size but explosive ability out of the backfield.
Vaughn, now with the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL, is listed at 5-6, 176 pounds. Davis is listed at 5-7, 185 pounds.
“I think it was the second scrimmage in a row where he was our most elusive ball carrier,” first-year head coach Zach Arnett said. “He’s a little smaller in stature. He is muscled up, but gets behind those lineman at times and finds a seam and slips through.”
Though Davis continues to show why he could get some early playing time for the Bulldogs this season, the team’s running back group, led by Ja’Quarious Marks, Keyvone Lee, Simeon Price and JUCO transfer Jeffery Pittman may temper any expectations attached to Davis this fall.
Justin Frommer is the Mississippi State sports reporter for The Dispatch.
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