Blue Raiders hold first scrimmage

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee held its first scrimmage of the spring with each side of the ball coming away with positives, while also realizing there’s much work to be accomplished in the remaining two weeks of drills.

As the scrimmage began to unfold in windy and cold conditions, the offense put together some good plays, scoring on its sixth drive; however, first year coach Rick Stockstill was somewhat disappointed it took the unit a period of time to get untrack.

The defense took advantage, and not only started strong, but was able to maintain an upperhand for the biggest majority of the scrimmage.

“I thought the offense was a little sloppy at the beginning but the group did some good things as the scrimmage continued,” said Stockstill. “We can’t continue doing that. We have to be ready to go from the beginning. We can’t constantly put ourselves in a position where we have to play from behind because we didn’t start the way we needed to.

“The defense came on and made some plays and did some good things but we also gave up too many plays. In the spring, I think you would like to see the defense pretty much dominate the scrimmage.”

Veteran defender Sean Mosley agreed with Stockstill’s assessment.

“I think it was pretty much a draw,” said Mosley. “We let up in the end and allowed them to make some plays and move the ball on offense. If not for that it would have been a good morning but in the end I just think it ended up pretty even, to be honest.”

Offensively, the Blue Raiders put together three touchdown drives with two culminating in quarterback Clint Marks scoring passes. The first was a 10-yard strike to tight end Stephen Chicola – one of his three receptions for 49 yards. Marks, who threw for 108 yards, also connected with redshirt freshman Dale Galvin on a 14-yard pass play. Galvin led all pass catchers with seven receptions for 69 yards – both team highs.

Senior Eugene Gross led the ground attack with 81 yards on 18 carries, but it was Albert Webb who reached paydirt on a 5-yard run late in the scrimmage. Webb, a walk-on, finished with 37 yards on 12 carries, while Ronald Steed added 35 yards on 13 attempts.

Rising senior Colby Smith also got into the scoring act with a pair of field goals, connecting from 41 and 27 yards, respectively.

One of the positives for the offense was the play of backup signal-caller Patrick Jackson. The rising junior was 12-for-15 through the air for 109 yards and no interceptions. As a matter of fact, three Blue Raider quarterbacks went the entire scrimmage without throwing an interception.

The defense got into the scoring column when linebacker Coy Williamson turned in perhaps the biggest highlight of the day when he scooped up a fumble and rambled 50 yards to the endzone. It was one of three fumble recoveries by the defense as Chris McCoy and Dana Stewart also collected one.

The defensive unit also came up with six tackles for loss, led by Tavares Jones’ two, and four sacks. Jones, Mosley, Derek Mason, and McCoy were all credited with sacks during the scrimmage.

The Blue Raiders will return to the practice field on Monday with only two weeks remaining in the spring workouts.

“We still have a lot of work to do,” said Stockstill. “We will continue working on the fundamentals and making sure we are able to do all the basic stuff the way it is supposed to be done and we continue to add our offense and defense. I like the attitude, work ethic and enthusiasm, but we must continue making progress throughout this spring.”

Scoring

Colby Smith 41 FG

Stephen Chicola 10 pass from Clint Marks (Kick Failed)

Albert Webb 5 run (Kick Good)

Dale Galvin 14 pass from Clint Marks (Kick Good)

Colby Smith 27 FG

Coy Williamson 50 fumble return

Rushing

Eugene Gross: 18 carries, 81 yards

Albert Webb: 12 carries, 37 yards

Ronald Steed: 13 carries, 35 yards

DeMarco McNair: 2 carries, 6 yards