Southern Miss football ends spring practice in a better place than it started
Southern Miss wrapped up its 15th and final practice of the spring period on Saturday, giving fans inside M.M. Roberts Stadium an opportunity to get an early look at head coach Will Hall’s second Golden Eagles team.
The offense was pitted against the defense in a two-hour scrimmage that showcased the development, progress and depth USM has built during the offseason.
The Golden Eagles have their scholarship count up into the 80s after finishing the 2021 season with less than 70 scholarship players.
The team is deeper nearly across the board, especially after adding one of the nation’s top transfer classes.
“We will be young, but the Eagles are coming,” Hall said. “We’re coming and we don’t shy away from that. We understand what the expectations are for this program and we embrace it. We’re in a much better situation than we were when the spring started.”
Hall isn’t concerned about how young the roster is, instead opting for excitement over the potential the team has.
“I’d rather be talented and inexperienced and young than experienced and not talented,” Hall said. “We’re getting better right there.”
Quarterbacks progressing
The quarterback situation may look eerily similar to where it was last August with it being one of the few rooms on the team that did not see a scholarship player transfer in.
There are two key differences now, though: Redshirt freshman and current first-string quarterback Ty Keyes has now gone through his first spring practice and true freshman Zach Wilcke has joined the group.
Keyes looked comfortable working against Conference USA’s top pass defense in the scrimmage, tossing a long touchdown to Richard Mays and connecting multiple times deep down the right sideline to star wideout Jason Brownlee.
He scored once on the ground and his only blemish came on a pass picked off by safety Jay Jones.
“Over the last two weeks, when we got from spring break, you really saw a growth in Ty Keyes,” Hall said. “I think everybody saw that today. He’s always been super talented but he’s just starting to get it. He’s starting to take over. He’s just had a phenomenal spring.”
Fresh out of high school, Wilcke showed maturity with his throws not commonly found in first-year quarterbacks. Early in the scrimmage, Wilcke threw two perfectly placed touchdowns on fade routes to Cade Shepherd and Jalen May while working with the third team.
His touchdowns were sandwiched around his only true gaffe of the day, a telegraphed pass into the arms of defensive back Natrone Brooks, who returned it for a defensive score.
“You saw the talent flash today,” Hall said of Wilcke. “He can really run. He’s really talented. We do a lot on offense, some of it he understands and some of it he doesn’t. He’s got an unbelievable attitude. He’s got a lot of gumption; he’s not scared.”
Depth at offensive line, running back improved
Offensive line was a key focus area for Hall and staff this offseason. Hall made a change in the coaching staff by bringing in Sam Gregg from Liberty to coach the unit and brought in several transfers.
Hall believes his team has tripled the quality rotational depth it has up front from three players to about nine in the spring.
“I think we’re going to be deeper and a little more talented, a little bigger up front,” Hall said. “We got a lot of skill kids that can really play and continue to improve on the O-Line. Can’t speak enough of the impact Sam Gregg has had within our whole football program.”
The lineman who ran with the starting group were tackle Tykeem Doss, guard Gerquan Scott, center Briason Mays, guard John Bolding and tackle Paul Gainer Jr.
The running backs are a direct benefactor of the improvement in the front five and there are now more of them. Mississippi State transfer Janari Dean has rocketed his way near the top of the depth chart and appears to be in the lead to be Frank Gore Jr.’s primary backup.
Demarcus Jones, Zahn Diaz and true freshman Kenyon Clay all showed flashes of talent throughout the scrimmage. Former super back-turned-running back Antavious “Rambo” Willis scored the first touchdown of the day for the group.
Defensive strength
It’s no secret where Southern Miss’ strong point is this season. Every starter from a secondary that led the conference in passing yards allowed and passing touchdowns allowed is back.
The linebacker group is loaded with both experienced and new talent while the front line received a significant injection of bodies through the transfer portal.
The entire unit flexed its depth in the second hour of the scrimmage, not giving a single touchdown for the final 60 minutes until the offense moved to red-zone-only work.
Running backs were swallowed up in the backfield and the secondary tightened the passing lanes. An impressive pass breakup from Brendan Toles and a Markel McLaurin interception were key plays in bringing the defense to life down the stretch.
“We’re so deep and talented in the secondary,” Hall said. “We had everybody back and we’ve added some young talent ... we’re just deeper.”
