Notes from fall scrimmage No. 1

Defense wins first scrimmage (meaning offense will win the second). Full recap from MSU here.

Provided stats:

Stat Leaders
Passing: Andrew Maxwell 13-of-21 for 171 yards and one touchdown (19 yards to Macgarrett Kings Jr.);

Connor Cook 13-of-18 for 133 yards;

Tyler O'Connor 7-of-9 for 74 yards and two touchdowns (12 and 17 yards to Bennie Fowler);

Damion Terry 4-of-7 for 101 yards and one touchdown (67 yards to Matt Macksood).

Rushing: Gerald Holmes 7-55;  Jeremy Langford 8-31 (1 TD); (Nick Hill 10-24 (1 TD).

Receiving: Bennie Fowler 5-65 (2 TDs); Andre Sims Jr. 5-60; Aaron Burbridge 4-24; Macgarrett Kings Jr. 3-29 (1 TD); Matt Macksood 2-81 (1 TD).

Defense (solos-assists-total): Marcus Rush 6-0-6 including two sacks (11 yards); Taiwan Jones 4-2-6 including two tackles for loss (8 yards), a 6-yard sack and a 14-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown; Darien Harris 4-2-6;Demetrious Cox 3-2-5; Drummond 4-1-5 including a 2-yard loss; Jairus Jones 1-4-5; Darqueze Dennard 2-2-4.

…

Freshman kicker Michael Geiger was impressive in his first scrimmage, connecting on 7-of-8 field-goal attempts, including two 48-yarders. Red-shirt freshman Kevin Cronin was 2-of-3 in field-goal attempts with a long of 47 yards.

Stuff that sticks out:

Throwing downfield. Maxwell (8.14), Cook (7.38), O'Connor (8.22) and Terry (14.4) had YPAs that were encouraging.

No interceptions. MSU usually provides these stats. Don't know for sure, but it looks like an interception-free day from the QBs.

Geiger Counter: MSU may have its kicking situation figured out.

No Riley Bullough. Appears he could be dealing with an injury. Tyler O'Connor tweeted a picture of Bullough with what looked like ice on his left shoulder. Dantonio wouldn't say anything, only that he's not out for the year.

Quotes (emphasis mine):

"We got a lot of plays in. We went almost 120 plays from scrimmage, so that's a positive thing. Offensively, we beat ourselves with a costly turnover, some negative plays and unforced penalties.

"I thought the defense played well. They applied pressure (on the quarterbacks) and tackled pretty well. Offensively, we did some good things and had some big plays, but you can't beat yourself. We simply had too many unforced penalties, negative plays and a turnover. Offensively, we've got to clean some things up. I'm happy with the effort.

Delton Williams played pretty well. Gerald Holmes has to hit the hole a little quicker, but these freshmen have to grow up fast out here. I thought Jeremy Langford and(Nick Hill did some good things as well.

Bennie Fowler caught the ball pretty well and made some nice runs after the catch. He also showed leadership out there in the huddle. I liked the way he was talking to the guys.

"Without watching the video, you've got to look at Michael Geiger as the bright spot of the scrimmage. He hit a 50-yarder (officially two 48-yarders). Michael had one bounce off the upright but other than that he was perfect, and they weren't chip shots. Right now, he's in the lead for that position.

"A week into camp, fatigue sets in, but I've got news for everybody; we're going to go tomorrow. That's part of summer camp. Offensively, we have to eliminate some of the things that happened today. We're talking about cleaning up some basic things. When it's second-and-5, you can't jump offsides and make it second-and-10. You can't fumble the football when you're at the 1-yard line going in and take seven points off the board and settle for a field goal. Those types of things just can't happen. Our defense plays a part with its pressure and intensity, and we expect our defense to be pretty good again. Offensively, we have to take care of the football and eliminate the unforced errors."