2023 Southern Miss Football Fall Camp Report: Day 2

Southern Miss completed day two of fall camp on Thursday, which means starting tomorrow, as Will Hall says, “real football will be played” with pads on. Nevertheless, there is still much data to collect from watching the Golden Eagles with no pads.

“Second day in helmets down, so now we can put pads on, and we are all excited about that.” Southern Miss head coach Will Hall said.

Let’s start with the offense first.

The offense had a very productive day in the team drills, especially the offensive live. The first team offensive line included Briason Mays, John Bolding, Kyron Barnes, Bryce Ramsey, and Gerquan Scott. Obviously, without any pads on, it’s hard to gauge whether they consistently break through with holes for the running backs. But there were several points where that was the case in the 11 on 11 practice periods. After receiving the carry, the offensive line left gaping holes for the running backs to plow through.

When the pads come on, and they start hitting each other, we will have a better feel for whether the offensive line will live up to the standard that they come into the preseason with.

The receivers also flashed well in the first two days of fall camp. Starting first and foremost with Brandon Hayes, whom Hall has said will be an outside receiver, and he has practiced there both days. Hayes made several nice grabs today in practice and a nice one-handed grab yesterday. He has exceptional route-running abilities and is almost a Brownlee type, go up and get the ball receiver. Jakarius Caston and Ty Mims look much faster and quicker on their breaking-off routes in the first few days, and they are nice pieces for any of the quarterbacks to throw to.

Speaking of the quarterbacks, it’s the Holman Edwards and Billy Wiles show so far in camp. No candidate has a clear edge over the other, and both have had nice moments and some ugly moments. It’s important to note that when the seemingly first-team offensive came out with the offensive line mentioned above and Jakarius Caston, Ty Mims, and Latreal Jones, Wiles was out with them for that possession. Granted, Edwards did have some snaps with the first team later in the practice. But in almost every drill, Wiles is first. That may mean nothing, but when there is such a slight separation, you feel there has to be a reason he is up first each time.

Edwards and Wiles both threw an interception today with terrific plays by the defense. But all in all, Hall feels his quarterbacks have thrown the ball well. They also ran some triple option play where each quarterback would threaten the run and throw over the top if the linebackers came down. That seems like a new wrinkle in the Hall offense unless it’s always been there. He just hasn’t been able to use it because he hasn’t had the luxury at QB he has now.

“I thought they threw it well again. It’s good to see when things are open, we are hitting it. Their eyes are there for the most part and it’s really hard versus our defense because our defense disguises well.” Hall said.

As a Southern Miss fan, you want the defense to push these quarterbacks into a tight-knicked battle so that they have experience when they go up against the defenses of the Sun Belt. \

Let’s talk about the defense.

The defense is touted this year to have one of the best front sevens in the league, and the only real question is the secondary. When the first-team offense went out on the field, they were seemingly met by the first-team defense. That included:

DL – Quentin Bivens, Jalen Williams, Kristin Booth,

LB – TQ Newsom, Swayze Boseman, Jalil Clemons

CB – Brendan Toles, Ques McNeal

SAF – Dylan Lawrence, Jay Stanley, Jay Jones

That was the starting defense against what seemed to be the first-team offense. The secondary looked good today, coming up with three interceptions on the quarterbacks. I think Dylan Lawrence is their best get out of the portal outside the quarterbacks. He’s a big 6-3 200-pound safety alongside a 6-2 215-pound Jay Stanley. So, they almost have like two linebackers coming at you playing safety.

“The offensive guys all come him the ‘avatar.’ He looks like it out there. He’s a guys who is going to hit 22 MPH on the GPS. So, a big guy like that at 215 pounds having the ability opposite of Jay Stanley. When you have two guys back there playing safety at 215 pounds, it’s like having linebackers who can run super fast.” Defensive Coordinator Dan O’Brien said.

I am very encouraged by the play of the secondary, but as Hall and everyone has said, “Let’s see what happens when the pads come on.”

That all begins tomorrow.