The annual Black and Gold scrimmage was full of intense energy that left all the fans at The Rock Saturday morning eager for the 2022 season.
After a 3-9 season in 2021, the Golden Eagles look to make improvements in almost every area of the team.
Head Coach Will Hall was very happy with how his players competed during the scrimmage and throughout spring practices, and he noticed many players growing from the time spent working.
“We’re not a finished product, y’all know that,” Hall said. “Our roster is in a much more healthy situation, we’ll be in the 80s scholarship wise, and we will be young, but the Eagles are coming.”
Health has been a major problem for the Golden Eagles in which it altered many outcomes in the 2021 season, especially the quarterback room.
One of Coach Hall’s primary focuses of the offseason was establishing its new strength and conditioning program for their athletes.
“You can see the difference now that we’ve been in our strength program for a year now,” Hall said. “You’ve really seen a growth in Ty (Keyes) since spring break and I thought everyone saw that today.”
The entire Golden Eagles’ quarterback room showed a lot of accuracy and poise, but freshman Ty Keyes shined the most and proved he is one of the true leaders of this team.
“He’s always been super talented, but now he’s just starting to get it,” Hall said. “He’s starting to take over and he had a phenomenal spring. Zach Wilcke is a young guy who’s going to be a great player too. You saw the talent flash today.”
Keyes attributes his great play in practice and in the scrimmage to his great connections within the wide receiver room.
“Our chemistry is greatness… just with everybody really,” Keyes said. “Everybody is just coming in everyday trying to get better.”
Keyes also believe that the more comfortable he is in the system, the better the results will be.
“Last year I was kind of thrown into the fire, but that is for every freshman, they have to come in and compete,” Keyes said. “This year I feel like I am ready for everything they want to call and I am just ready.”
Another great sign for the Golden Eagles was its depth on the defensive side of the ball.
Southern Miss showed many flashes of a great defense last year, but once again, injuries played a major role in inconsistency to the latter half of the season.
Hall gave credit to Defensive Coordinator Austin Armstrong in how well prepared their players are on the defensive side of the ball.
Also, he indicated an obvious size difference from last year in its defensive line, along with a gritter attitude.
This goes for the offensive line as well, and Hall expressed how much he has noticed the group improve over spring practice.
“We continue to improve on the o-line,” Hall said. “[I] can’t speak enough of the impact Sam Gregg has had within our whole football program, and he should, [because] he’s one of the most highly sought out O-Line coaches in America.”
Southern Miss football can now look forward to its summer practices to keep establishing the culture that the program wants to carry into the 2022 season.
The Golden Eagles open the 2022 season against Liberty on September 3 at The Rock. Southern Miss will then make its Sun Belt Conference debut in a road game against the Troy Trojans on October 8.
