QB Donovan Dickerson takes the snap during Bears' final scrimmage on Saturday.
BALTIMORE, Md. -- With the opening kickoff of the college football season just around the corner, 10th-year coach Donald Hill-Eley and his Morgan State football squad have been working hard in practices and scrimmages.
“For the most part it's been a very competitive camp, and that's what you want,” Hill said after the Bears' 60-play scrimmage, which took place in Hughes Stadium.
“I thought the offense moved the ball well and the defense did a great job of creating minus yardage. I also thought the special teams unit looked sound. We just need to continue to work hard and look at the film and make whatever corrections we need to make.”
One of the players receiving much attention in the past week of fall camp has been sophomore quarterback Donovan Dickerson. In the Bears' third and final scrimmage of fall camp on Thursday, Dickerson was 9-of-13 through the air for 140 yards, including two touchdown passes.
“We would like Donovan to get a little more consistency in running the offense,” said offensive coordinator B.T. Sherman. “He's a talented young quarterback who will improve with maturity.”
Dickerson has continued to work hard in practices and it's showing on the field.
The offensive performance in Thursday's scrimmage was highlighted by a 3-play, 60-yard scoring drive, which was capped off with a 45-yard touchdown pass from Dickerson to redshirt-junior wide receiver Tyrone Hendrix. Dickerson also connected with senior wideout Winfred Diggs for a 24-yard touchdown.
Diggs and the rest of MSU's receiving corps looks like they will be a load for opponents to deal with this season.
“Our receivers definitely have talent this year, Hendrix, along with seniors Diggs, Andre Nelson, Lamont Bryant and sophomores Chuka Okakpu and Chris Flowers are exceptional athletes,” Sherman said. “We have a lot of speed and want to stretch the field this year.”
The running game was also very effective for the Bears' offensive attack, led by senior tailback Jourdan Brooks. Brooks led all rushers with 40 yards from scrimmage and scored on a two-point conversion.
Defensively, the Bears collected eight sacks and sophomore cornerback Joe Rankin collected two interceptions.
“I think we did a good job of working on out craft today,” said Rankin. “Today's scrimmage was just about getting better and fine-tuning the areas we need to work on. Everyday in practice the DBs and WRs are going at it like pit bulls, so that when it comes to gametime we'll be ready to execute.”
Defensive coordinator Alonzo Lee talked spoke about the scrimmage.
“We had quite a few things that we still have to work on, but we have a week ahead of us to start getting ready. We're really just working on us 'right' now. We're running around the ball; we're being physical and there's no doubt about our assignments. Our young men are starting to understand the entire package, and that's the biggest key."
"We had quite a few things to be positive about," said Lee. "We had some big plays, some interceptions and the secondary is starting to come together and is playing solid. We have a bright future, we just have to still keep climbing.”
Now that all the extensive fall scrimmages are over, the team will continue to practice and try to tune up some of the weak spots in its game with just 9 days standing before the season kicks off against Towson on Sept. 3.
