Our 4 main takeaways from watching Missouri State football's practice on Saturday
With less than two weeks before Missouri State takes the field to play its opener at Kansas, we got our first look at the Bears during their intrasquad scrimmage on Saturday morning.
There were things we liked and things that will need to be addressed in the coming weeks. Both the offense and defense had their moments throughout the practice.
Here were our takeaways along with what head coach Ryan Beard noticed:
Wide receiver departure leaves Missouri State with those it developed
One of the newcomers that Missouri State had expressed some of the most excitement about heading into the season was Western Kentucky transfer wide receiver Craig Burt Jr. — who we've heard was trending toward being the No. 1 receiver on the team. The key word? "Was."
Burt has departed the Missouri State football program in recent days, Beard confirmed. Sources have indicated that Burt could be heading back to Western Kentucky — Beard's alma mater.
More: All of our 2023 Missouri State, high school football preseason coverage in one place
"We have a deep room and departures happen," Beard said. "I'm not worried about it one bit."
That leaves Missouri State with a younger wide receiver room that features one senior in Samford transfer Caleb Durham-Honer. Nearly the entire position will be made up of players the Bears have developed in the program or are transfers who have been with the Bears for the last few seasons.
Raylen Sharpe returns as the top returning receiver following Ty Scott's departure. Sharpe was featured plenty in the starting offense as Nick Petrino's offense found different ways to get him the ball. Hunter Wood and D'Vontae Key were also mainstays with the starters and Terique Owens also getting rotated in.
"They caught the ball and did well at moving the sticks on third down," Beard said. "That's been a point of emphasis that we've had in practices was winning third down and being able to move the sticks and maintain possession. They did a good job at that. We have plenty of talent in the wide-out room and they've been getting better each and every day."
More: The life lessons that prepared Ryan Beard to be Missouri State's 34-year-old head coach
Offensive line was up and down
Beard said another week of evaluation is in store for the Bears' offensive line before it settles on the group that will start at Kansas a week from this upcoming Friday. From what we saw, that week will be needed.
The group struggled in the first half of the practice portion before picking it up in the second. The five on the field as starters were different than the ones that had been teased to us earlier in the offseason when coaches talked to the media as camp was getting going.
More: A look at every team on Missouri State football's schedule heading into the 2023 season
Saturday morning's offensive line featured SMU transfer Danielson Ike as a starting tackle with Grant Goodson on the opposite side. The guards were Cristian Loaiza and Giles Tchio with Hutson Lillibridge snapping the ball.
"I think we're pretty settled but we're still moving pieces here and there just to see who the most cohesive group is," Beard said. "There are obviously some different bodies out there that look different and they play different. They can move the line of scrimmage a little bit but I don't think that is solidified yet either."
Jacob Clark, Jordan Pachot quarterback battle continues on
We believe Beard when he said that there's still a quarterback battle going on right now. After watching Jacob Clark and Jordan Pachot in their scrimmages, it might be a closer race than we thought it would be.
Clark got the majority of the reps with the starting offense, as he has for most of the preseason. He's still the likely favorite as a pro-style quarterback who stands tall in the pocket and takes command of the offense. He had a rough start Saturday with pressure getting to him and holding on to the ball for too long at times. He had an interception on a quick slant in which he threw the ball behind the receiver.
"He came in and had some good drives here and there," Beard said. "He's got to do a good job at getting the ball out. Sometimes in practice when the quarterback's not live, you have a false sense of timing. We're going to do some drills this week in game prep to make sure he understands when he needs to distribute the ball."
More: Here are the quarterbacks competing for Missouri State football's starting job in 2023
Clark bounced back for much of the second half of practice. His best throw came on a deep ball to Sharpe in which he pump faked to one side, getting the safety to bite before throwing it to a wide-open receiver.
Clark's touchdown pass followed a touchdown pass from Pachot in which he threw a deep touchdown pass down the middle of the field while splitting the safeties. The receiver was unknown because he wasn't wearing the right number.
Pachot was solid for the majority of the practice while being more of a scrambler than his competition. He has a better feel for when he needs to extend plays with his legs and his arm is impressive. He might have had the best day but it's important to note that he went against the second-string defense for most of the practice and there's a clear drop-off from the ones to twos.
His best play of the morning might have come on a handoff to which Jacardia Wright ran into a congested line, bounced it out and ran 65 yards for a touchdown. A hustling Pachot helped create the touchdown as he blocked a defensive back about 40 yards down the field.
More: 25 new names for Missouri State football that you need to know for the 2023 season
"He's got a real talent to feel and have vision of when that pressure is coming and be able to do that and then make good throws," Beard said. "He can elude and then make good throws. I like Jordan's attitude.
"Nobody's lost pace of them thinking they're the starter and they're both acting as such."
Another notable change to the Bears' roster is the departure of UMass transfer Chase Brewster is no longer with the team. Brewster had been competing for the starting job but appeared to be a distant third on the depth chart. Former Glendale quarterback Cole Feuerbacher, a true freshman, steps into the third-string spot and he might have the most arm talent of anyone on the roster but is still a raw prospect.
Expect the tight ends to get a lot of use
The biggest change to the offense under Petrino will be the usage of the tight ends. The Bears have multiple and it may be the strength of the entire unit.
Stetson Moore, Gary Clinton and Lance Mason saw plenty of time with the starting unit with a lot of 12 personnel on the field.
Despite all three being on the roster last season, the Bears didn't have the luxury of having them all healthy. Moore was out for nearly the first half of the 2022 season while Clinton was sidelined with a torn ACL. Mason saw more time than he expected as a true freshman but did well in his 10 starts.
"They're one of our strongest groups on the field," Beard said. "All of them have the mental capacity to run our whole package. We can supplement them in and out and keep them fresh. That's a great thing because you don't lose a beat once the other comes in. They've been here a long time and are all really good football players."
Other thoughts from Saturday's practice
There's some good team speed on the defense. The unit overwhelmed the offense throughout the first 50 plays of the scrimmage and on the first drive of the second half with the starting offense.
Darion Smith might be your new favorite player on defense. The dude was a one-man wrecking crew at times throughout the scrimmage which included a pair of sacks on the first drive of the second half.
You came away from the first half saying to yourself "I hope the defense is just that good," with the way the offense performed. You felt a lot better after watching the offense in the second half. No need to overreact to one practice
The kicking situation is worth watching but it might have just been a bad day. Bowling Green transfer Owen Rozanc missed an extra point and a 45-yarder but bounced back later in practice. This was the first practice we've been allowed in the preseason, so he might have just been off for a day.
The depth on defense might be a little bit of a concern. The two defensive ends with the second unit were true freshmen and there was a clear size difference from the first group to the next. There were bright spots from linebacker Steven Ward who also got some rotational spots in with the ones. Caden Wiest looks like he belongs. Offensive line depth is worth watching as well.
Former West Plains standout Connor Lair is going to have a role as a running back this season. The Bears have solid players at the position with Wright along with Celdon Manning, Jakairi Moses and Jayden Becks but Lair is going to be a tough one to keep off the field. He's been an extremely tough runner since he was in high school and he looked good with the ball in his hands. Former Nixa standout Ramone Green Jr. also got some looks with the second string.
Unofficial starters on Saturday morning
Offense
QB - Jacob Clark
RB - Jacardia Wright
WR - Hunter Wood
WR - D'Vontae Key
WR - Raylen Sharpe
TE - Gary Clinton
TE - Stetson Moore
LT - Danielson Ike
LG - Cristian Loaiza
C - Hutson Lillibridge
RG - Giles Tchio
RT - Grant Goodson
Defense
DE - Devin Goree
DT - Armon Wallace
DT - Allen Love
DE - Darion Smith
OLB - Tahj Chambers
MLB - Kanye Young
OLB - Von Young
CB - Avery Powell
CB - Jamal McMurrin
NCB - Dylan Simmons
S - P.J. Hall
S - Todric McGee
Special teams
KR - Jayden Becks
KR - D'Vontae Key
PR - Hunter Wood
P - Grant Burkett
K - Owen Rozanc
Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or X at @WyattWheeler_NL. He's also the host of the weekly "Wyatt's World Podcast" on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other podcasting platforms.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Missouri State football practice takeaways ahead of Kansas opener
