Little things bother "Stec" in Bears' second scrimmage
Lyndal Scranton
News-Leader
Missouri State football coach Dave Steckel said "little things" bothered him during the Bears' second spring scrimmage on a wet Thursday morning at Plaster Stadium.
Steckel pointed to penalties that negated two touchdowns as particularly aggravating.
"That comes back to discipline," Steckel said. "We had four penalties in the scrimmage and two scores got called back. I'm glad the officials are out here helping us and getting that corrected."
Players failing to hustle on and off the field was another thing that had "Stec" shaking his head.
"There's the attention-to-detail things where you should be able to take it to the next level," Steckel said. "You take biology 101, then 201 and 301. Well, I'm disappointed that we're still at 101.
"I think they're trying to learn the playbook and learn what we're doing," he added.
The running game did some good things. Senior Ryan Heaston rushed for 87 yards on 12 carries with sophomore Calan Crowder getting 75 yards on seven attempts.
Quarterbacks Brodie Lambert, Breck Ruddick and Alex Lawson all completed at least seven passes for 80 or more yards. Lambert, a junior, completed 12 of 16 with junior LaMarcus Stewart making four receptions for 47 yards, including a 47-yarder from Lawson.
Senior receiver Maddy Johnson said that offense is making strides through the process of learning a new playbook.
"It was hard at the beginning," Johnson said of the terminology. "You either figure it out or they swap you out.
"Each day we're getting better and better and more comfortable. It all starts up front. The offensive line is doing its thing, the quarterbacks are getting us the ball and the running backs are running hard."
On the defensive side, senior linebacker Christian Hoffman said finishing spring practice next week with momentum – and fixing the little things that Steckel pointed to – will be key.
The Bears have three practices ahead of the Maroon and White game at noon on April 11.
"We're working harder than we ever have," Hoffman said. "We're going in a good direction and we're going to chase perfection, continuously."