TSU Tiger Camp 2018: Day 16 - Second Scrimmage

PHOTO GALLERY

Scrimmage #2
Venue: William J. Hale Stadium
Weather: Partly Sunny, 82
Total Plays: 100

NASHVILLE, Tennessee -- Tennessee State participated in its final scrimmage before the start of classes on Monday. The Tigers once again opened with a 7-on-7 session before engaging in a 100 play scrimmage.

The defense was solid on the day, but the offense scored three touchdowns and three field goals on the day. Transfer quarterback Demry Croft took 46 snaps and tossed a pair of touchdown passes, while Micheal Hughes worked 21 and produced a scoring pass. Cameron Rosendahl was held out of the end zone during his 34 plays after recording the only touchdown in the first scrimmage.

Both Croft and Hughes closed out their second drives with scoring passes. Croft teamed with Chris Rowland for a 15 yard touchdown, Hughes connected on a 33-yarder to Sabree Curtis, Jr. Croft added a six yard scoring pass to Al-Malik Moore to conclude a 14 play drive.

TOTALS

• Rushing: 36 carries for 106 yards
• Passing: 25-of-45 for 303 yards
• Touchdowns: Three
• Sacks: Five
• Ian Martin tallied two, while Dell Porter, Mekhi Brown and Landon Brazile recorded a sack
• Dajour Nesbeth forced a  fumble
• Lawrence Segree II and Shawn McColley recovered fumbles

THE SCRIMMAGE

• Dell Porter secured a sack to force a three-and-out on the offenses first series.
• On the second drive of the scrimmage, Mekhi Brown sacked Demry Croft to set up a third and 15.
• Croft kept the drive alive by escaping the pass rush and finding Malik Abdul-Haqq down the sideline for a 49 yard completion.
• Two plays later, Croft hooked up with Chris Rowland on a 15 yard touchdown to open the scoring.
• Micheal Hughes took to the field and suffered the same results as Croft’s first series.
• Landon Brazil forced Hughes to get rid of the ball early to get the defense off the field in three plays.
• Hughes responded on his second drive by moving the offense down the field for a score.
• Hughes, Earl Harrison and Seth Rowland each reeled off eight run runs to put the Tigers one yard shy of midfield.
• Hughes delivered on a third and long, finding Chris Rowland across the middle for a 12 yard gain and a first down.
• Two plays later, Sabree Curtis took a Hughes pass at the 30 and outran defenders to the goal line for a 33 yard score.
• The Big Blue took a break from the scrimmage to run a pair of “coming out” scenarios – where the offense starts on their own three yard line and tries to produce a first down.
• The defense forced a three-and-out in the first set.
• On the second set, Hughes hit Abdul-Haqq for an 11 yard gain to gain the first down.
• The defense stood tall once again as the scrimmage resumed, as Josh Green broke up a pass attempt on third down to produce a three-and-out.
• On the next series, Croft once again kept a drive alive by teaming with Chris Rowland for 15 yards on a third and 15, moving to the defense’s 20.
• Seven plays later, Croft found redshirt-freshman Al-Malik Moore in the back corner of the end zone for a six yard touchdown.
• The scrimmage was followed by a Red Zone drill, a 4-minute series and a 2-Minute Offense series.

RED ZONE DRILL (Quarterbacks: Micheal Hughes and Cameron Rosendahl)

• The defense held the offense to a field goal on each of the two attempts.
• Hughes moved the Tigers to the eight on the first play, as Chris Rowland hauled in a 17 yard reception.
• The offense could not cross the goal line and settled for a 23 yard field goal by freshman kicker Kaleb Mosley.
• Cameron Rosnedahl started his series with a six yard completion to Lawrence Segree II, moving inside the 20.
• Redshirt sophomore Ian Martin would break through the line and set the offense back six yards with a sack of Rosendahl.
• Freshman kicker Antonio Zita split the uprights from 37 yards out.

TWO MINUTE DRILL

• Croft threw a three yard pass to Chris Rowland on a fourth and two to get a new set of downs, but the clock ran out as Mekhi Brown sacked Croft.
• Rosendahl moved the offense across midfield with completions to Josh Trueheart for 13 yards and Major Bellamy, Jr. for another 16.
• Rosendahl would team up with the duo again to move the offense to the five to set up a last second field goal.
• Trueheart, a redshirt freshman tight end, pulled in a Rosendahl pass and made his way down the field for 19 yards before getting out of bunds to stop the clock.
• Bellamy, a junior transfer, took a Rosndahl pass for 20 yards to the five on the final play before the attempt.
• Zita made the 22 yard attempt with no time remaining on the clock to cap off a 12 play drive.

OFFENSE

• Junior transfer Demry Croft finished 11-of-20 for 131 yards with two touchdowns.
• Redshirt junior Michael Hughes was 9-for-14 for 94 yards and a touchdown.
• Junior transfer Cameron Rosendahl completed 5-of-11 passes for 78 yards.
• Seth Rowland led all rushers with 22 yards on three carries.
• The offense shared the rushing attempts amongst 12 runners.
• Chris Rowland led all receivers with eight receptions and 78 yards.
• The quarterbacks used nine different receivers throughout the scrimmage.
• Malik Abdul-Haqq amassed 67 yards on three catches, while Steven Newbold caught a pair of 22 yard passes.

DEFENSE

• Jeremy Patterson, Christion Abercrombie, Ronnie Killings and Vincent Sellers all garnered five tackles.
• John Robinson IV, Terry Straughter and Nick Harper, Jr. each made four stops.
• Robinson and Josh Green had pass breakups, while Dwayne Johnson had a pass deflection.
• Landon Brazile picked up a quarterback hurry.

UPCOMING EVENTS

• The Senior Kickoff Luncheon is set for Fri., August 24
• Fan day will be held on Sat., August 25
• Mock Game is set for the evening of Sat., August 25
• Tennessee State will face Bethune-Cookman in the John Merritt Classic on Sat., September 1

Redshirt Sophomore Defensive Tackle Ian Martin- On the last scrimmage of camp
“To be honest, I was glad to get it over with. Both offense and defense came out, did our job and we got better today.”

- On the highlight of the scrimmage
“I would have to say when Coach Reed gave us that pass interference penalty on the two-minute drill. The defense came together and succeeded.”

- On improvements up to today’s scrimmage 
“Coach Nick (Davison) told me how to read my keys. I play multiple spots, so I have to play differently at each position, and Coach Nick taught me a lot.”

- On defensive leadership
“It starts with Coach Nick (Davison), then the upper classmen. We’re all one.”

Junior Running Back Te'kendrick Roberson- On the last scrimmage of camp
“In the scrimmage today, coach tried to put us in a lot of situations to get ready for the first game. We’re trying to put ourselves in different situations for the last scrimmage.”

- On offense’s performance
“I felt like the offense did well today. We moved the ball down the field and scored the first two drives. Basically, we’re just working on stuff getting ready for the first game.”

- On individual improvements made during camp
“Basically just getting my shoulders square, knowing the plays and working on my hands.”

- On offensive leadership
“We have a lot of leadership like T. (Thomas) Burton, (Steven) Newbold and the rest of the boys. They’ve been here multiple years, so they know what it takes to win games, and know what happened in the past years that made us lose games, so we listen to them.”

- On goal for game versus Bethune-Cookman
“We’re just trying to set examples for the first game and show the OVC we’re better than sixth.”