The MSU football team was back in the confines of Spartan Stadium on Saturday, running exactly 100 plays as part of its open spring practice in front of an estimated 4,500 fans.
MSU head coach John L. Smith said he had been pleased with practices during last week, but the scrimmage did not reflect that.
"I was disappointed, not overall disappointed," Smith said. "We made some great strides during the last week. We just have to show a greater sense of urgency today. We didn't get better (Saturday)."
Junior quarterback Drew Stanton led the first-team offense for just 13 snaps, completing 5-of-8 passes for 126 yards, including an 11-yard touchdown pass to senior tight end Ryan Woods.
Smith knows that with Stanton in, the Spartans will be effective offensively but was not so pleased with their performance minus Stanton.
"When he was in there, we moved the ball," Smith said. "When he wasn't in there, we struggled."
Although he didn't get a lot of snaps, Stanton said he had to perform well with what he was given.
"I try to make the most of when I'm in there and stay focused and be as perfect as possible while I'm in there," Stanton said.
Senior wide receiver Kyle Brown continued his solid performance in spring practice, catching five passes for 141 yards and a touchdown.
"To have the public out there watching us in the stadium - it felt good to get out there," he said.
The Spartans were flagged eight times for 65 yards in penalties in the scrimmage, which featured 55 passing plays and 45 running plays.
Sophomore quarterback Stephen Reaves finished the scrimmage 12-of-24 with 163 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Sophomore running back Jehuu Caulcrick and senior running back Jason Teague each had solid days on the ground. Caulcrick rushed 13 times for 72 yards, and Teague rushed nine times for 45 yards.
"I've been real pleased with Teague," Smith said. "He works hard every day, and so he gets better.
"Every day it's important to him. Every play is important to him, and he showed something today."
The Spartans conclude spring practice Friday. MSU's season opener is Sept. 3, when Kent State visits Spartan Stadium.
Quarterback scramble
Although Stanton has the starting quarterback position secure, the battle for backup continued Saturday.
And Smith wasn't too happy with the production of the other three quarterbacks.
"You almost start thinking, you've given enough snaps to Reaves and enough snaps to (Brian) Hoyer, and maybe we're going to give them all to (Domenic) Natale at this point," Smith said.
"That's how disgusted I am."
So if he had to pick which one of the three is ahead at this point, who would it be?
"They're all behind," Smith said. "No one is stepping up to take the role of who's going to be his backup, and that's a concern right now."
For the kids
Before Saturday's open scrimmage at Spartan Stadium, the Spartans held a football clinic for nearly 600 children. The clinic taught the children the fundamentals of football and also allowed them a chance to meet their favorite Spartans.
Smith said that although he was happy about how his team interacted with the kids before the scrimmage, they might have forgotten who they were playing with come practice time.
"After you watch those guys take care of the 600 little kids that we had out there this morning, you gotta be proud of them," Smith said.
"But we kind of played like we were still out playing with the kids when we went over to scrimmage."
