Ryan Beard couldn’t help but smile after being asked about the dominance his Missouri State defense showed on Saturday.
For the second-year head coach, who previously served as the Bears’ defensive coordinator in the three seasons before, it was music to his ears. A season after constant questions about the unit’s struggles, Missouri State’s defense showed it may be headed in the other direction.
“I wanted to puke every single day that I watched those first few games last year,” Beard said. “We turned it back on and it was hard to watch. I tell the guys all the time that the best lessons are learned through pain. It’s good to see them getting back to form.”
Unfortunately, in preseason camp, there are offensive struggles when there is defensive dominance. The unit MSU fans thought they wouldn’t have to worry about heading into the Bears’ opener at Montana created a few questions that need to be answered within the next three weeks.
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Missouri State QB Jacob Clark was frustrated at times with offense’s struggles as revamped wide receivers group struggled to get separation
At one point, a clearly frustrated Jacob Clark, the Bears’ starting quarterback, slammed his helmet on the turf after a drive stalled. Later, the offense failed to pick up another third down and he spiked the ball out of bounds.
Clark wasn’t satisfied in his first live-action since returning from shoulder surgery that knocked him out after four games last season.
Most of the time, there wasn’t much open down the field. While that’s a testament to how well the Bears’ secondary played, it still leaves questions about how they reloaded their group that notably lost All-American Raylen Sharpe to the transfer portal and Terique Owens to graduation.
“That can be tough just based on what we’re trying to get on film,” Beard said. “Sometimes, it’s structured. It’s a scrimmage and we want to do that but there’s some planning that goes in on trying to efficiently run the football when we need to not just be throwing the ball down the field. We’ll go back to the film and see who was accelerating after the point of contact and who wasn’t.”
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Dvontae Key was the Bears’ standout receiver while playing with the No. 2s. He figures to rotate in with the starters. Georgia Tech transfer James BlackStrain was with the starters but wasn’t noticeable until making a pair of catches late in the scrimmage. Louisana Monroe transfer Dash Luke also made a few catches with the backups.
Beard thought the starting offense found more of a rhythm in the latter part of practice and saw some things to like about his starter.
“I love seeing Jacob have confidence in the pocket,” Beard said. “Sometimes you have concerns after taking an injury like that but he stood in there and made some good throws.”
Dallas Winner-Johnson is separating himself as a starting linebacker
Missouri State entered camp needing two new starters at linebacker and it now appears to be down to one.
Redshirt freshman Dallas Winner-Johnson might have been the biggest standout during Saturday’s practice while filling one of the starting linebacker roles. The former Cardinal Ritter star flew and made plays all over the field with an impressive 6-foot-5, 230-pound frame.
“He looks like a freak out there, doesn’t he?” Beard said. “I tell him all the time that if someone’s able to throw over his 12-foot wingspan, something’s wrong.”
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Beard attended Winner-Johnson’s state championship win over Caden Wiest and Reeds Spring in 2022 and noticed how well the linebacker moves laterally, gets downhill and plays the run. It’s translated over to the college ranks after a season on the sideline.
“You’re going to see some young, knucklehead mistakes sometimes,” Beard said. “But he’s really gotten into the playbook and is becoming a full player.”
Penn State transfer Davon Townley Jr. is different than anyone Missouri State football has had off the edge in years
In recent history, Missouri State football hasn’t added a player to its defensive line who looks anything quite like Davon Townley Jr.
The Penn State transfer defensive end looked like a grown man among the typical college athletes you typically see in Missouri State uniforms. At 6-foot-6, 275 pounds, Townley looks every bit like the four-star prospect he was touted to be out of high school.
“He looks the part,” Beard said. “He’s a fun guy to watch. When he walks through the door, you take a second look because you’re like ‘Oh, that’s a giant human being and he can play.’ He’s active, he plays fast and he’s a nasty cat.”
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Townley still appears to have a lot of room to grow. He’s massive but there are a few technique things in his game and you’d like to see him come off the ball quicker. It’s noted that he’s a raw prospect, having been solely a basketball player early in his high school career before picking up football.
“He excels in situations when he can just flat out get after the quarterback with his natural rush ability,” Beard said. “He’s got to understand the defense and play first and second down and understand the fits. I think (defensive coordinator L.D. Scott) will get him to the film room on that.”
The hype around Missouri State football’s offensive line should be taken down a few notches
Missouri State’s entire offensive line from the final game of last season is back and it took some strides late in the season. Saturday’s scrimmage reminded us to tamper down the expectations for the group as the opposing defensive line found itself in the backfield seemingly more often than not.
Grant Goodson, notably, took reps as the Bears’ starting right tackle with Ja’Veo Toliver running with the second unit, a change when there didn’t figure to be too much competition. Cash Hutson, another starter, limped off the field at one point after a small scuffle that required Beard to break it up.
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It wasn’t the best day for the offensive line as it allowed a lot of pressure while Clark struggled to find open receivers. On the ground, Jacardia Wright broke away for a few longer runs later in practice.
Brock Bagozzi had ups and downs as QB2, no clear favorite at starting kicker
Backup quarterback was the most important position on last year’s roster. Brock Bagozzi, a Marist transfer, now fills that role and he had some ups-and-downs.
Bagozzi often looks to make the bigger plays instead of making a throw for easy yards. That benefited him at times and also turned into an interception on a throw across his body. He found a rhythm late with Key, hitting more throws down the field than Clark did on the day.
As for the battle at kicker? There wasn’t enough kicking shown to come to a conclusion. Michigan State transfer Yousef Obeid had the cleanest kick off his foot, knocking in a 37-yarder with ease.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Missouri state football: Takeaways from scrimmage: Defense dominant
