Three takeaways from Mississippi State's first preseason scrimmage

He also has a fun personality, relative to some of his teammates’ press conferences.

The only specific play that has been mentioned and/or shown from the scrimmage was Jones’s 40-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown.

There are a lot of things to like about Jones and don’t be surprised if he ends the season on an All-SEC team (or higher).

New look in trenches receives mixed reviews

As correctly predicted, we did not learn who the first-team offensive or defensive lines were. Lebby did talk about both units afterwards and not in the same way.

Lebby had mostly good things to say about the defensive line, referring to a “good core group of guys” and having the ability to play “10 or 11 guys” on the defensive line.

“I think the best part about what's going on the defensive line right now is we're going to really have the ability to go play 10, 11 guys and play winning football with 10 or 11 guys,” Lebby said.

However, what Lebby said about the offensive line, when compared to the defensive line comments, might be a reason to have some concern.

“We've got again on the offensive line, we've got to come together as a unit,” Lebby said. “Who are the top eight guys, top seven guys that can go play winning football throughout the season for us and that's probably the biggest strain for us offensively right now.”

It’s not an indictment on the offensive line. In fact, what Lebby said wasn’t negative. But when compared to his comments about the defensive line, there’s some kind of significant difference between the two units.

Offensive turnovers a new problem

Mississippi State committed just 18 turnovers last season, which was less than the turnovers Georgia, Alabama and Texas to name a few and only two more than national champion Ohio State.

So far, in preseason camp, turnovers haven’t been a highly discussed topic of concern. It will be now.

Turnovers were an issue for the offense in Sunday’s scrimmage, according to Lebby.

“The frustrating thing offensively was not taking care of the ball,” Lebby said. “Turnovers were the storyline today.”

So far there hasn’t been a lot of highlights of scrimmage, so it’s unclear if the turnovers were fumbles or interceptions. The one highlight that has been posted is of a 40-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown by Kelley Jones.

However, it doesn’t really matter if there were more fumbles or interceptions. With all of the problems the Bulldogs have to overcome from last season, adding a new one like turnovers isn’t good.

Final Thoughts

Without having seen the scrimmage first-hand, it’s hard to walk away from Sunday’s scrimmage with any definitive takeaways.

It’s good to hear the defense is playing well and somewhat concerning that turnovers were a problem. Luckily, that’s a problem that can be corrected.

The big question is this: was the defense good because it’s good or was it good because the offense isn’t?