Bearcats hold first fall scrimmage

Northwest Missouri State University had its first football scrimmage Thursday night. Head coach Adam Dorrel was on hand to provide his thoughts following the scrimmage.

On quarterbacks getting snaps:

“We had four active groups-1s, 2s, 3s, and 4s- and they all got 20 or 22 reps. It was all very organized and very planned out as far as trying to build our conditioning into next week’s scrimmage. It was kind of like a preseason game tonight, you try and get a quarter of football, maybe a little over. Next week, we’ll work into a half or a little over. I feel real good about our conditioning right now. That’s a testament to (Strength and Conditioning coach) Joe Quinlin and his folks. Talking to the guys tonight, they feel really good as to where they’re at.”

On which side (offense or defense) won tonight:

“I don’t think I can answer that without watching film. I thought both sides did some really good things. Defensively, I thought we did a real good job of stopping the run tonight and we didn’t blow a lot of coverages. I thought they got a pretty good pass rush. Offensively I thought we got some big plays tonight. I think we need to have more consistency in our run game. We didn’t turn the ball over a lot tonight. I think we had one turnover tonight in 80 snaps Seeing Simon (Mathiesen) kick the long field goals he kicked tonight was a very positive sign.”

On the backup quarterback race:

“Every position is tight and that’s not just coach talk. There’s a ton of spots right now that are very competitive. Tonight is big. This was more than a practice. We grade everything and tonight is more like a triple grade. Everything tonight was either triple plus or triple minus. We treated tonight like a game.”

On the what the coaching staff learned:

“I think our quarterback and receivers showed good timing and rhythm. I saw some young kids on the defensive line play at a little higher level than they had been in practice. I thought we tackled well for the first scrimmage of the season. There’s a lot to build on and a lot to be positive with.”

On what he would like to see before the first game in two weeks:

“We need a lot more consistency in all phases. We have to have more depth than what we have right now. We have some guys that are doing some good things, but they’re inconsistent. They’re some of the young guys and it’s just about getting them reps.”