Saturday offered fans the first look at SMU in year two under Chad Morris. SMU’s spring practices started nearly three weeks ago, but Saturday marked the first real scrimmage, where the coaches created a game-like situation.
“This was our first day of really bearing down on these guys and trying to strain them a little bit. We ran about 130-140 play scrimmage,” Morris said.
Morris has stressed all spring that every spot is open, but he focused on the quarterback battle on Saturday. While Matt Davis was SMU’s primary quarterback in 2015, he is not confirmed as the starter for 2016. Davis, redshirt freshman Ben Hicks or redshirt sophomore Darrell Colbert won’t truly earn the job for a while.
“We’ve got a healthy battle at quarterback right now,” Morris said. “We probably won’t name a starter until probably right before (the opener) against North Texas).”
Davis combined for 26 passing and rushing touchdowns last year, starting all but one game. He’s the only quarterback on the roster to start a college game.
SMU’s quarterback battle isn’t happening because the team lost its starter from the previous year. Rather, it’s more about pushing an experienced quarterback to improve and show consistency while giving younger players every chance to win the job. With a lot of time until the first game, Morris is looking for sustained consistency.
“At the quarterback position, you can’t have an emotional high or low. You want that even personality. When things are going well, you aren’t too high, and when things are going badly, you aren’t real low.”
Davis’ dual-threat abilities fit Morris’ up-tempo spread offense. Even in spreads, a consistent passing game is important. In the last six games of 2015, Davis threw 5 touchdowns and 5 interceptions while completing 47 percent of his passes. He threw 11 touchdowns and 2 picks with a 60 percent completion rate in his first six.
“Matt is a great runner and has an ability to keep plays alive with his feet,” Morris said last week. “You want him to be able to settle down in the pocket and become more of a pass threat. You want a pass-first threat. Early in the year, I think he was that.”
Davis took the first snaps of the day, and per Morris, looked the most consistent. Hicks overcame a shaky start than included five straight misses and an interception to make some good decisions and throws toward the end. He found redshirt freshman Alex Honey on a slant in the red zone for a touchdown.
“Today, probably Matt (was most consistent), I thought Matt had a good day today,” Morris said. “But it’s a day-to-day deal. There’s not one guy who’s won the whole week.”
Defensively, SMU is working toward establishing depth. With a defensive-heavy signing class set to arrive this summer, some of that depth isn’t present right now. When the 2016 signing class does arrive, Morris expects to give them all a chance to compete, especially on defense.
“Our secondary is an area that’s consistently inconsistent right now. I definitely think in our secondary, on our defensive line, you’ll see guys pushing each other,” Morris said.
“We understand that with our young guys coming in, this football team is going to look different in August.”
