All eyes were on the quarterback during the Orange v. White scrimmage.
Junior quarterback Jeremiah Briscoe took all of the attention and flourished in an offensive battle during the spring game Friday night.
Briscoe made some accurate throws Friday night where he went 14 of 22 for 167 yards and led the high powered offense to a 65-46 win. His longest drive was the 65 yard eight play series to end it with a nine-yard TD run during the first possession.
“You could see Jeremiah is just getting better and better,” Head Coach K.C. Keeler said. “He had a great spring. All in all it’s been a really good spring.”
Last season, Sam Houston State University led the NCAA Division I FCS offenses with 531.7 yards per game and placed fifth nationally in scoring offense, 41.1.
SHSU only finished ninth in rushing offense, 254.5 yards per game.
The Bearkats definitely want to see who will step up and be that dominant running back like the previous years.
Sophomore running back Remus Bulmer led the Kats in rushing with 12 carries for 57 yards and two touchdowns.
“It’s amazing how much better you get from season to season,” Briscoe said. “Friday night we held out some of our top running backs and receivers and still kept rolling.”
The future looks to be in safe hands because freshman “green shirt” quarterback Caleb Griffin went seven of 12 for 66 yards.
He also threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Jordan Ingram that was wide open on a wobbly throw.
“Jeremiah really was on target,” Keeler said. “Caleb is really accurate also, so he bodes well in this offense.”
The receiver positon was the one of the questions for the off-season. The offense looked sharp in a game where there were a lot of dropped balls but positon changes helped the athletes get the most out of their positions.
“Briscoe is the man,” freshman cornerback Jalen Campbell said. “He had a good scrimmage and as a team we’re looking forward to him leading us into the fall.”
Briscoe’s touch on his passes seemed to be in mid-season shape. He completed his first nine throws, including a throw that was dropped by freshman receiver Daniel Adams where he was bumped into a defender right before the catch attempt with no penalty.
“With me being a redshirt freshman and getting to step on the field for the first time, I was a little bit nervous,” Adams said. “I got moved to wide receiver during the fall and had to learn the offense this spring. I had two catches for about 20 yards, but that being said I still have some things to work on.”
The spring game showed SHSU where they are at as a team and what they need to work on before the fall camp.
“Offseason we plan on hitting it hard in the weight room and on the field,” Campbell said. “As a defense we’re going to have to make sure we all know our jobs like the back of our hand.”
The leadership and coach’s decisions are the strengths of the team thus far.
“This year I’ve noticed no one on the team is scared to speak up,” Campbell said. “We are working hard on leading each other and come the season we should be ready to go.”
