Mark Edwards: Jax State's spring game puts Creel's right arm on display
JACKSONVILLE — College spring football games usually reveal as much as pedestrians in Canada in the dead of winter, and Jacksonville State's spring scrimmage Thursday wasn't much different.
Like pretty much every college team in the country, the Gamecocks ran a vanilla offense against a vanilla defense. The team wearing white jerseys won 17-13 over the team wearing black shirts, if that means anything to you.
The Black team drove deep into White territory in the closing minute, but a Caleb Nix interception clinched the win, setting off a celebration, mostly because the winning team will receive steak for dinner, while the losers get beanie weenies.
Still, vanilla is fun, too, when you get back to basics, it's all about the athletes. You get to see who's ready to play after a full spring of practices.
At quarterback, rising junior Caden Creel showed he's improved in one aspect of his game: his deep ball is better.
He and redshirt freshman Kayden Mitchell handled the White squad, and both got plenty of work. Creel tossed a 74-yard scoring pass to Darius Cannon and a 55-yarder to Bryson Roullier.
For the Black team, redshirt freshman Jack Moran had the good luck to land on the same squad as Deondre Johnson, and the pair hooked up for a 64-yard touchdown pass.
Those deep passes accounted for the Gamecocks’ three touchdowns on the day. Conor Donaghy kicked a pair of field goals for the Black squad, and Cleat Forrest of Alexandria made a 42-yarder for the White team.
Creel started the final nine games last season, and while he showed a knack for running, his passing game wasn't as polished.
He threw for more than 1,500 yards and scrambled for about 1,000. For him to continue progressing behind center, it seems clear he needed to throw the ball better.
He did that Thursday, even though the rules for the game essentially took away his ability to run.
The quarterbacks were ruled down simply by a defender touching them, and that's much easier than trying to tackle the elusive Creel.
Moran throws the ball well, as he showed at times Thursday. When last season ended, my biggest question for the spring was whether Creel could hold off the freshman and his accurate right arm.
For now, Creel looks like he has done what he needed to do to keep a firm lock on the starting job.
In addition, he's established himself as an even stronger leader. After the game, Charles Kelly raved about the leadership Creel has shown. From what the coach is saying, Creel has gone from a solid manager to the type of leader Jax State needs.
That's important to Kelly, who said, "A good manager creates followers, but a leader creates other leaders."
As running back, Jax State suffered a huge loss when Cam Cook — the nation's leader in rushing yards last season — transferred to West Virginia. That leaves a lot of carries on the table for the guys who returned.
My choice for the starter for the season opener this fall is Khristian Lando. Spring games aren't easy on running backs, because you're dividing the offensive line in two, and the defense knows you aren't going to run anything fancy.
Still, Lando looks athletic and confident. He should be a good pass-catcher out of the backfield.
Justus Savage, a sophomore, will get carries. Jalen Likely could figure in the action, and Andrew Paul has proven himself as a good short-yardage runner.
Still, I'm betting on Lando.
I'm betting on Creel, too.
And if the line gets rebuilt as it should, there's no reason Jax State shouldn't compete for a CUSA championship again.
