Three up, three down from Mississippi State football spring game (2025)

STARKVILLE —The highest-rated quarterback ever to sign with Mississippi State stepped on the field in front of fans at Davis Wade Stadium for the first time Saturday, and he showed those fans an exciting glimpse of what the future might hold.

In an otherwise lackluster day for the Bulldogs’ offense, KaMario Taylor put on an impressive display, leading the only two scoring drives in MSU’s spring game and throwing the only touchdown pass of the day on the game’s final play. Veteran Blake Shapen is still the Bulldogs’ presumptive starter, but Taylor is making a strong case to beat out Florida State transfer Luke Kromenhoek as the primary backup.

“He’s a physical specimen. He’s a big guy,” Shapen said. “He’s tall, he’s strong, he’s athletic, he can throw the ball a mile. He has every attribute to be a great quarterback, especially at this level. For him, (it’s about) learning the offense, dialing in on the little things within each and every play. That’s been big for him in his growth, but he’s shown a lot, and he’s going to be a great player one day.”

With spring practice now fully in the books, here are three positive and three negative takeaways from Saturday’s spring game, which lasted just two quarters and ended in a 9-0 victory for the White team.

Three up

KaMario Taylor

The true freshman was as advertised, playing for both sides with just two other quarterbacks on the roster. Taylor, from nearby Noxubee County High School, committed to MSU in the fall of 2023 when Zach Arnett was the Bulldogs’ head coach and never wavered from that decision. He completed eight of 13 passes for 124 yards, making arguably his best throw of the day through a tight window to Georgia transfer Anthony Evans III.

On the final series of the game with the clock winding down, Taylor displayed his command of head coach Jeff Lebby’s up-tempo offense, connecting on back-to-back plays with Ole Miss transfer Ayden Williams for first downs. He then threw a deep ball up the right sideline for Sanfrisco Magee, and the redshirt freshman left his feet to make the catch for a 30-yard touchdown.

“KaMario has gotten better every single day,” Lebby said. “The thing that I’m most proud about is he’s a guy who has been incredibly bought in to getting better, spending time in the building, and that’s been a huge piece of it.”

Defensive pressure

MSU understandably wanted to protect its quarterbacks in a glorified scrimmage, so any time a defensive player reached the quarterbacks as they were dropping back or scrambling, the play was ruled dead. Still, after struggling mightily to pressure quarterbacks in 2024, the Bulldogs had success in that regard Saturday — although part of that might be a product of a work-in-progress offensive line.

Tyler Woodard, Joseph Head, Deonte Anderson, Red Hibbler, Raishein Thomas, Tony Mitchell and Josaiah Knight each had a sack. Anderson, Hibbler and Thomas are all linemen, but the most impressive defensive performance belonged to Mitchell, a safety who spent his freshman year in 2023 at Alabama and became the No. 2 ranked junior college player in the country last season at East Mississippi Community College.

Mitchell had two tackles for loss in addition to his sack, stopping Johnnie Daniels on a run play and blowing up a screen pass from Kromenhoek to Evans.

“He’s been doing really good. He’s picking up the position that he’s playing well,” said safety Isaac Smith, who led the Southeastern Conference in tackles last season. “It’s all about growing and trying to stay on the ground, and getting better and not taking any steps back.”

Wide receiver depth

After losing almost every wide receiver who made a meaningful contribution last year, MSU looked to the transfer portal to retool the receiving corps, and many of those new faces looked good Saturday. Williams, who had a nice toe-tapping grab late in the game, finished with four catches for 43 yards. Eastern Michigan transfer Markus Allen had 29 yards on three receptions, and redshirt freshman Ricky Johnson caught four passes for 33 yards.

With Jordan Mosley back to complement the newcomers, the Bulldogs’ wide receivers room could be a strength this fall.

Three down

Offensive line

Lebby has been clear about wanting to add an offensive lineman in the spring portal window, and if Saturday was any indication, he might need to add more than one. With three transfer newcomers along with returners like Luke Work and Jacoby Jackson, MSU struggled in both run blocking and pass protection. None of the running backs could generate much in the way of big plays, and all three quarterbacks faced pressure.

“Being able to dominate up front offensively, that’s not there right now,” Lebby said. “Finding ways to get better between now and the time we get into Hattiesburg (for the season opener at Southern Miss) will be important.”

Luke Kromenhoek

After playing in six games with 84 pass attempts as a freshman at Florida State, Kromenhoek transferred to MSU in December as one of the highest-ranked quarterbacks in the portal. But although he had success on a few scrambles, he struggled to get in sync with his receivers, completing just five of 12 passes for 45 yards.

Kromenhoek did show off the ability to run the ball with the Seminoles, with 11 carries for 71 yards against Miami. Even if he doesn’t play much, the Bulldogs can still find a way to use him in certain packages, similar to Mike Wright’s role in 2023 before Will Rogers’ injury forced him into the starting job.

Field goal kicking

While Ethan Pulliam, who is solely focused on football now after leaving the baseball team, looked good punting the ball, the placekickers were not as strong. Kyle Ferrie has been inconsistent as the starter throughout the last two years, and he missed a 47-yard field goal attempt with nobody rushing him and the wind at his back.

Marlon Hauck put up the first points of the game on a 48-yard field goal, also with the wind on his side. He could challenge Ferrie in summer workouts and fall camp, but Will Wilkinson looks less likely to do so as he was well short on a 40-yarder, albeit into a stiff wind.

Mississippi State Football MSU