Hopefully we are done with the dog days of summer and this extreme triple digit weather as we are winding down the major league baseball season and the beginning of football. When I was growing up, the adults told us that the reason they used the phrase "dog days of summer” was that dogs were a bit on the lazy side during the hottest days of the summer. I for one don’t blame the dogs for being lazy during this summer of 2023. Maybe man's best friend has the right idea and we humans need to take care of ourselves.
Quarterback Battles in Mississippi
Mississippi State has record breaking signal caller Will Rogers returning along with Mike Wright. The speedy Wright is a transfer from Vanderbilt who will be more than a capable addition to the Bulldogs' new offense. Up north, Lane Kiffin has a four-way problem for the Rebels offense that most would envy. Junior Jaxson Dart returns as he produced the sixth best offense and tenth best passing season in Ole Miss history in 2022. Dart had better not get too comfortable as Oklahoma State transfer Spencer Sanders, LSU transfer Walker Howard and true freshman Austin Simmons are battling for playing time. Down south in Hattiesburg, Will Hall has three quarterbacks in the hunt in Clemson sophomore Billy Wiles, junior Holman Edwards and freshman Ethan Crawford. Hall was pleased with the trio after this past Saturday’s scrimmage.
Former Jones County Junior College quarterback Stetson Bennett saw his first pro action for the Los Angeles Rams last Saturday night. Bennett had a solid outing in the same stadium where he led the Georgia Bulldogs to their second consecutive championship last January. Bennett passed for 191 yards and a touchdown in a 34-17 loss to the L.A. Chargers.
Brandon native Gardner Minshew is listed as a co-starter with Indianapolis. Minshew and the Colts' first round pick Anthony Richardson from Florida are competing for sole possession of the job. Minshew shined in a loss to Buffalo last Saturday night as he was 6-for-6 passing for 72 yards.
Up north of the border, former Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly has the Toronto Argonauts in first place in the Canadian Football League standings. Kelly has completed 108-of-154 pass attempts for 1,624 yards, nine touchdowns and four interceptions in this CFL season. Kelly also has scored five rushing touchdowns.
Another former Rebel quarterback Matt Corral saw his first action in over a year in Carolina’s shutout loss to the New York Jets. Corral, who missed all the regular season last year as a rookie with an injury, was 15-for-22 for 126 yards and was intercepted and lost a fumble in the contest.
Former Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott sat out the Dallas Cowboys' pre-season loss to Jacksonville as Cooper Rush and Will Grier played in his absence.
New Orleans rookie kicker Blake Grupe kicked a 31-yard field goal as time expired to give the Saints a 26-24 win over the World Champion K.C. Chiefs. Derek Carr made his Saints debut as he threw a touchdown pass and was 6-for-8 for 70 yards. Saints’ backup quarterback Jameis Winston was 11-of-13 for 92 yards and one touchdown while rookie Jake Haener completed 10-of-17 passes for 105 yards and one score. The Saints will play against the Chargers in L.A. this Sunday in their next action.
Fulton native and former MSU two-time All-American golfer Ally Ewing finished sixth in the Women’s British Open this past week.
The Mississippi Braves will host the Biloxi Shuckers Tuesday-Sunday this week at Trustmark Park in Pearl.
Dale has been writing sports in Mississippi since 1973. Listen to Dale and Marshall Wood on the Brouhaha Sports Show each Tuesday at 6 p.m. on WABO FM 105.5 in the Waynesboro area. This week’s guest is Coastal Sports Reporter Hunter Dawkins who will talk about the Saints. To listen to the broadcast on your computer or smart phone anywhere in the world, go to Google Chrome; go to wabo105.com and click listen live. You may also go to The Brouhaha on YouTube and listen to archived shows.
