By Joe Galbraith
MSU Sports Information

STARKVILLE – Head Football Coach Sylvester Croom sent his charges through the first of three scheduled two-a-day practices here on Friday, and the head coach came away pleased with the results.

 “The concentration in practice has been really good,” Croom said after the second practice of the day.

 The day began with a solid two hour and 15 minute workout on the Holliman Center Practice Fields that left head coach Sylvester Croom praising almost every aspect of his team. Almost.

 “We had good work this morning except for one period, third-and-one period, the defense was really poor at that this morning,” Croom said. “We’ve got to get a lot better at that.”

 Other than that 12-minute stretch, the head coach was generally pleased with his team’s execution – especially on the offensive side of the ball.

 “We threw the ball better today,” Croom said. “Wes (Carroll) was better and we had better tempo offensively.”

 But that praise for the quarterback and the passing game waned after a two-hour session in the Palmeiro Center.

 “We had too many tips and overthrows by the quarterbacks,” Croom said. “Our location of passes was not as good as it has been. We’ve shown much better accuracy than we did this afternoon.”

 Despite not having as many easily catchable balls tossed their way, the receivers continued to impress in the afternoon.

 “Aubrey Bell had a good day,” the head coach said. “Jamayel Smith and Co-Eric Riley continue to practice very well. Those three will play well for us this year if they continue to practice like that.”

 After the evening practice, Croom announced the one-game suspensions of senior defensive back Derek Pegues and sophomore linebacker Karlin Brown. Both will serve the one-game penalty for violation of the university’s academic attendance policy.