Looking for clarity, or even just an inkling where the competition to be the backup to quarterback Derek Carr might be headed, Fresno State football coach Tim DeRuyter got only clouds.

The offense on Monday scuffled through the first scrimmage of the spring, which was muddled by an injury to backup center Patrick Kim in an individual drill before the scrimmage went live, some poor line play and a lack of competitiveness that impacted the Bulldogs' play throughout.

"I just thought mentality-wise, our defense came to play, especially up front, and our offense didn't, by and large," DeRuyter said. "That's not everybody, but clearly there were too many guys on the offensive side that didn't come out and compete today."

The quarterbacks were part and a party to that, the first two scoring drives amounting to single plays. On the first, backup running back Daryl Cash picked up a snap from center Travis Harvey that rolled into the backfield and sprinted 60 yards for a touchdown. On the second, quarterback Brian Burrell hit Davante Adams in the left flat and the wideout put a wicked stiff arm on the cornerback and raced 35 yards down the sideline and into the end zone.

Running back T.J. Thomas later scored on a short run to cap a seven-play drive led by quarterback Marcus McDade, but the Bulldogs have a few issues to sort out.

The offense gave up eight sacks and 15 tackles for loss, and McDade hit 6 of 11 throws for 37 yards and one interception, Myles Carr was 6 of 11 for 15 yards with an interception and Burrell was 3 of 11 for 71 yards, most of it coming on the touchdown catch and run by Adams.

"It was popcorn -- one or two plays here and there, but there was nothing consistent done by any of the quarterbacks," DeRuyter said. "It's a concern right now. Part of the stuff we do on defense makes it a little bit tough, but our quarterbacks at this point should be seeing what we're doing and be able to handle things much better than they are right now.

"Again, we're not game-planning for our defense, and so sometimes things don't look right, but I expect our guys to be more competitive than they were today."

DeRuyter said none of the quarterbacks had separated themselves from the pack of three, and incoming freshman Zack Greenlee could play a more significant role in the fall.

"To me, in a given drill, in a given day, one guy is doing a little bit better, but nobody has established themselves as the guy just yet," DeRuyter said. "It's probably not going to be until the fall until somebody does and it might not be until a freshman shows up."

The loss of Kim didn't help -- he suffered a stinger and had to be removed from the field in an ambulance. Harvey had to move up to the No. 2 line, until back-to-back snaps went awry, one low and one high, and he spent the rest of the scrimmage on the sidelines doing some up-downs. Guard Mike Saenz moved over to center with the No. 3 unit.

But it was just one more moving part for the inexperienced quarterbacks to deal with.

"I don't know how many plays we ran before we got a first down, it was quite a bit," offensive coordinator Dave Schramm said. "Again, we'll go back and look at the film and just see exactly what's happening, if guys are just missing reads or we're not setting the protection the right way. We put a lot on our quarterback -- we expect him to do a lot of things.

"We're not in the I-formation running power and iso (isolation) and power pass where the quarterback doesn't have that much on his plate. You have to be able to do that, you have to be able to do that in this offense, and if you can't we have to find someone who can."

Notes ...

-- Donovan Lewis was held out of the scrimmage after tweaking a hamstring in practice Saturday. Nose guard Maurice Poyadue (ankle), cornerback Sean Alston (stinger) and running back Marteze Waller (quad) also were held out.

-- Patrick was taken to the hospital for precautionary reasons after complaining of pain in his neck from the stinger. He passed all the tests and was discharged. He'll also be evaluated by the team physician today.

-- There were not a lot of huge hits in the scrimmage, but the best combo of hit and play might have come from outside linebacker Nat Harrison. He came flying in from the left and crushed Cash just after he took a handoff from Burrell.

-- Cash led the running backs with 92 yards and the touchdown on 10 plays. Thomas had 52 yards on seven plays and Malique Micenheimer had 10 yards on three plays.

Spring Game

March 23: Noon at Bulldog Stadium (free to public)

More from Kuwada: Keep up with Robert Kuwada’s blog on Fresno State sports throughout the year at sports.fresnobeehive.com