This time last season, Tony Burks was catching passes for Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and was leading his team in yards.
The same is true so far of Burks’ Mississippi State career, but on a much more difficult level.
“The speed of the game is faster,” Burks said. “Trying to adjust to catching passes from the different quarterbacks, it’s just a lot tougher.”
Burks has 526 yards so far for the 2-6 Bulldogs and 20 catches, one behind team leader Lance Long.
Burks arrived on campus in the spring to prepare for the season but was quickly sidelined with a hamstring injury.
His talent level and ability to be a playmaker in the Bulldogs’ West Coast offense was put on hold for the entire spring schedule and even well into the summer before finally joining his new teammates on the field.
“I think missing spring helped me in a way to learn the routes and everything,” Burks said. “It was tough, but I think it helped me more than it hurt me.”
Croom disagrees. He says that Burks’ slow start to the season was a direct result of his missing the extended period of practice time to injury.
In Croom’s complicated system, Burks has a major role that takes time to comprehend.
“Missing spring practice, the first thing Tony had to learn was the work ethic,” Croom said. “And he’s still learning. Basically if you only have one go-to guy, you like to be able to move him around, meaning he essentially had to learn three different positions. His lack of practice time has made that a slow process.”
Burks is beginning to settle into the offense more and has posted 100-yard games in three of his last four contests.
Also key in Burks’ development is the emergence of two sophomore complimentary wide receivers, Aubrey Bell and Jamayel Smith.
Bell got his first game action against Jacksonville State two weeks ago and has already caught five balls for 86 yards.
Smith has six catches for 108 yards this season, including one catch on the final drive of Saturday’s 27-24 loss to Georgia.
“They’re really good players,” Burks said. “If they try to double up on me, they’ll have a really good game.
“We all compliment each other.”
The aftereffects of last week’s loss to Georgia are still fresh in players’ minds, but some of the older players are hoping the team’s youth will take the game as a learning experience.
“That was a tough one for everyone to take,” offensive lineman Brian Anderson said. “This is one we need. It sucks to be sitting here talking about the little moral things when you lose, but I hope guys can look at that and say we played one of the elite teams in the SEC to the end and they can get some confidence from that.”
MSU returns home this weekend to face the Kentucky Wildcats, and Croom is hoping the Bulldogs are able to overcome their loss to Georgia and come away with a win.
“They’re one of the better offensive teams in the conference,” Croom said. “They use a lot of multiple sets. They are very potent offensively. I think their quarterback is leading the conference in fewest interceptions.
“We have to get to him, because if he has time he will complete passes.”