Tray Rutland wanted to play Thursday, but he definitely got more than he bargained for.
When quarterback Michael Henig went out with a broken collarbone in the first half of the Bulldogs’ season-opener, Rutland, a redshirt freshman, was thrust into the starting position.
Now he must lead an already maligned offense and do so with a clear understanding of a complicated West Coast scheme.
Luckily for head coach Sylvester Croom, Rutland is a proactive student of the game.
“He studies the game very well,” Croom said. “I’ve been frustrated with him [in practice], but I know he prepares in the offseason. He’s been over there all summer, and he has a notebook thick with notes he’s made. He does what he needs to do.”
Rutland knows about the dangers of devastating injury involved in football. He came to MSU last season after missing all but four games of his senior season at Tri-Cities High School in Decatur, Ga., with a debilitating hamstring injury. Rutland passed for 1,927 yards and six touchdowns during his junior campaign.
“I just have to come in with a focused mind,” Rutland said. “I’m not the backup anymore. I’ve got to be the leader of this team.”
Even making the depth chart at quarterback, much less topping it, is a testament to Rutland’s ability. When he arrived on campus, Croom told Rutland he would give him a year to make the grade at quarterback before moving him to another skill position.
“I wanted to prove to coach Croom that I could be a quarterback,” Rutland said. “I think I’ve proven myself and given him more confidence in me now.”
Croom certainly seems confident in his young starter and says he has an arm capable of playing in the pros.
“Tray can throw the football,” Croom said. “The velocity of the ball, his footwork; he’s big and can avoid the pass rush. He has a little bit of a quirk in his throwing motion sometimes, but there are a lot of guys playing on Sunday that have those same quirks. And not a whole lot of them have more ball speed than Tray.”
The other thing that impressed Croom was Rutland’s poise in the South Carolina game. Learning on the fly, he finished the game.
“I was very pleased with his composure, even on the things where he made a mistake,” Croom said. “He brings some mobility and some other things that Mike didn’t have. We’ll ask him to be Tray Rutland and not somebody else.”
Rutland’s inexperience puts a huge question mark over the offense’s ability to succeed this weekend against the 4th-ranked Auburn Tigers.
However, his mobility adds an extra dimension that could bring a big upside.
“When you have a mobile quarterback,” senior offensive lineman Brian Anderson said, “[he] can always get you out of trouble. One thing Tray has got going for him is his speed. He gave us his all [Thursday night].”
Croom will have wide receiver Omarr Conner, a two-year starter at quarterback for the Bulldogs, waiting in the wings on Saturday should Rutland get in over his head against an aggressive Tiger defense.
But if the rest of the team can play up to the level of his ambitious freshman play caller, Croom says everything will be fine.
“Everyone wants to talk about Tray Rutland, but I’m not as worried about Tray Rutland as I am about some of these other guys,” Croom said.