Entering his fourth season as head coach, Sylvester Croom finally feels like his Bulldogs have a chance to give the rest of the Southeastern Conference a run for their money. “We’ve finally got SEC talent on the field now, in every position,” Croom said. “That’s the first time I’ve been able to say that since I’ve been here.”
Croom, whose team opens its season on Thursday against the top-ranked Louisiana State University Tigers, said that fans will finally get a chance to truly see the Bulldogs offense.
“You haven’t seen our offense yet really, only what we were capable of doing to try to give ourselves a chance,” Croom said. “We haven’t run our offense in three years. All we’ve tried to do is give ourselves the best chance to win on that particular day.”
The Bulldogs’ offense will be headed by junior quarterback Mike Henig, who Croom said he has complete confidence in, despite being plagued by injuries during the 2006 season.
“Mike has had an extremely good training camp,” Croom said. “He’s shown that he can make some sharp decisions, and I believe that will make his pass completion percentage better.”
After the indefinite suspension of junior college transfer Josh Riddell, due to violation of team rules, freshman Wesley Carroll is expected to be the backup to Henig.
Despite the attention freshman Robert Elliott is receiving, the other key component in Croom’s offense will be sophomore running back Anthony Dixon.
“Anthony Dixon is the guy,” Croom said. “The ball is going to be going to No. 24 (Dixon). Everything that happens in our offense goes through No. 7 (Henig) and No. 24.”
Croom said that he has been impressed with Elliott’s running skills and strong work ethic but that his pass protection skills must improve before he can see playing time.
Wide receiver is a position that Croom is finally seeing depth in for the first time in his four years at MSU. The receivers will be anchored by seniors Lance Long and Tony Burks, who Croom has said is in much better condition physically than he was last year.
“Tony’s problem last season was a combination of poor conditioning and a lack of mental toughness,” Croom said. “He’s accepted the challenge now, and I’m very proud of him.”
Juniors Jamayel Smith and CoEric Riley and sophomore Brandon McRae will also factor into the equation at wide receiver.
Seniors Eric Butler, Jason Husband and Dezmond Sherrod will likely share time at the tight end position, Croom said. He said there will be certain plays that each know they will factor into.
The starting offensive line, backing up Henig, will likely consist of Mike Brown, Anthony Strauder, Royce Blackledge, Craig Jenkins and J.D. Hamilton.
On the defensive line, defensive end was the position that was most troubling Croom going into training camp.
“Fortunately, it’s also the position I’ve had the most interest in,” Croom said.
Despite battling minor injuries during training camp, seniors Titus Brown and Avery Hannibal should anchor the ends of the defensive line.
Croom said that defensive tackle is one of the positions he believes has the most depth. Sophomore Kyle Love and junior college transfer Jessie Bowman are penciled in as the starters, but Cortez McCraney, LaMarcus Williams and Quinton Wesley will also see playing time.
While replacing all-SEC linebacker Quinton Culberson is a tall order, Croom said that he thinks Jamar Chaney, Dominic Douglas and Gabe O’Neal will lead a core of experienced linebackers.
The starting cornerbacks will likely be Anthony Johnson and Marcus Washington, while De’Mon Glanton and Derek Pegues, a preseason all-SEC selection, will start as safeties.
“Preseason honors are nice because it says people will be watching him (Pegues),” Croom said. “But none of that stuff matters until the end.”
True freshman kicker Eric Richards was expected to add vast improvements to the Bulldogs’ kicking game but will now be out for the season after breaking several bones in his right foot during Saturday’s scrimmage game.
“That’s a critical error as far as our kicking off, not having a guy like him able to kick off for us and as a backup punter,” Croom said.
When asked if his team is capable of a winning season or reaching a bowl game, Croom has said he is focused on only one game: Thursday’s nationally-televised match-up against LSU.
“Right now LSU is the only game we’re playing, the only one we’re getting ready for,” Croom said. “We’re playing the best in the country on national TV, and if you’re a big time play maker, it don’t get any better than that.