Quarterback Omarr Conner’s ever-present smile faded into a stern look, and then the words came rolling off his tongue in a most serious manner.
“I’m not scared,” Conner answered, after being asked if he was afraid of dropping back in the pocket this year with a weak offensive line protecting him. “If the pocket breaks down this year, my legs will get me out of it.”
He is prepared to escape from the pocket with his feet and, as seen in the Florida game, his arm strength on the run is as good as any.
“I love rolling out in the pocket,” Conner said. “That’s one of my strong points. When I get outside the pocket, I can throw on the run to the left or the right.”
After running back Jerious Norwood, Conner is probably the second most important player on the Mississippi State offense and carries a lot of weight on his shoulders. When eight defenders load the line of scrimmage to stop Norwood, Conner has to make them pay for it.
“We got to stay more consistent (in the passing game),” Conner said. “I got to make plays.”
Conner, who played wide receiver his freshman year, passed for 1,224 yards, six touchdowns and seven interceptions last season. He completed over 50 percent of his passes, going 107 of 206 in nine games.
He had his best game of the year against Arkansas when he threw two touchdowns, his only multi-touchdown game, and passed for 214 yards, completing 20 of 27 attempts with no interceptions.
Red shirt freshman Mike Henig backsup Conner. Henig sustained a separated shoulder in the Vanderbilt game-the only game he appeared in-and was granted a medical red shirt by the NCAA to regain his true freshman year.
“He’s like my big brother out there,” Henig said talking about Conner. “If he messes up, I let him know, and if I mess up, he lets me know.”
Henig has added 10 pounds to last year’s rail thin build and is still trying to put on weight. He now weighs 175 pounds and stands 6 feet tall.
“I’m just trying to get to two-a-days so that I can gain more weight, because I can’t gain weight during two-a-days,” Henig said in mid August when the Bulldogs were going through two-a-days, a 7:30 a.m. practice and another that same day at 4:00 p.m.
Behind Henig there is an assortment of quarterbacks. True freshmen Tray Rutland and Ty Evans are battling for Henig’s spot at No. 2.
Rutland, a 6-foot-2, 210-pound Georgia native, only played in four games his senior year due to injury. He still managed to complete 43 of 62 passes (.694) for 712 yards and five touchdowns, while rushing for 483 more yards.
Evans, a 6-foot-4, 199-pound Tennessee native, was rated the No. 15 prospect in the state of Tennessee following his senior by Rivals.com. Evans completed 303 of 593 passes (.511) in his career for 4,354 yards and 41 touchdowns.