For the Mississippi State football team, Saturday’s game against Tulane may as well be its first game of the season. In the offseason, the Green Wave hired Bob Toledo, former UCLA head coach and the Bulldogs are not sure what exactly to expect.
Sylvester Croom, the Bulldogs’ fourth-year coach said that playing the Green Wave provides an unusual circumstance for his team.
“It’s like we’re playing another first game, Croom said. “We don’t know a great deal about them. We had to go back as far as two years to set our game plan.”
Saturday’s contest will be the first of the season for Tulane, who finished last season with a 4-8 record, nabbing one of their four wins against the Bulldogs.
Tulane beat MSU 32-29 last season in Starkville and Croom says his team hasn’t forgotten that.
“Last year they came in here and embarrassed us on our home field, so I’m sure they feel confident going into this game,” Croom said. This will be a great challenge for us. It’s our first road game and it’s in the Superdome.”
Senior Tyler Threadgill is the only player on the current roster that has played in the Superdome, and Croom says he’s going to deviate off the team’s normal routine to help eliminate the shock.
“We’re going to go straight to the dome on Friday, let all those guys who have never been look and get that out of the way so we can concentrate on the business at hand,” Croom said.
There are a few things the Bulldogs do know and the Green Wave defense is one of those things.
Tulane returns eight starters on defense, a unit that held the Bulldog offense to only seven points in the first half of the game.
Croom also pointed out senior running back Matt Fort. In Starkville last season, Fort rushed for 170 and one touchdown against the Bulldog defense.
Croom said that despite last Thursday night’s loss, he still believes that his team can be a good team this season, especially now that some questions have been answered.
“The play of our defense throughout the course of the game was good and our team speed was what I thought it would be,” he said. “We saw some young players who showed some definite promise.”
Croom stands behind Michael Henig as quarterback but said fans should not be surprised to see backup Josh Riddell.
“I do plan on playing him (Riddell). I have a time in my mind but I don’t want to reveal that because then someone will say you didn’t play him when you said you would,” Croom said.
Riddell offers the Bulldogs more of a change of pace that could give the Bulldog offense a spark.
“Josh has more mobility; he has a little more ability to create on the move,” Croom added.
The Bulldog offense only accumulated 146 total yards against LSU.
Saturday’s game will mark the third time in the last four years that Tulane has played Mississippi State for its season opener.
The Green Wave is 0-3 against the Bulldogs in season openers.