After his midweek press conference, it was hard to tell whether Mississippi State had won three games in a row, or just lost its third game and by a lot.Head Coach Sylvester Croom took very little time in pointing out exactly what his Bulldogs needed to improve on if they plan to beat No. 16 South Carolina Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium.
“We have a lot of work to do, particularly in the passing game,” Croom said Tuesday. “We need to work on all phases: protection, route running and passing the football then we still have to be sharp in the running game.”
The defense took its hits as well, as Croom added the unit needed to correct some of the mistakes it made in pass coverage last week against Gardner-Webb.
Such criticisms don’t stem from Croom thinking his team is underachieving; it’s more that he knows how talented South Carolina is and he wants to make sure his team is prepared to go on the road.
“One of the things we are emphasizing with our players is that we have another big game going into a hostile environment, but the main thing is how we prepare,” Croom said. “We need our execution at its highest on all three levels of our game, and go into this game playing the best football we possibly can at this point.”
On offense, South Carolina will start redshirt freshman Chris Smelley at quarterback, replacing senior Blake Mitchell, who has struggled this season with issues on and off the field.
Mitchell was suspended from South Carolina’s season opener because he skipped classes during the summer.
Midseason or midgame switching of quarterbacks is nothing new for Steve Spurrier, and Croom says that no matter who’s under center, South Carolina’s passing game will still thrive.
“They’re going to throw the football,” Croom said. “I’m sure the staff feels the change to Smelley gives them the best chance to win and stabilizes them offensively.”
Last week against LSU, Smelley went 12-for-26 for 174 yards and one touchdown. Smelley played the entire second half of that game against the Tigers. Spurrier says he’s trying to find consistency.
“There’s no certain prescription to winning,” Spurrier said at the press conference. “Some people think you’re supposed to stick with quarterbacks. I’ve never felt that way unless they can perform. Now if they perform at a high level and they’re your best player, that’s the best you can hope for. We don’t have that here. We’re still searching to see if one guy can play better than the rest.”
The Bulldogs are still looking for some consistency in their passing game as well.
Croom said that freshman Wes Carroll and junior college transfer Josh Riddell will both play against South Carolina but doesn’t know when.
Last week, Carroll started the game, but Riddell had the better statistics, going 8-for-11 for 124 yards and a touchdown. Carroll went 4-for-8 for 42 yards.
South Carolina will be without the services of senior middle linebacker Jasper Brinkley.
Brinkley, a preseason All-America candidate, tore the lateral collateral ligament in his right knee and will be sidelined for the remainder of the season.
“Losing Brinkley is a blow to them, but they’re still going to be a solid defensive unit,” Croom said.
Junior Marvin Sapp will replace Brinkley at middle linebacker.
The loss of Brinkley could be devastating for the Gamecock defense and will hurt them especially in the running game.
South Carolina ranks 11th in the league in rush defense, giving up more than 216 yards per game.
Last Saturday against LSU, the Gamecock defense gave up 290 yards on the ground.
Spurrier says if his team is unable to stop the run, it could be a long afternoon for the South Carolina defense.
“If they romp up and down the field for about 300 yards, it’ll be hard to beat them,” Spurrier said.
Croom, who turned 53 on Tuesday, got a surprise this week when looking at USA Today’s coaches’ poll.
There at the bottom in the ‘others receiving votes’ category stood his team’s name with one vote next to it; that one vote, belonged to Gamecock head coach Steve Spurrier.
Saturday’s game will also reunite Mississippi State with former assistant coach Shane Beamer, who spent three seasons with the Bulldog family.
Beamer left the MSU program this off-season to join the South Carolina staff, serving as outside linebackers and co-special teams coach.
With Beamer being a former assistant and the recent issues in the NFL with the New England Patriots, Croom says he is not taking any chances with South Carolina knowing State’s team signals.
“We’ll change every one of them,” Croom said referring to the signals.