To get a better understanding of what Mississippi State could expect out of Gardner-Webb, head coach Sylvester Croom had to go no further than last week’s opponent, Auburn. Croom said Gardner-Webb will base their offense out of the spread formation, the same look his team saw last weekend when Auburn switched to backup quarterback Kodi Burns.
“They will spread the field with four wide receivers,” Croom said during his weekly press conference.
Gardner-Webb, located in Boiling Springs, N.C., returns 19 starters from last year’s 6-5 squad. Gardner-Webb is a member of the Big South Conference, which has other notable teams such as Liberty and Coastal Carolina.
Mississippi State will be the first Southeastern Conference team Gardner-Webb has faced in its 38 years of playing collegiate football.
Saturday’s contest will also mark only the second time the Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs have faced a team from the Football Bowl Subdivision, formally known as Division I.
In its season opener, Gardner Webb faced the University of Ohio, losing the contest 36-14.
With this being a major opportunity for the Runnin’ Bulldogs to make a name for themselves, Croom expects to get their best.
“I’m sure they’ll come in with a David vs. Goliath mentality looking for a big win like a lot of other teams have done in the early part of this season,” Croom said.
Croom pointed to several players from the Gardner-Webb squad but none more than sophomore running back David Montgomery.
“He’s a small, quick type of guy,” Croom said. “With them spreading the field out and giving it to this guy in space, [it] is causing me some concerns already.”
For what seems like every week, the Bulldog offensive line will have to deal with yet another high caliber defensive end, this time in 6-foot 5 280-pound senior Brian Johnston.
“He’s a legitimate NFL prospect,” Croom said of Johnston.
Johnston has 16 career sacks and 37 career tackles for loss, he is also named to the preseason Ted Hendricks Award watch list. The Hendricks award goes to the nation’s best defensive end.
To counter the Runnin’ Bulldogs spread option attack, Croom pointed out that his team has spent the majority of the week improving on every detail.
“On defense, it’s important that we improve our open field tacking, as well as our fits on the option responsibility,” Croom said.
The main detail the Bulldogs have to attend to be who will step in to take the place of junior quarterback Michael Henig, who suffered a spiral fracture in his throwing hand in last week’s game and will be out two to four weeks. Croom says it’s imperative both Wes Carroll and Josh Riddell be prepared.
“Getting our quarterbacks ready to execute well enough to win ball games is critical,” he said. “We have to be able to throw the football. We’ve been down this road before and we know what’s going to happen; it’s going to be nine men at the line of scrimmage.”
Croom added that every week the staff asks the quarterbacks to list their 10 favorite passing patterns for consideration in the team’s game plan, and he’s asked both Carroll and Riddell this week to make them feel more comfortable.
While this may be the first meeting between the two schools, connections do run between the Bulldog families.
Current MSU defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson served as head coach of Gardner-Webb during the 1983 season. Also, Charlie Harbison, MSU’s secondary coach is a graduate of Gardner-Webb. Harbison will be inducted into GWU Athletics Hall of Fame in October.