Though Ole Miss edged Mississippi State in November’s Egg Bowl, Bulldog head coach Sylvester Croom one-upped the Rebels Wednesday by signing away Mississippi’s top high school running back Robert Elliott.”I believe that if you are serious about running the football, you have to have two if not three running backs at the college level,” Croom said. “I’ve already talked to Anthony Dixon, and he will play at both tailback as well as fullback in some packages.”
Elliott had been committed to the Rebels since last February but wavered when the Rebels began chasing after nationally-ranked Joe McKnight, who signed with USC.
“(Ole Miss coaches) had totally turned me off,” Elliott told The Clarion-Ledger. “I said I’m definitely not going. If they’re doing stuff like this when I’m not even going to the school, I imagine what it would be like if I was.”
Elliott signed his National Letter of Intent early Wednesday morning at Okalona High School, officially becoming a Bulldog.
“This is a very good day for Bulldog football,” Croom said. “Without question, since we’ve been here this is the best recruiting class we’ve had, and we expect a lot of these guys to make an immediate contribution.”
Mississippi State signed 34 players on signing day, with 19 of the athletes coming from the state of Mississippi.
In his press conference, Croom said the goal of this recruiting season was to improve overall team speed, as well as the kicking game.
“Quite a lot had been said about our kicking game last year,” he said, “and a lot had to do with a lack of depth and a lack of overall speed.”
Elliott, along with fellow running back signee Marcus Green, should provide the Bulldogs with an abundance of talent in the backfield.
Croom also spoke highly of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College wide receiver transfer Co-Eric Riley.
“We’re very excited to get Co-Eric,” Croom said. “It’s pretty obvious the impact of Tony Burks had on this team last year, and we feel Co-Eric gives us another explosive guy that can do some of the things Tony can’t.”
The Clarion-Ledger ranked Riley as the top junior college prospect in the state of Mississippi.
Mississippi State’s recruiting class was ranked 27th in the nation, according to Scout.com.
State’s football team will soon begin preparing for the 2007 season as it begins spring drills later this month.