For Wesley Carroll, Saturday’s game against the University of Alabama-Birmingham contains two aspects critical to the Bulldogs’ success.With a win, State would earn its fourth victory of the season, a feat the football team has not achieved since 2000.
Subsequently, that was also the last season in which the Bulldogs went to a bowl game.
However, the most important issue is that Carroll needs to stay healthy.
Going into Saturday’s homecoming game, Carroll is the only quarterback on the depth chart playing with experience and not currently shelved by injury.
Out for Saturday and the rest of the season is Josh Riddell, who tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) during the game against South Carolina.
Junior starter Michael Henig, who is still recovering from a broken hand, will play only in an emergency, leaving freshman Chris Relf as a reliable backup.
The upside Carroll brings to State’s offense is that he’s a more mobile quarterback but witnessing his two predecessors go down to injury might cause Carroll to be more cautious on the field.
However, Carroll said that couldn’t be further from the truth.
“I definitely have to look at how Mike and Josh got hurt so I don’t make the same mistakes,” he said. “But I also can’t be in the pocket and think I can’t scramble because I might get hurt.
I can’t think of myself over picking up a first down or making a big play.”
Head football coach Sylvester Croom said he agrees that in order for Carroll to be effective, he has to play with his usual force.
“As a quarterback, you can’t worry about things like that,” Croom said. “Wes will instinctively pull that ball down more and advance. That’s part of his makeup.”
Carroll, a true freshman from Parkland, Fla., said he expected to take things slow when he arrived on campus.
He planned on working hard and absorbing information to one day be a starter. However, things have since escalated faster than he ever imagined.
Carroll went from being No. 3 on the depth chart to leading State on a game-winning drive against Auburn.
Add in the new responsibilities of a college starter and he’s had a very eventful two months, but Carroll said he’s enjoying every moment.
“I have to take advantage of the opportunity while I have it,” he said. “I can use this time to mature and develop into the offense more.”
The word among the MSU coaching staff is that Carroll is an excellent game manager.
Croom pointed to the fact that in three games, Carroll has committed no turnovers or cost his team with penalties, and the coach said that is a testament to how important the opportunity is to his young freshman quarterback.
Since being forced into a starter’s role, Carroll said his workload on the football field has increased 60 percent during the past month. On any given day of the week as the other players make their ways back to the locker room, Carroll and his offensive teammates can be seen working, trying to nail down every detail of each play.
“You have to be on top of your game. You don’t have any cushion for mistakes in this league,” Carroll said. “I have to go out there and practice perfect in order to play perfectly on Saturday.”
Carroll put emphasis on improving State’s passing attack, which ranks 12th in the SEC with 137 yards per game.
“We have to get our passing game going. We’ve trademarked the running game,” Carroll said. “We’re getting in the blocking schemes, route running and throwing the ball to the right receiver.”
Mississippi State offensive coordinator Woody McCorvey, who recruited Carroll, said it is Carroll’s background that has allowed him to not be frustrated by some of the things presented to him since becoming a Bulldog.
While at St. Thomas Aquinas High School, one of Florida’s dominant football programs, Carroll lead the school to the state championship game in each of his three years as a starter and posted a 52-5 record.
“You can see he has the winning qualities and the ability to lead an offense, and that’s what’s been so good about him,” McCorvey said.
McCorvey added that Carroll’s quest for greatness keeps him alert as well.
“When I walk in the film room, I better be ready because I know he’s going to have a question for me,” he added with a smile.