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Conner may play vs. UF

By DON HAMMACK

THE SUN HERALD


Injured Mississippi State quarterback Omarr Conner threw on the sideline last week and could possibly be ready when the Bulldogs face Florida next week.

Mississippi State limps into its first open weekend of the season on a five-game losing streak.

The Bulldogs haven't won since beating Tulane to open the season, falling Saturday to UAB 27-13.

"If adversity builds character," State coach Sylvester Croom said, "then we're going to have a heckuva lot of character in this program because everything seems to go against us right now."

Still, the Bulldogs played one of their better games of the season. They ran the ball more than effectively with Jerious Norwood gaining 201 yards at 8.4 yards per carry.

But for a reliable passing attack, it was a game for the taking.

"I don't want to point the finger at any one thing," quarterback Kyle York said. "We ran the ball well, but we didn't run as well once we got inside the 20-, 30-yard line. There were times throughout the game where we threw the ball."

York started for the second game, but he's expected to return to his backup role when the Bulldogs next play Oct. 23 in Starkville against Florida.

Sophomore Omarr Conner threw on the sidelines last week. He's been sidelined since spraining the medial collateral ligament in his right knee against LSU. He could participate in drills this week.

Conner had been effective until getting overwhelmed by LSU's defense. With even the hint of a passing threat, things might have been different against UAB.

State scored one touchdown on two trips to the red zone.

"We just didn't get touchdowns when we needed touchdowns," wide receiver Will Prosser said. "We were kicking field goals and that was the difference in the ballgame."

Redshirt freshman tight end Eric Butler, the former Moss Point standout, sprained his ankle against UAB and will probably miss practice this week.

Croom said this week's practices would again center on fundamentals. He said the Bulldogs's first-string offense and defense would get some work against each other and younger players would see work.

But the key this week is rest.

"We'll give them the weekend off," Croom said. "Friday, we're going to run them at 6 o'clock in the morning and let them go home for the whole weekend.

"They've been through a lot and we want them to come back renewed and fresh."


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Will it matter?

Vols_needisaymore Wrote:Will it matter?

No, with Conner at 100 percent it would not help much. Give Croom a couple of years and hopefully we will be competitive again.

I saw your post and just couldn't resist. I do hope that Croom can get things going at State. I'm a Vol fanthrough and through, but I always want the teams in the conference to be competitive. Right now only three teams have a losing record. I think that says a lot about the SEC. The West has always been more competitive than the East top to bottom. I even liked it when Kentucky was a tough game. I wish that Vandy could get the calibur players it takes to play in this league. It's just hard with the type of school that Vandy is. I think Croom is on the right track. Some coaches come in and try to win with what they're given. I think Croom understands that a 1 or 2 win season where he can start building something is better than a 4 or 5 win season where he still has to reteach and impliment things in the off-season. Good luck in the future.