STARKVILLE — Dillon Day was figuratively thrown into the deep end of the pool and told to swim.
Three plays into a nationally televised game against arguably the nation’s best defensive front, the Mississippi State redshirt freshman offensive lineman not only was asked to play as a substitute, he was asked to do it at the most important spot on the offensive line.
After Tobias Smith suffered a season-injury knee injury in the first series of MSU’s 19-6 loss to then-No. 3 LSU, Day understood the time for watching and learning was over. On Sunday, Day admitted he woke up feeling like his body had been hit by dump truck. LSU had six sacks and 15 tackles for loss in a game MSU coach Dan Mullen admitted his team “got their butt kicked” on first down.
“I didn’t want to be the guy to let everyone down and have them think I was the one that screwed everything up,” Day said. “It was definitely different playing in the last three minutes as compared to the last 57 minutes.”
Suddenly Day, whose first action at MSU was mop-up duty in a season-opening 59-14 victory at the University of Memphis, was being held responsible for protection audibles, listening for the snap count, and making sure the shotgun snap was in the neighborhood of his senior quarterback.
“Center is the role where you take over control, identify everything, and kind of tell everybody which way they’re going, and that’s before the snap,” Day said.
That 3-yard hike between the legs was the reason for most of Day’s problems in fall camp, as he would snap the football over the heads of backup quarterbacks Tyler Russell and Dylan Favre. Mullen dismissed the problem in camp as an elementary mental thing that Day could fix by “taking a football back to his dorm room and get it fixed,” but the 295-pounder seriously wondered if he would be get a chance to play this season.
“It crossed my mind,” Day said. “I guess I didn’t expect to (play), but, at the same time, I tried not to think about it so much.”
Day doesn’t have to worry about that now. MSU coaches have seen enough from him to move veteran Quentin Saulsberry back to guard in what is now a patchwork offensive line.
Mullen admitted this week that losing offensive line starters James Carmon and Smith in back-to-back weeks has affected the confidence of the offensive line, which has hurt the rhythm of the offense.
“We’re going to try to get our best five offensive lineman on the field. Damien is in the mix,” Mullen said. “Where we mix and match them will be as the week and the season progresses.”
Day thinks about his position on the depth chart every day as he anticipates getting his first start Saturday when MSU plays host to Louisiana Tech (6 p.m., ESPNU). He said his mental focus will change in his new role.
“You go hard every day in practice, don’t get wrong. But now it’s even deeper because you show up and realize, ‘I’ll be in the game Saturday,’ ” Day said. “That is something that gets your attention right away.”
One week ago, redshirt freshman Blaine Clausell made his college football debut after Carmon was injured in the final quarter at Auburn.
“I told (Blaine and Dillon) they were a shoelace away from going in,” MSU offensive line coach John Hevesy said. “They both stepped up and done a good job.”
Carmon’s status for Saturday’s game remains unclear. Mullen has sent mixed signals, saying he expects the senior left tackle to play but has been cautious with him in practice this week. Hevesy said Monday he expects Clausell to take first-team repetitions in practice.
“That’s something that will be a competition in practice between all
of them, and that’s a positive,” Hevesy said. “As James gets healthy, we have to figure out who is the fifth and then who is the one out. I don’t know yet.”
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.