STARKVILLE — Charles Cross has his order down at Moe’s Original BBQ.
When the Mississippi State left tackle and his fellow offensive linemen are treated to dinner every Thursday night by quarterback Will Rogers, Cross knows what he’s getting: double shrimp, double fish, baked beans and mac and cheese.
The weekly dinners — part of a name, image and likeness deal between Rogers and the Main Street staple — are a way for Rogers to pay back his offensive linemen. And in the Bulldogs’ past two games, the sophomore quarterback’s blockers have returned the favor.
Mississippi State has limited its past two opponents, LSU and Texas A&M, to just four sacks — for a mere 7 total yards. None of the four takedowns has resulted in a loss of more than 3 yards, a sign the Bulldogs’ offensive line is functioning as it should.
“The difference is really just we’re just playing together, playing as one,” Cross said Tuesday. “We’re being a unit and playing as a unit.”
He credited time spent on the practice fields and in the weight room from spring football to summer workouts to fall camp, saying he became “brothers” with his fellow starting linemen: left guard Kameron Jones, center LaQuinston Sharp, right guard Kwatrivous “Dollar Bill” Johnson and right tackle Scott Lashley.
It’s a rather new group than the five who started last season, but so far, the Bulldogs are making it work.
“I think they still haven’t logged very many reps together,” head coach Mike Leach said Monday. “They have logged more than when they started for sure. They are a group that works and wants to improve, so they are motivated.”
Bulldogs expect tough test in Robinson
Alabama running back Brian Robinson Jr. totaled 24 carries against Texas A&M in the Crimson Tide’s 41-38 loss to the Aggies on Saturday.
The way Robinson was running, it felt like more — to Mississippi State defensive coordinator Zach Arnett, anyway. The redshirt senior from Tuscaloosa racked up 147 yards and will be as big a challenge for the Bulldogs’ defense as any running back they’ll face this season.
“I love watching him play,” Arnett said Wednesday. “He runs the ball the way you want a running back to run it. He’s athletic enough, he’ll make guys miss, he can change directions, and he’s not afraid to lower the shoulder and drop the hammer on tackles.”
Robinson’s 6-foot-1, 225-pound frame even makes him seem a bit out of position, which became a recent joke from Arnett to his linebacker corps.
“I said I’ve got a feeling when I see him pregame, I’m going to wish he was playing inside linebacker for us more than any of you guys,” Arnett said.
It’s not just Robinson, of course, who can do damage for the Tide. Jase McClellan is out for the season with a knee injury, but Roydell Williams is averaging more yards per carry — 6.0 — than any Alabama running back this season.
“They get straight downhill, break a lot of tackles,” Mississippi State linebacker Aaron Brule said. “Their 1 through 4 running backs can really play.”
Freshman safety Ellington progressing
Corey Ellington already looks the part for Mississippi State.
Since his arrival on campus, the freshman safety from Holmes County Central High School has put on 15 to 20 pounds. He’s learned the playbook and the Bulldogs’ defensive assignments.
And he’s poised to be the next young defensive player to see the field for Mississippi State.
“He looks like what you want an SEC safety to look like,” Arnett said. “As he’s getting more comfortable with the assignment and the scheme stuff, I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw him out there over the coming weeks.”
Safeties coach Jason Washington said things were all new to the Lexington native when he came in not long ago, but Ellington is learning fast.
“He’s picked it up, and I’m proud of him,” Washington said. “He’s taken a lot of things under his wing, and the older guys have been really good for him.”
Washington also mentioned redshirt senior Jay Jimison among players in his position group who could soon be poised for bigger roles.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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