STARKVILLE – The one thing we know Mississippi State University head coach Dan Mullen and offensive coordinator Les Koenning agree on is the backup quarterback must play Saturday.
Dak Prescott, the Bulldogs redshirt freshman, will see action Saturday in the 2012 season opener versus Jackson State (6 p.m. FSN South) but the exact plan will not be revealed to him until later in the week.
“We’re going to go through practice this week and we’ll going to make that decision probably Thursday or Friday,” Koenning said. “We’re going to find out exactly how comfortable he is with the gameplan. It’s a must that we get him in.”
Mullen talked Monday about the critical nature of getting the Louisiana native in the game to get the first-game jitters out of the way against an opponent from the Football Championship Series.
“For him the most important (things is to) get him out there, get him to call a play in the huddle in front of a big crowd on TV,” Mullen said. “Get a snap, even if you’ve got to hand it off, whatever it is. Just go out there and function in your first play. Get that off your shoulders. I think that first play is the hardest one.”
Prescott, whose only action in Davis Wade Stadium has been in the 2012 Maroon-White spring game months ago, could either be used in a full drive early in the game or in specific situational packages. If the dual-threat signal caller is substituted into the contest, the coaching move might be the result of a specific down and distance to reflect his skills as a runner and a passer out of the Bulldogs spread-option attack.
Mullen referenced what the first drive of his former star protégées looked like on the way to having wonderful college football careers.
“I remember Alex Smith’s first drive (when) I put him in at Utah (and) his first touchdown pass,” Mullen said. “He called the cadence wrong, sent a guy in motion the wrong way, fumbled the snap, managed to scramble around and still throw a touchdown pass. It was a happy ending to what was just an absolute disaster of a play.
“All of a sudden you see confidence starting to build, because they get that initial weight off their shoulders.”
Prescott was a three-star prospect coming out of Haughton (La.) High School and first-team all-state by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association. He completed 159-of-258 passes (62 percent) for 2,860 yards and 39 touchdowns during his senior season two years ago.
The Bulldogs fourth-year head coach said he worries about calming Prescott down this weekend before he takes the field in front of what will likely be the 17th straight sellout crowd in Starkville.
“There will be a lot of guys on Friday night in the hotel that can’t wait and are excited to play,” Mullen said. “I think there will be a lot of guys that have a little bit of nerves, and I put Dak in that nerves category, probably, Friday night.”
n Robinson and Siddoway both expected to play at RT: MSU released its depth chart with a ‘or’ in between the names of junior college transfer Charles Siddoway and sophomore Damien Robinson at right tackle.
Mullen spoke about how both players will likely see close to equal game snaps Saturday against Jackson State.
“(Charles) has picked it up and gotten used to the speed. I also think he had a great offseason from when he got here till now,” Mullen said. “He’s put on about 15-18 pounds, gotten used to what it’s like to compete against SEC guys in practice. Again, at that position I see both of those guys playing and hopefully playing significant reps in the first game to get them experience under their belt.”
Whoever doesn’t get this starting nod is likely to be the swing tackle, can play at both left and right tackle in a reserve role, as MSU offensive line coach John Hevesy continues to build depth up front.
“I’m going to force guys onto the field no mater the situation to gain them experience to get them ready to play for the long season,” Mullen said. “In game one, I want to give everybody an opportunity after working hard in camp to show what they can do when the lights come on and see how they perform in live game situations.”
n “Several” kickers will likely see action Saturday: The MSU preseason depth chart has freshman Devon Bell or junior Brian Egan as the starting kicker but also walk-on Evan Sobiesk could get some opportunity throughout the contest as well.
Mullen said Monday he was convinced MSU will “play several kickers this week and hopefully have the opportunity to kick extra points and kickoffs” against Jackson State.
In his only field goal attempt of the 2011 season, Egan missed a 29-yard kick in a 24-7 loss to the eventual national champion University of Alabama on Nov. 12. Bell chose MSU over Auburn University, the University of Mississippi and Florida State University after being named a first-team All-American by Sports Illustrated out of Warren Central High School.
“You evaluate it in practice and practice is great and you have to perform in practice but there are a lot of guys who perform in practice but when those lights come on, they go in the opposite direction,” Mullen said. “I want to see who’s going to perform. There’s a big difference in a pressure situation in practice. There’s a big difference between that and 56,000 people staring at you on national television. We’ll see how they respond to it and I might give a bunch of them a chance in the game.”
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