STARKVILLE – Elijah Staley was overcome by nerves before he stepped on Scott Field at Davis Wade Stadium Saturday.
The Mississippi State redshirt freshman quarterback was about to make his first career appearance and the nerves had been with him since Tuesday. But when his cleats hit the turf, all the tension of playing for the first time on the collegiate level melted away as he heard a very familiar voice call out to him.
“When I stepped on the field I honestly heard my mom say, ‘Let’s go Elijah,'” Staley said. “I knew then I was happy. I didn’t really feel any nerves anymore and I was just ready to go.”
Staley’s mother, Sharon Campbell, was sitting with the rest of the players’ parents behind the MSU bench. His brother always said he could hear their mother talking to him when he played basketball, but Elijah never believed it until Saturday.
Staley’s first drive resulted in his first-career touchdown. He hit senior Joe Morrow for a 37-yard touchdown. On the play before, he found freshman Malik Dear for an 18-yard catch to move the chains and set up the score.
“As soon as it left my hands, I knew it was a touchdown because it was one of those feelings,” Staley said. “It was a good ball and I knew it from the jump.”
He didn’t look at his mother after the touchdown, but said he gave her a big hug after the game was over.
The Bulldogs went on to beat Northwestern State 62-13 to move to 2-1 overall. Staley completed 2 of 3 passes for 55 yards and the one touchdown. His one incompletion wasn’t even his fault as the receiver ran the wrong route. The Marietta, Georgia, native ran the ball one time for seven yards.
Staley and fellow redshirt freshman quarterback Nick Fitzgerald were told at halftime they were both going to play in the second half. The Bulldogs built a 34-6 lead at halftime, and senior Dak Prescott didn’t play at all in the second half.
Fitzgerald completed 4 of 4 passes for 90 yards and a touchdown. He rushed for 28 yards on five carries and another two touchdowns.
Quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson was pleased with both their performances, but it is only the beginning.
“Now the key is for them to build on that in a manner where it makes them desperate for more success,” Johnson said. “It’s not having a feeling of complacency or thinking that you’ve arrived because you went out there and had a good game, it’s about the complete body of work and having that desire to be great every single day and pushing yourself and challenging yourself in all aspects of yourself.”
Staley admitted last week leading up the game, there were times last season during his redshirt year, that there were weeks he didn’t pay as much attention because he wasn’t getting to play.
That all changed last week as he took everything serious.
“I studied a lot more, I made sure I focused a lot more in practice on little details that I may need to know,” Staley said. “I only played six plays, but I made sure I prepared as if I would have to go out there and start that game.”
Johnson played for the University of Utah from 2004-08 and was a the starter in 2005 and then again from 2007-08.
He was Alex Smith’s backup in 2004, but played a good bit as the Utes were very good and had several blowouts. His first completion went for 10 yards to Jerome Wright against Utah State, Sept. 18, 2004. He also had his first touchdown, a 6-yard strike to John Madsen, in the contest. He finished that day completing 5 of 8 passes for 53 yards and the lone touchdown.
He remembers those plays as vividly today as he did back then.
“Those plays, they’ll never forget them,” Johnson said. “Elijah will always remember that go route to Joe and Nick will always remember that big post to Donald (Gray) for his first college touchdown.”
Staley played only a few games during his senior year at Wheeler High School before being asked to leave the team. He went through training camp last fall, but didn’t go through spring drills after suffering a knee injury.
He was finally healthy midway through training camp this year, so knew playing time was on the horizon.
“That felt real good hearing everybody clap with cowbells,” Staley said. “It really just juiced me up and I was ready to go.”
Staley and the rest of the Bulldogs (2-1, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) travel to Auburn, Alabama, Saturday for a matchup with the Auburn Tigers (2-1, 0-1). Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on ESPN2.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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 30 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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 30 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
