Blog Bag: The Answers

A got a lot of good stuff this week, I think. First, I’ll address an issue I couldn’t get to last time.

On the video replay board:
The 111×47-foot board, which will be 135 feet high and costs just over $6 million, will hopefully be finished in time for the Kentucky game on Nov. 1. Athletics director Greg Byrne said there are no plans for new or changed seating arrangements right now, however: “We are very early in the process of exploring what our long-term seating options are going to be for Davis Wade Stadium. … We need more high-end seating. We need more skyboxes and club level seats, chairback seats.”
Supply, he said, can’t meet the demand right now.

On the new basketball practice facility:
Byrne said plans are drawn up and being finalized. He said he’s close to announcing some “major gifts” for the facility, which he hopes will be ready to go in about 18 months. It’ll take about a year to build, which means they hope to break ground by the first of the year.

On seating for basketball:
Gregg Ellis says: 2-4 weeks.

On getting Robert Elliott the dang ball:
OC Woody McCorvey: “The biggest thing is that we have not generated a lot of explosive runs, and we feel like Robert gives us the capability of doing that. Because he has the speed that once he gets in the secondary, especially if a team’s playing man coverage, that it gets somebody out of place, he has the ability to be able to make a long run, and that’s what we’re looking for in him.”

McCorvey’s thoughts on the season’s struggles:
“I know everybody’s disappointed, we’re disappointed, too. Because we put a lot of time into this thing out here on the practice field, and these guys put a lot of time in. You get an opportunity in a game like that, where the environment was the way it was – the defense was really playing good, so you feel like from our side of the ball, we didn’t do our part. That’s what we’re doing right now, working to correct it.”

On commemorating Jack Cristil:
Byrne says nothing is planned right now, but y’all will recall that they honored him a few years back for his longevity.

On Jeff Garrett:
As I stated in a comments section, the guy who wrote that letter to the editor is not related to Tupelo QB Chris Garrett.

On WR Delmon Robinson, who didn’t play much against Auburn:
Coach Sylvester Croom: “That’s my fault on that. We’ve got to get him in the game.” He added that Robinson had too many drops in practice last week.

On what new guys impressed Croom last week:
“I still think our receivers are doing good things. Brandon McRae’s playing well, everybody on defense played well. … Our tackling was better. Jessie Bowman played well. Terrell Johnson is one of the young guys who stepped up and hadn’t got much playing time previously.” He also praised the play of center J.C. Brignone.

On commitments shying away from MSU:
Byrne: “We have had a lot of momentum in recruiting this year. We have a lot of confidence in our coaches’ abilities to recruit kids coming to Mississippi State, the kids that we want, and the kids that want to be here.
“There’s a lot of time between now and the first Wednesday in February (national signing day).”

On where breakdowns were last week:
Croom got on the offensive line pretty good, particularly in regards to giving QB Wesley Carroll a roomy pocket: “We had some breakdowns in critical situations that mystified me, to be honest with you, for guys who have played as many snaps as they’ve played. … There’s only so many you can tolerate during the course of a game offensively and be able to function with any degree of efficiency. And it cannot come from your veteran players.”

On Croom’s buyout:
Byrne said he has one, but it’s not going to be made public knowledge. It doesn’t have to be made public because it doesn’t come from state funds.