MSU’s Carroll learning on job

Ken Rogers
Media General News Service
Published: July 23, 2008

HOOVER — Wesley Carroll is one of those “yes, but...” quarterbacks.

Practically forced into battle as a true freshman, the surprisingly poised Carroll played in every game and earned his first start in the fourth game of the season.

Yes, but a guy as physically limited as Carroll — who is 6-foot-1, 190 pounds — shouldn’t have been ready to lead a team against the bruising SEC defenses.

He proved himself a quick study. The kid from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., threw 137 passes without being intercepted, one short of the NCAA record.

Yes, but he looked immobile at times with questionable arm strength and shaky footwork.

He rallied Mississippi State, which won three of its final four regular season games, then beat Central Florida in the Liberty Bowl to finish 8-5.

Yes, but ... can he do it again?

Carroll simply shrugs off the skeptics.

“It really doesn’t bother me,” he said. “As long as we’re winning that’s all that matters. I’m not worried about people saying my body’s the right size, I’m the right height, my arm ... whatever it is.”

One of Carroll’s strongest qualities was the ability to shake off bad plays. State’s offense looked all but lost late in the season against Alabama, Ole Miss and Central Florida. Each time, State’s offense did just enough to support its exceptional defense.

“I compare quarterbacks to pitchers a lot,” Carroll said. “In baseball if you give up a home run you’ve got to move on to the next batter. It’s the same thing at quarterback. You have to forget about making a bad read, throwing an interception, hurting your team. You’ve got to go out there and get the next drive going.

“Coach always tells me it’s like an old-school style offense, this West Coast offense that we have. It’s just managing the game for three and a half quarters and winning it, having the edge, in the last five minutes of the game. That’s how we won several of our games. That’s all that matters is coming out with a ‘W.’”

Last season, State protected its freshman. Offensive coordinator Woody McCorvey choreographed a conservative, don’t-get-us-beat game plan for his quarterback.

“We didn’t run any plays that we weren’t capable of running,” Carroll said. “We weren’t going to fool ourselves and go four-wide with four vertical routes. That’s not part of our offense. Our offense is about moving the ball consistently, moving the chains, controlling the clock and determining the tempo of the game.”

Carroll doesn’t impress opponents who study a stat sheet or beat them with a cannon arm. He completed 134 of 255 passes for 1,392 yards, nine touchdowns and seven interceptions. But he found a way to win — 6-3 as a starter, which included dramatic comeback wins against Alabama and Ole Miss — and that looked pretty good to Bulldog fans. And State head coach Sylvester Croom.

“The guy starts off as a third-stringer,” Croom said. “Doesn’t have a great arm. He ends up all of a sudden in the early part of the season starting in the Southeastern Conference as a pure freshman. No benefit of spring practice, no working in the summer with coaches, learning a pretty complicated offense. ...

“I have been amazed at his decision making. I expect him to be even better this year. We’re going to give him more options this year and allow him to make more decisions on the field, which we think will make us a more explosive offense.”