Mississippi St.'s Robinson out for game against No. 4 West Virginia

JACKSON, Miss. - One of the nation&#39;s best running teams will be in Starkville on Saturday when No. 4 West Virginia plays Mississippi State, but the Bulldogs&#39; best run stuffer won&#39;t be on the field.<br> <br> Defensive tackle Deljuan Robinson had arthroscopic surgery to repair cartilage in his knee and has been lost for about three games, a stretch that also includes No. 10 Georgia.<br> <br> ``It definitely makes the job tougher not having Deljuan,&#39;&#39; Mississippi State coach Sylvester Croom said. ``He does bring a lot of leadership to the table and he&#39;s an experienced player.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Robinson was injured Saturday against No. 9 LSU, the first of two consecutive top 10 opponents for the Bulldogs (1-4). Croom said the injury was originally diagnosed as a sprain, but was upgraded to a torn meniscus after closer inspection.<br> <br> The 6-foot-3, 296-pound senior is tied for 13th in the nation with eight tackles for loss, an average of 1.7 a game. The Bulldogs will miss his presence against the Mountaineers (4-0), who are second in the nation in rushing offense with an average of 299.8 yards a contest.<br> <br> Sophomore running back Steve Slaton is fourth in the nation with 583 yards on 86 carries and six touchdowns. He averages 145.8 yards a game rushing.<br> <br> Add in the passing of quarterback Patrick White and the Mountaineers become the No. 8 offense in the nation with an average of 457 yards per game.<br> <br> The Bulldogs counter with the nation&#39;s No. 35 rush defense and are giving up 104.6 yards rushing per game. But Robinson was a big part of that success.<br> <br> Mississippi State still has starting nose tackle Antonio Johnson and senior primary backup Andrew Powell along the defensive front, but after that the team will have to rely on true freshman Kyle Love and redshirt freshman Quinton Wesley to make an impact.<br> <br> ``They have some ability, but they&#39;re going to get a lot of work this week in practice,&#39;&#39; Croom said. ``The discipline on (West Virginia&#39;s) option and hitting the right gaps, and then tackling those two outstanding athletes in White and Slaton are going to be a great task for us. Those two guys are really going to have to step up for us this week.&#39;&#39;