Bama, Mississippi State have maturing QBs

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Michael Henig was flinging passes to Alabama defenders in his first start for Mississippi State. John Parker Wilson was watching from the sidelines as the Crimson Tide&#39;s backup quarterback.<br> <br> The two sophomore quarterbacks have come a long way since last year&#39;s meeting as they enter the rematch on Saturday.<br> <br> Henig moved into the starting spot for the Tide game a year ago, completing just 9-of-28 passes for a paltry 78 yards and getting intercepted three times.<br> <br> Alabama (6-3, 2-3 Southeastern Conference) isn&#39;t expecting many more such gifts from the Bulldogs&#39; maturing passer.<br> <br> ``You talk about watching him last week and then watching him last year when we played them, he&#39;s just a totally different guy,&#39;&#39; Tide coach Mike Shula said. ``He&#39;s so much more confident. He&#39;s a really good athlete. He&#39;s not afraid to throw it in there. His arm strength has improved, his accuracy has improved and his confidence has improved.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> And with them, Mississippi State (2-7, 0-5) has improved its passing game. Henig is coming off a 384-yard effort in a loss to Kentucky, fourth-most in school history.<br> <br> And the Bulldogs have scored 90 points in their last three games, their highest-scoring three-game stretch since 2003.<br> <br> ``They&#39;re coming together as a team these last couple of games and they&#39;re making some bigtime plays,&#39;&#39; Alabama linebacker Matt Collins said. ``They&#39;re playing well together right now, and that to me seems to be one of the big factors.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Unlike Henig, a Montgomery native, Wilson is coming off his two worst games and might not be as mobile as he normally is after hurting an already-sore ankle last week. He opened his first season as starter with seven consecutive 200-yard passing games.<br> <br> He passed for just 232 yards and one touchdown in the past two games against Florida International and Tennessee.<br> <br> Wilson said he doesn&#39;t expect his left ankle to slow him down much against the Bulldogs. But his blockers are putting a premium on minimizing the hits he takes nonetheless.<br> <br> ``That&#39;s something that&#39;s real important,&#39;&#39; Alabama tackle Chris Capps said. ``If he&#39;s injured or banged up, you&#39;ve really got to try to keep people off him. Not just keep him from getting sacked but from getting hit at all.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Wilson and the passing game should get a big boost from the expected return of No. 2 receiver Keith Brown from a knee injury. Brown sat out the past two games, and Wilson and the offense clearly missed him.<br> <br> Shula still sees steady progress from his young quarterback.<br> <br> ``John Parker is getting better with every single snap,&#39;&#39; he said.<br> <br> Henig, meanwhile, has benefited from the emergence of receiver Tony Burks as a big-play threat. Burks had 192 yards receiving and two touchdowns against Kentucky and is averaging nearly 27 yards a catch.<br> <br> Henig&#39;s emergence has been a pleasant sight for Mississippi State coach Sylvester Croom, who has started three quarterbacks this season since the opener against South Carolina.<br> <br> ``The thing we feel a whole lot better about now ... is that the ability is there to be a bigtime quarterback in this conference,&#39;&#39; Croom said. ``If we keep getting more people around him, then offensively we can be everything that we&#39;d like to be.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> The difference is also evident to Tide defensive coordinator Joe Kines.<br> <br> ``You can almost draw a line in your season there after the quarterback came back,&#39;&#39; Kines said. ``They&#39;re an entirely different team.&#39;&#39;