Croom wants Mississippi State offense to get more physical

Posted 7:02PM on Tuesday 27th September 2005 ( 19 years ago )

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) Mississippi State's offense is going back to basics. ``We just have to play a lot better,'' coach Sylvester Croom said Tuesday at his weekly news conference. ``We are going to do that by getting back to some of our base things and see if we can execute the core of our offense.'' The Bulldogs (2-2, 0-2 Southeastern Conference) struggled to sustain drives during last week's 23-10 loss to No. 7 Georgia. Mississippi State had a field goal on its opening drive, a touchdown on its next-to-last possession and not much in between, largely because the Bulldogs couldn't get much going on the ground. Mississippi State spread the field and attempted to run through the gaps last week, but that didn't work. The Bulldogs ran for a season-worst 49 yards, and running back Jerious Norwood was held to minus-6 yards rushing in the second half. ``We have got to get into a rhythm of running the football,'' Croom said. ``We tried to spread them out a little bit last week, trying to create some better running lanes. We are going to start doing it the hard way again, by knocking people off the football. ``We are not going to try to finesse people. We are going to block people and run and do it the sure, hard way,'' he said. LSU (1-1, 0-1) did a good job Monday night of stopping the run in its loss to Tennessee except in overtime. The Tigers held Gerald Riggs to 89 yards on 24 carries but allowed him to score the winning touchdown in the Volunteers' 30-27 victory. The Vols finished with 70 yards rushing. Tigers defensive coordinator Bo Pelini and Croom were on the Green Bay Packers' staff in 2001 and 2002, and the Mississippi State coach knows what to expect from Pelini. ``He is not going to play tricks during the game,'' Croom said. ``He pretty much knows my philosophy, and I know his. So really, it is going to come down to the players executing and playing good football.'' Kickoff for Saturday's game is 1:30 p.m. (Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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