http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/sep/10/carroll-matures-at-qb/
Mississippi State ended its Monday afternoon practice earlier than usual.
There were plenty of things sophomore starting quarterback Wesley Carroll could have done with the unexpected free time.
Go back to his room and chill out. Get a head start on dinner. Get his homework out of the way. Something.
But like the football junkie that he is, Carroll couldn’t tear himself from the practice field. With MSU’s backups forced to stay after practice to get some extra work in, Carroll remained behind too.
Ever since his successful true freshman season ended a year ago, Carroll has done whatever he can to improve his quarterbacking skills.
And when he didn’t start off the season the way he wanted, throwing three interceptions in the Bulldogs’ 22-14 opening loss at Louisiana Tech, Carroll was back at it.
Last Saturday’s much-improved effort saw him complete 15 of 23 passes for 158 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. But after fumbling once, Carroll felt the need for more work.
“I think we did some good things offensively,” Carroll said. “We did better than the week before, which is good that we saw ourselves improve. We still left some yards out there. We missed a couple of opportunities. That’s why we’re out here at practice so we can make those corrections and execute even better the next week.”
Carroll played in all 13 games last season, including starting the last nine when he was pressed into duty after Michael Henig broke his hand on the opening drive against Auburn.
He completed 52 percent of his passes, good for 1,392 yards with nine touchdowns and seven interceptions. Realizing that those numbers needed to improve if the Bulldogs were going to build on last season’s success — capped by an AutoZone Liberty Bowl victory — Carroll spent the off-season not only getting his body in better shape, but throwing passes to his receivers.
Memphis Commercial Appeal
9/10/08
