Former Starkville High School player more comfortable each day at MSU
Five games into his collegiate career, Mississippi State linebacker Willie Gay, Jr. is settling in.
The former Starkville high standout, who shot up the MSU depth chart in preseason training camp to earn significant playing time this season as a true freshman, is getting more comfortable by the rep.
“Oh yeah, I feel way more comfortable than I did in fall camp,” Gay said earlier this week. “I've been around now. I've been through fall camp. I've been through workouts with the team. I am at a point now where it is finally coming along and I am getting used to it all.”
It should come as no surprise that it took Gay a little bit to find his bearings as a Bulldog. Despite coming in as one of the most highly sought-after linebackers in the country, playing Southeastern Conference football is nothing like the prep ranks.
It took Gay time to learn the playbook. He's now done that. He had to figure out he could hang with the best the SEC has to offer. He's now done that too. The result is a player that is now confident he belongs.
“Practice really started to get easier for me after the LSU week,” Gay said. “That's when I started to take it more serious and started to have fun with it.
“(After the LSU game) I felt like, ‘OK, I can help this team out and put my talents to use.' That helped out a lot going into the following weeks.”
So far, Gay is putting together a very respectable rookie year in a backup role to sophomore Leo Lewis. Gay has 10
| Page 3C