STARKVILLE — Mississippi State University offensive guard Tobias Smith said he’d like to return for another season of college football.
The senior offensive guard told reporters Saturday after MSU’s 28-10 victory against Auburn University that he will petition the NCAA for a waiver that will grant him a sixth year of eligibility.
By NCAA rule, the waiver can’t be applied for and granted until the end of the 2012 season.
“Without a shadow of a doubt, I’ll be back if I can get the eligibility,” Smith said after game.
Smith, a former Columbus High School standout, has had two seasons end in September due to multiple ankle surgeries. Last season, he suffered a severe knee injury in a 19-6 loss to LSU in Starkville.
“I knew coming back from this injury that I would make a full recovery, and I’m still on the road to doing that,” Smith said. “I feel 100 percent when I’m out there, and if that wasn’t the case, I wouldn’t be out there risking an injury again.”
Smith has started the first two games this season, but backups Justin Malone and Ben Beckwith have received significant playing time in each of the games.
“His last snap (before the 2012 season opener) was the third play of the game last year,” MSU offensive line coach John Hevesy said. “He’s been out of it a whole year, even in practice and all that stuff. (The goal) was to get him in the game and get him in the mind-set of playing game speed.”
Smith intends to apply for the same waiver the NCAA granted tight end Marcus Green before the start of this season. Green, who is from Scooba, received a sixth-year of eligibility after the school applied for it on his behalf due to his injury situation. Green redshirted his first season at MSU in 2007. A hip injury forced him to miss all but two games in 2008. A knee injury forced him to miss all of the 2010 season.
Bulldogs not ranked in either AP or USA Today Coaches’ poll
MSU must wait another week to have a chance to earn a ranking after it wasn’t ranked Sunday in The Associated Press or USA Today Coaches’ polls.
MSU (2-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference), which defeated Auburn University 28-10 on Saturday, will start SEC play 1-0 for the first time since 1999. It received 70 points in The AP poll, placing it 30th.
The Arkansas Democrat Gazette’s Tom Murphy has MSU ranked highest at No. 16.
“I don’t know if we’re going to sneak up on anybody this year,” MSU coach Dan Mullen said Sunday. “That’s a good feeling to have.
It’s a long season, and we have to come back this week against a good football team on the road. There’s different kinds of adversity — the adversity of facing failure and the adversity of how you handle success.”
Cox has sack in NFL debut
Former MSU defensive lineman Fletcher Cox made an impression in his first game in the NFL by recording a sack.
Cox, the 12th overall pick by the Philadelphia Eagles, sacked Cleveland’s rookie quarterback Brandon Weeden in the third quarter of the Eagles’ 17-16 victory. Cox had the sack on a first-and-10 play after quarterback Michael Vick threw one of his four interceptions.
Cox was named to the AP and Coaches’ All-SEC teams following his junior season. Cox helped lead the Bulldogs to victories in the Egg Bowl against the University of Mississippi in each of his three seasons, and victories in the 2011 Gator Bowl and the 2012 Music City Bowl.
In the past two seasons, Cox played an integral role on a defense that allowed less than 20 points per game, and finished in the top 25 nationally both years. Cox led the Bulldogs in 2011 with 14.5 tackles for loss and five sacks.
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