Stepping up
Madkin leads Mississippi St. to SEC title game
Posted: Wednesday December 02, 1998 03:35 PM
JACKSON, Mississippi (AP) -- At one point midway through the season, coach Jackie Sherrill said that Mississippi State had a chance to be very, very good -- if its quarterback played up to the level of the rest of the team.
Redshirt freshman Wayne Madkin must have done his part.
Madkin, the fourth Mississippi State quarterback used in the season opener, started the last eight games for the No. 23 Bulldogs (8-3), who play top-ranked Tennessee (11-0) Saturday in the Southeastern Conference Championship Game.
"I've seen a lot of growing pains and grown up a little bit in being a quarterback," Madkin said by phone from the Starkville campus. "My goal was to get better every game ... not as far as talent-wise, but just being a quarterback."
Madkin was a winner in his first two starts after replacing junior Matt Wyatt, a 10-game starter the season before.
The Bulldogs won 38-0 at South Carolina and 38-21 over Auburn, but not really because of anything Madkin did. While making no major mistakes, he was just a combined 10-of-25 passing for 115 yards, most of that yardage coming on a 48-yard play.
In his last six starts, however, Madkin was 64-of-124 passing (52 percent) for 1,103 yards, eight touchdowns and just four interceptions.
"He has the ability to throw the ball, he throws the ball very well and has a good touch," Sherrill said of Madkin. "He has the ability to see the field, and is getting better and better with that."
The 19-year-old Madkin often talks about how he considers it a privilege -- and a responsibility -- as one of just 12 starting quarterbacks in the SEC. He was among at least four freshmen starters, but the only one to make it to the league's title game.
With nine senior starters around him, Madkin has continued to develop into a leader.
"No doubt, he's developed and progressed every game. He is more calm in the huddle and throughout practices," said senior center Eric Allen. "He has a presences about him ... he has taken the bull by the horn and is getting the job done."
Madkin's advancement was most evident in the last two regular season games, must-wins for Mississippi State to be in its current position.
After James Johnson ran for 237 yards in a 26-14 victory over Alabama, the SEC rushing leader was limited by a groin injury to 15 carries for 68 yards against Arkansas and Ole Miss.
In a 22-21 victory over Arkansas on Nov. 21 that gave Mississippi State control of the SEC Western Division race, Brian Hazelwood kicked a 27-yard field goal with seven seconds left.
That field goal concluded a game-winning drive during which Madkin scrambled away from heavy pressure, and the grasp of potential tacklers, to convert a third-and-18 play and then a fourth-and-15.
"That made me understand my poise more," Madkin said of the Arkansas game. "As far as being a quarterback in the SEC, the biggest thing is poise. I learned about poise and leading the team. I'm just trying to build on it."
His numbers (7-of-19 for 164 yards) were not outstanding in a 28-6 victory at Ole Miss, but he appeared in control of the offense -- and comfortable in his role as the team leader when Johnson sat out the second half of the regular season finale.
"It made me go into more of the go-to guy role more," Madkin said of Johnson's absence. "I'm okay with that. I'm a competitor and have dreamed about this all of my life. I have to seize the opportunity."
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