By By Richard Dark / EMG sports writer
Oct. 1, 2002
BATON ROUGE, La. With a team that can be considered in a rebuilding mode, as some would view these Mississippi State Bulldogs, often freshman who are labeled as can't-miss prospects get thrown into the fire early on.
Such is the case with former Wayne County War Eagle standout Willie Evans. Evans, a do-it-all soldier, who was molded under the tutelages of both Bobby Hall and current Wayne County coach Marcus Boyles began the season, as a third-string fullback. He saw spot duty throughout MSU's first three games, but following the Bulldogs' 42-14 loss to Auburn 10 days ago, Evans was promptly reassigned.
Saturday in Tiger Stadium, Evans got significant minutes on the defensive line, where he dug in and logged a total of three tackles.
Despite the loss, Evans was all smiles afterward. "I had a lot of fun even though we came up short on the scoreboard. I'm doing alright. It's a little different than high school, you got a lot of guys out there bigger and faster than you."
And what better trial by fire for Evans than to begin his stint in Joe Lee Dunn's corner in a raucous Tiger Stadium trying to stop an All-American candidate such as Domanick Davis?
Evans agreed with Sherrill that he has to add on more weight to go along with his position change. He said had he known he would have been playing on defense, he would already been up to around the high 280s. Other freshmen that contributed for the Bulldogs were running back Jerious Norwood and Nick Turner. Turner left the game midway through the fourth quarter with an injury. He accounted for 87 total yards on both offense and special teams. Norwood had a first down run for nine yards.