Mississippi St.'s walk-on QB preps for 2nd start

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -The realization hit Tyson Lee like a blitzing linebacker as he walked to practice Monday.

He is now the starting quarterback at Mississippi State, completing a journey both improbable and likely unbelievable to the dozens who told him he had no chance of playing out his childhood sandlot visions on a real Southeastern Conference field.

"I was like, 'Wow, here I am,"' Lee said. "I used to come to Mississippi State and watch games, and here I am actually walking out to Mississippi State's football field about to practice as the quarterback. Before I stepped on the field, I said, 'Thank you, Lord.' It's been a long road."

Snubbed by four-year colleges coming out of high school in Columbus, the National Honor Society member chose to go to Itawamba Community College to chase his football fancy. He was both an athletic and academic All-American last season. But the offers only trickled in from Championship Subdivision and Division II schools despite a gaudy 4,432 yards passing and 31 touchdowns in two seasons.

"The Short Syndrome is what I heard," said Lee, listed at 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds.

So he took a chance, called Mississippi State coach Sylvester Croom and asked to walk on at the school he grew up worshipping.

"We didn't have a scholarship for him coming out of high school," Croom said. "We didn't have a scholarship for him immediately coming out of junior college. We told him when he came here he'd be given a fair chance and that's all he asked for."

Given that chance, Lee has amazed his new teammates and coaches. He enrolled last January and immediately earned the backup spot behind incumbent starter Wes Carroll in spring practice.

With Carroll and the offense struggling mightily, Croom made the switch to Lee before the LSU game. The Bulldogs lost, but scored 24 points against a tough Tigers defense in their best offensive performance of the season.

Lee completed 17 of 26 passes for 175 yards and a touchdown. And he didn't commit a turnover. Croom saw enough that Lee will start Saturday's game against No. 13 Vanderbilt.

"If I feel like during the course of the game we need to make a change, I'll do that," Croom said. "But it won't be because of a bad play or something like that. He doesn't have to look over his shoulder."

---

NEW START: Chris Smelley always thought he could excel at quarterback for South Carolina. After the best performance of his career, he got some validation, being named SEC offensive player of the week.