OXFORD — First, lead return man Derek Pegues went down with an injury in the first quarter. That meant former Vicksburg High standout Delmon Robinson, would now be handling the kickoff returns for Mississippi State against Ole Miss.

Then in the second quarter, junior wide receiver Brandon McRae broke his leg, after taking just a step off the line of scrimmage. Robinson is McRae’s backup.

“Man, that was bad,” Robinson said, seeing his teammate lying in pain as medical staff attended to McRae, trying to calm him down and get the air cast on his broken leg.

Mississippi State was already down 24-0 and pretty much out of the game, even with it being just the second quarter. They went on to lose 45-0 to their archrivals on a misty, dark day at Vaught-Hemmingway Stadium. It was State’s worst loss in the Egg Bowl series since a 48-0 thrashing in 1971.

The day after the loss, things got worse for Bulldog players when they were told by coach Sylvester Croom that he was not coming back for next season. Robinson had a feeling it might happen. He was one of the more vocal defenders of Croom and his staff during the Ole Miss postgame press conference.

“It makes it a whole lot tougher on us. Just look at the outcome of last year’s game with Ole Miss. They lose and then fire the coach the next day. I know I back coach Croom. When it’s man-on-man coverage, I’ve got to win that battle. I’m one of 11 guys who faces that every play. If we don’t win it, it’s not the coach’s fault, it’s the players. It’s up to us to execute what they’ve taught us,” Robinson said.

Because of the injuries to Pegues and McRae, Robinson saw more action in the Ole Miss game than any other contest except the opener at Louisiana Tech. He actually finished as the team’s offensive leader with 58 yards on three kickoff returns, considering State had just 37 yards of offense. He also fielded one punt and caught one pass for eight yards.

As a team, State was held to negative 51 yards rushing as three different quarterbacks were sacked 11 times.

“Ole Miss brought their “A” game and we didn’t. I can’t remember getting beat that bad, even when we lost to South Panola,” Robinson said of a 41-7 loss to South Panola in the first round of the 2005 Class 5A playoffs.

Robinson said the momentum from the close of the 2007 season, where Croom led the Bulldogs to an 8-5 record and a win in the Liberty Bowl, began to unravel at the 2008 opener at Louisiana Tech.

“The very first game this year, our leaders just seemed to lose their confidence,” Robinson said of the 22-14 loss at the hands of Louisiana Tech in Ruston.

“We tried to win it back. But then, when we lost to Auburn (3-2) after that, so much pressure just built up on us and the coaches,” Robinson said.

Robinson did not see the field against Auburn, which was surprising since he had led the team in the Louisiana Tech game with five receptions for 63 yards.

He got on the field against Georgia Tech, making one catch for three yards as the Bulldogs were pummelled, 38-7.

He caught an 18-yard pass against LSU, but the Bulldogs lost again, 34-24 in Baton Rouge.

The Bulldogs won two of their next three games, home wins over Vanderbilt (17-14) and Middle Tennessee State  (31-22) in between a bad road loss at Tennessee (34-3).

Robinson did not have a catch or a return in another close, 14-13 loss to Kentucky at Scott Field that dropped the Bulldogs to 3-6.

Against Arkansas, Robinson caught a pair of passes for 11 yards and also had two kickoff returns for another 17 yards as the Bulldogs won, 31-28, to get to 4-7, heading into the Egg Bowl.

“Overall, it’s been a great experience for me,” Robinson said of his freshman season. His final numbers read: 12 receptions for 123 yards and 134 yards on eight kickoff returns.

“I learned a lot of stuff from both coach (Pat) Washington and coach Croom,” Robinson said. “Coach Washington taught me how to read coverages and I’ve become a smarter player for it. I think whatever happens for next year, the freshmen will be ready to go.”

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Contact Jeff Byrd at jbyrd@vicksburgpost.com.