Miss. QB Garrett commits to LSU

• By WILLIAM WEATHERS
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Mar 27, 2008 - UPDATED: 6:23 a.m.

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For more than five months, Chris Garrett of Tupelo, Miss., has been hailed as a potential savior for Mississippi State’s football program.

After Wednesday’s events unfolded when Garrett switched his commitment from Mississippi State to LSU, the 6-foot-4, 220-pound quarterback discovered the sometimes unforgiving side of college football recruiting.

“A lot of people were happy for me and a lot of people were sort of disappointed in me,” Garrett said of his choice. “I’m just going to stay positive. I’m happy with the decision I made.

Garrett, whose father graduated from Mississippi State and whose brother attends the school about an hour south of their home, said he’s prepared for the backlash that’s certain to follow.

“I’m going to have to build a brick wall around me,” he said. “I know there’s going to be a lot of pressure going out of state.”

Garrett said he found an ally in recent weeks in LSU junior tight end Richard Dickson, a native of Ocean Springs, Miss., when discussing the potential pitfalls of leaving his state’s border.

“He said he wouldn’t change a thing and that he loved it there,” Garrett said. “That sort of helped me out.”

Garrett increases LSU’s commitment total to eight and second for a quarterback where he joins Russell Shephard of Houston-Cypress Ridge.

“I look forward getting down there, competing and seeing what happens,” Garrett said. “I can’t wait to get there.”

Garrett, like Shephard, will get a head start on his college career by graduating in December and enrolling at LSU for the spring semester where he can take part in spring drills.

Garrett offers a direct contrast in style to the speedy Shephard. The Mississippi quarterback is content to stay in the pocket and get the ball downfield with a quick release. He’s completed 188 of 362 passes for 3,278 yards and 27 touchdowns for Tupelo, where he’s started both seasons.

Scholarship offers were also on the table from Florida State, Colorado, Ole Miss and Nebraska, but a trip last month to LSU for junior day was enough to prompt Garrett to consider a change of heart and change in schools.