A Look Inside Wet Ball Tuesday

STARKVILLE – Saturday's forecast is only predicting a five-percent chance of rain.

But if there is a torrential downpour during Mississippi State's game with Texas A&M or any other opponent, rest assured that the Bulldogs' centers are ready. That's because each Tuesday after practice, centers LaQuinston Sharp and Steven Losoya III practice snapping wet footballs just in case that situation arises.

"Wet ball Tuesday is a simulation of what it's like to play in a rainy game," Sharp said. "If it's pouring down raining and everything is wet, they're trying to get us ready for all of those circumstances."

Managers bring out a 10-gallon Gatorade cooler filled with water at the conclusion of practice that Sharp and Losoya will submerge footballs in before snapping them to stand-in quarterbacks.

"We're trying to make the ball super slippery and super wet," said offensive line coach Mason Miller. "What happens if it's raining during the game and it didn't rain all week (at practice) and we haven't prepared to snap the ball in wet conditions? We make them dunk the balls into water and they have to do 10 perfect snaps in a row with different cadences and play calls."

With MSU running Mike Leach's Air Raid offense exclusively out of the shotgun formation, the wet ball drill allows centers to perfect their fundamentals and technique should moisture or precipitation enter the scenario during a game.

"It helps you find that right grip," Losoya said. "Sometimes you can get down there and just snap it but if you have to get a certain grip with your thumb, that drill helps you practice that."

To add another layer of difficulty, managers and sometimes even Miller himself will squirt ice water on Sharp and Losoya to mimic what playing in those conditions could be like and force the centers to concentrate on their responsibilities on that particular play.

"While they're snapping it, I just use it as an opportunity to squirt water on people," Miller said. "I try to make it as distracting as humanly possible so they have to focus on what they're supposed to be doing in that moment."

Sharp, who has been the Bulldogs' starting center for the last 17 games, has grown accustomed to Miller's Tuesday tactics.

"He'll spray you in the face and all of that stuff," Sharp said. "You've just got to dial in and snap the ball."

Losoya transferred to MSU from Middle Tennessee in January and snapped some for the Bulldogs in the spring. However, it wasn't until training camp last month that the redshirt junior experienced wet ball Tuesday firsthand.

And Miller made sure to fully indoctrinate Losoya to the drill as only he can.

"Coach Miller just dumped the whole thing on me on the last snap," Losoya said. "It was so cold. It was like the ice bucket challenge."

Losoya played center some throughout high school and early on in his college career with the Blue Raiders and has had to snap in wet conditions before. Sharp got his first taste of playing center in wet weather during last year's Egg Bowl.

Both Sharp and Losoya tuck towels in their waistband to try and keep their hands as dry as possible. But if wet weather ever comes into play again on game day, Sharp is confident the Bulldogs won't miss a beat from a snapping standpoint thanks to all the practice reps on wet ball Tuesday.

"It helps me prepare mentally because we've been working on it," Sharp said. "I can just grip it and rip it."

Mississippi State University Athletics

A Look Inside Wet Ball Tuesday

Players Mentioned

Steven Losoya III

LaQuinston Sharp

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