TUPELO - After I asked the question, Les Koenning gave me an incredulous look, pointed to his can of Gatorade, and exclaimed with a smile, “What are you drinking?”

In his defense, my question was this: Are true freshmen more prepared to immediately contribute during games than they used to be?

Koenning, Mississippi State’s second-year offensive coordinator, conceded that they come in more physically prepared, and they certainly are coming in earlier than they used to. MSU doesn’t have a freshman report date for preseason camp any more. Lots of schools don’t.

Of the 24 Bulldog signees that made it to campus, 23 were enrolled by July. Although not allowed to work with coaches prior to August camp, the newcomers were able to get together with older players and start learning the system and building chemistry.

Nevertheless, Koenning said you just don’t want to lean too much on freshmen.

“You could go to every coach in America, they really wouldn’t want to play a freshman,” he said. “Honestly, they really wouldn’t. But there’s some situations that freshmen walk in to that they get to play. I think it helps them down the line.”

Last season, true freshmen made a combined 24 starts for MSU. According to my own research – which consisted of scouring rosters and participation charts – only Ole Miss and South Carolina got more starts from true freshmen (26 each). As for games played, that number for MSU is 84, which is actually toward the low end.

Mind you, a lot of true freshmen only get in on special teams, and in many cases, the majority of starts are by one or two players – for example, half of the true freshman starts for South Carolina belonged to cornerback Stephon Gilmore. At Ole Miss, the kickoff guy (Andrew Ritter) and punter (Tyler Campbell) accounted for 24 starts.

For MSU, receiver Chad Bumphis had a big freshman year. He led the team in receiving with 32 catches for 375 yards. Johnthan Banks, Josh Boyd and Fletcher Cox also had nice seasons.

State went 5-7, 3-5 in the SEC, and a lack of experienced depth was a major reason. Ole Miss and South Carolina both went to bowl games, so not all the numbers are indicative of a team’s overall performance.

But there is this: Three teams had only five freshmen starts each. Can you guess?

Alabama (SEC and BCS champion), Florida (Eastern Division champion), and LSU.

This confirms what we already knew: The less you have to rely on freshmen, the better your chances of winning. Not all freshmen like to hear that, and with so much emphasis on recruiting and signing classes these day, it seems fans are expecting these guys to be stars right away.

Sometimes they are, like with Alabama’s Julio Jones and Georgia’s A.J. Green a couple of years ago. Those are the exceptions.

“We see kids come in, and we see them do something really, really, really good,” said Koenning. “I mean, we get excited about them. We know the future’s really, really bright.

“We’ve seen that in our running backs, but again, you don’t know what you’re going to get until you go on the field. It’s scary at times.”

Head coach Dan Mullen said a handful of freshmen could play in Saturday’s opener against Memphis. None are expected to start, and that’s the way he likes it.

Redshirting is often the best option for a freshman, and it’s amazing what a that can do for a player. For MSU, Gabe Jackson is vying for a starting spot at left guard, Nickoe Whitley is the starter at free safety, and Tyler Russell is battling junior Chris Relf for the quarterback job.

Earlier this summer, Russell reflected on his true freshman year compared to this year.

“This time last year, I didn’t have a clue,” he said.

No matter how good they are, most freshmen don’t.

Brad Locke (brad.locke@djournal.com) covers Mississippi State for the Daily Journal and blogs daily at NEMS360.com.