Next game: vs. Memphis, Saturday, 6 p.m. (ESPNU, Clay Matvick and Herm Edwards)

You read that headline right. Not counting on freshmen, just counting them. That's what I did for today's opinion offering – I looked at each SEC team to see how much of a contribution each received from true freshmen in 2009.

What I did was see how many combined games they played, and how many starts they made. Came up with some interesting data. Here's a look at it, with records and postseason info included:

Alabama: 97 games, 5 starts (14-0, 8-0, BCS title)

Arkansas: 107 games, 8 starts (8-5, 3-5, Liberty Bowl)

Auburn: 134 games, 19 starts (8-5, 3-5, Outback Bowl)

Florida: 65 games, 5 starts (13-1, 8-0, Sugar Bowl)

Georgia: 101 games, 10 starts (8-5, 4-4, Independence Bowl)

Kentucky: 67 games, 8 starts (7-6, 3-5, Music City Bowl)

LSU: 45 games, 5 starts (9-4, 5-3, Capital One Bowl)

MSU: 84 games, 24 starts (5-7, 3-5)

Ole Miss: 94 games, 26 starts (9-4, 4-4, Cotton Bowl)

South Carolina: 117 games, 26 starts (7-6, 3-5, Papajohns.com Bowl)

Tennessee: 142 games, 18 starts (7-6, 4-4, Chick-fil-A Bowl)

Vanderbilt: 56 games, 15 starts (2-10, 0-8)

As I noted in my column, it's not surprising that the teams relying the least on freshmen in starting roles were Alabama, Florida and LSU. Also notable is that for teams with a higher number of true freshman starts, many of those starts are accounted for by just one or two players.

As for games played, that one's a little harder to put in context without some sort of deeper statistical analysis. The two teams with the lowest numbers, LSU and Vanderbilt, had very different seasons. Then you look at Alabama, Arkansas and Auburn, and those numbers could probably be explained in part by "garbage time" – little-used players seeing the field when a game is out of hand.

As for MSU, seven true freshmen were credited with starts: Johnthan Banks (7), Chad Bumphis (6), Fletcher Cox (4), Josh Boyd (3), Chris Smith (2), Brandon Heavens (1), and Riley Saunders (1).

Saunders? Apparently he got credited with some sort of special teams start. Not every school counts those the same way, which means there is a small margin of error with my numbers (plus, I might have missed a guy here or there, as such tedious work is fertile ground for oversights).

So, hope all you fellow statheads enjoyed that.

• GAME DAY IMPROVEMENTS: My boy Danza Johnson has a story in the news section of today's Journal examing the changes MSU has made for football game days. Among them: shutting down Stone Blvd., the new Junction Grill, a mobile trailer selling Bulldog apparel, and extra RV hookups.

• ON THE LINKS: Colleague Parrish Alford writes that Ole Miss can thank MSU for educating it in the option game. … Ron Higgins of the Commercial Appeal writes about cowbells. … Also from the C-A, Dan Wolken believes the season opener is a must-win game for Dan Mullen. … Also, if you missed it last night, MSU reserve fullback William Shumpert is out indefinitely after undergoing surgery for a herniated disc on Tuesday. The redshirt freshman from Fulton is expected to make a full recovery.