Mississippi State’s Corey Clark (97) swats a pass from Tulane quarterback Lester Ricard during the Bulldogs’ 28-7 victory in the season-opener on Saturday night. Clark and the defense held Ricard to 135 yards passing and intercepted him twice.

[9/7/04]STARKVILLE When David Heard was at Vicksburg High, he would watch as Mississippi State dominated opponents with a reckless, hard-hitting defense.

Under Joe Lee Dunn’s unorthodox defensive schemes, the Bulldogs would line up in myriad formations, attack the football and deliver bone-crushing tackles.

On Saturday night, under first-year defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson, Heard became a part of a defensive effort reminiscent of the Bulldogs of the roaring 90s.

Mississippi State won the first game in the Sylvester Croom era, 28-7, in front of more than 52,000.

“We did a lot of conditioning this summer. We worked so hard,” said Heard, who started at right cornerback and spent most of the night in one-on-one coverage with Tulane receivers. “Nobody was tired on defense.

“I felt great. I felt like I could go another four quarters.”

Heard and the Bulldogs’ defense forced Tulane quarterback Lester Ricard into two interceptions one right before halftime as the Green Wave (0-1) were going in for the first score.

Ricard, who signed with LSU after a stellar high school career before transferring to Tulane, was held to 135 yards passing.

“I figured I’d see at least 12, 15 balls thrown my way,” Heard said. “But I don’t think (Ricard) was reading our blitzes very well. Our defensive line kept pressure on him all night.”

Ricard was sacked once and had a fumble returned for a touchdown. That play was negated, however, because of an inadvertent whistle.

“Lester can learn from this game and continue to get better as the season progresses,” Tulane coach Chris Scelfo said. “He can take some positives and some negatives from this game and use them to improve.”

Clinton native Clarence McDougal’s interception of Ricard, which came in the closing seconds of the first half, allowed the two teams to go into halftime tied 0-0.

Croom said after the game that the interception before halftime was the turning point in the game. He also stressed the importance of the play with an anecdote from when he played and coach for Alabama coach Paul “Bear” Bryant.

“Coach Bryant was supposedly legendary for his being a brutal halftime coach,” Croom said. “I played for him for four years and coached with him for six, and the only time he literally cussed the football team out, we won the game 77-6.

“He cussed the defense up and down the dressing room because the other team had scored a touchdown right before the half. I was in shock, but I learned a lesson.

“He tried to make a point, and I tried to make that point with our team before we came out today.”

The Bulldogs opened the second half with a Darren Williams interception which turned into a Jerious Norwood touchdown run. Tulane punted on its next possession and the Bulldogs scored again, this time on a touchdown pass from Omarr Conner to Eric Butler for a 14-0 lead.

“The opportunity we had at the end of the first half was big, but we did not convert it, and it turned into a 14-point swing,” Scelfo said.

It wasn’t just the MSU defense that shined. The team historically associated with penalties nearly 10 a game last season committed only three penalties.

“It was a good job by our guys to stay focused,” Croom said. “There was only a couple penalties and I thought that was big for us.”

Mississippi State’s road gets much tougher on Saturday. The Bulldogs will play Auburn in the SEC opener.

The Tigers are coming off a 31-0 victory over Louisiana-Monroe, and feature standout running backs Ronnie Brown and Carnell “Cadillac” Williams.

“Auburn runs a lot more than Tulane did,” Heard said. “Our defensive line and linebackers will have to step up again.”