MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL

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1 2008 POSTGAME NOTES GAME 3 MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL Auburn at Mississippi State Saturday, September 13, 2008 Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field Starkville, Ms. ATTENDENCE Tonight s attendance of 52,911 is the fifth-largest crowd in Mississippi State history. TEAM Today s captains were Derek Pegues, Zach Smith and Aubrey Bell. Mississippi State and Auburn were tied 0-0 at the end of the first quarter. In the first two games of its 2008 season, State owned a 7-3 advantage at the close of the first period. Dominic Douglas wore #22 in honor of injured teammate Jamar Chaney. Tonight was the first time this season Mississippi State has trailed at the half (3-0). In the fourth quarter, MSU recorded its first safety since 2004 versus Kentucky. Mississippi State has never been involved in a 3-2 game. Tonight s contest marked the lowest point total in a Mississippi State-Auburn game. The previous low was 6. (1978 AU 6-0 and 1910 AU 6-0) INDIVIDUAL True freshman tight end Nelson Hurst earned his first career start. With Derek Pegues two kickoff returns for 61 yards, he becomes Mississippi State s all time leader in kickoff return yardage. With these returns Pegues also moves into fifth place all time in SEC history. Blake McAdams punted 10 times which moves him into 10th place in SEC history for total punts. Also, his 381 punt yards move him into 12th place in the SEC record books. Terrell Johnson recorded his first career tackle for a loss. With his punt block in the third quarter, Tay Bowser recorded his second blocked kick of the season. (Blocked extra point vs. Louisiana Tech). This is the first blocked punt by a Mississippi State player since Clarence McDougal blocked a Mississippi punt in Jessie Bowman s eight tackles and three and a half tackles for loss are both career highs. Kyle Love recorded his first career sack.

2 Auburn Post-Game Notes Auburn at Mississippi State Davis Wade Stadium Sept. 13, 2008 Auburn team captains were OL Tyronne Green, CB Jerraud Powers and DS Robert Shiver. Auburn won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. Mississippi State chose to receive. Kickoff was at 6:06 p.m. CT. Game attendance was announced as 52,911. TEAM NOTES Auburn now leads the all-time series with Mississippi State , and is in Starkville. Auburn is now all-time in SEC openers, including an 9-1 mark under Tommy Tuberville. Auburn is now 6-0 when opening its SEC schedule on the road. Auburn has now won 16 of its last 17 games when wearing all white uniforms. Auburn is now 33-7 in September under Tommy Tuberville and has won 19 of its last 22. Auburn has now played 66 consecutive games without being shut out. Auburn limited Mississippi State to 116 yards total offense, the fewest yards allowed since limiting Kentucky to 110 yards total offense in The five combined points scored in Auburn s 3-2 victory over Mississippi State are the fewest combined points scored between the Tigers and Bulldogs in the 82-game series. Auburn shut out its opponent in the first half for the third straight week. The Tigers have outscored their opponents 34-0 in the first half this season. Auburn held Mississippi State to 0-of-14 on third down conversions. Tiger opponents are now (3-of-46) on third downs this season. Mississippi State was also 0-of-3 on fourth down conversions after Tiger opponents were 4-of-6 on fourth down conversions combined in the Tigers first two games this year. Auburn defeated Mississippi State without scoring a touchdown, the first time the Tigers have won a game without scoring a touchdown since the 9-7 at Arkansas last season. The Tigers had 290 yards total offense vs. the Razorbacks. Mississippi State s fourth quarter safety (on offensive holding by Tiger Ryan Pugh in the end zone) was the first time an Auburn opponent scored a safety against the Tigers since Alabama in 2003 when Anthony Bryant tackled Carnell Williams. The last time Auburn had over 300 yards total offense (315) and did not score a touchdown and won was vs. Alabama on Nov. 18, The Tigers defeated the Crimson Tide 9-0 totaling three field goals on 301 yards total offense. The last time Auburn won a game by only scoring 3 points came in a 3-0 victory at Miami, Fla. On Oct. 4, INDIVIDUAL NOTES Brad Lester became the 22 nd player in Auburn history to reach 1,500 career yards rushing on his first carry. Lester now has 1,548 yards, which ranks 21st in Auburn history. The play of the day came on Walter McFadden s fourth quarter interception with 2:19 remaining in the game. It was his first interception this season and the second of his career. The Pompano Beach, Fla., native picked off his only other pass in his career vs. Tennessee Tech last year and returned it for 93 yards for a touchdown. Ben Tate became the 23 rd player in Auburn history to reach 1,500 career yards rushing. Tate now has 1,573 career yards, which ranks 20th in Auburn history. Mike McNeil had his first career sack on the first play of the second quarter. Wes Byrum s 35-yard field goal in the second quarter was the 22 nd field goal of his career and his fifth of the season. Antonio Coleman s sack in the third quarter marked the third straight game in which he has recorded a sack. Montez Billings 31-yard reception in the third quarter tied his career long. His previous 31-yard catch came in 2007 at LSU. Montez Billings 68 yards receiving on three catches were the second most yards receiving in a single game for the Pelham, Ala., native in his career. The junior had 78 yards receiving and a touchdown on six catches at LSU in 2007.

3 Mississippi State Head Coach Sylvester Croom Quotes Mississippi State vs. Auburn September 13, 2008 Opening Comments... First of all I want to congratulate Coach (Tommy) Tuberville and his Auburn team. They are a very good football team and played an outstanding ballgame here tonight. I want to mention that I am very proud of our guys, in particular our defense. They played a sound four quarters and left it all out there on the field. On offense we had several missed opportunities, we missed on some crucial one-on-one situations and the bottom line is we just didn t make the play. We didn t make the throw and when we did make the throw we didn t make the catch. Auburn is tough, very tough defensively and particularly upfront. We tried to open things up early with the spread offense and when that did not work, we thought they might be tired and tried to pound it in there, but we were just not capable of making the big plays when we needed them. Inconsistent performance throughout the night on offense then we have the field goal opportunity down there and bobbled the snap. You might be wondering why Anthony Dixon did not play tonight. He was hurt and he was hurt going into this ballgame and couldn t go. He hurt his groin on Thursday and we thought he d be okay, the swelling went down, but it just was not working. That was a definite lost. We had an error on the assignment of fourth and one and it was a huge hit for us. I am sure everybody is wondering why we went for it on 4 th and 15 and the answer is I did not know if we would have a chance to get the ball back if we punted it. At that point in the game with the clock running, I was very concerned about not getting the ball back. We took a shot, we had a guy open and our two receivers ran into each other. I was pleased with our effort. We played for the full 60-minutes, we just did not make the one more play we needed. I told the guys to walk out of here with their heads held high. Like (Derek) Pegues said, 24 hours, we let this one go and get ready for Georgia Tech. On the defense... You could not ask for more out of the defense, you really couldn t. When they had them back up, they kept them in the hole. They forced turnovers and they scored our only two points. They played outstanding football. A couple times, we had a missed technique but that was the worst thing that happened. On the last offensive pass thrown by Wesley Carroll to Brandon McRae... I thought the pass was a bit underthrown but I also thought that Brandon (McRae) should have gone up and gone after the football because he was taller than their corner. He did a good job of that last week, going after the football when it was in the air. If he goes up and goes after that football, at worst we have an incomplete pass. The idea was we wanted to take a shot and then get back to our offense. We had them where we wanted on the deep route and I thought it would be an easy completion but we did not make the play. On improving the offense... You keep working, you come out every day and you work harder on what you need to improve on. I don t blame anybody. The thing about offense is if one guy makes a mistake you have a problem. We had several mistakes tonight but I am not going to cut under these guys because they make mistakes when they are showing up for practice every day and working hard. I liked our effort but we just did not make the plays we are capable of making. Their defense is a very good defensive football team. It hurt not

4 having Marcus Green and (Anthony) Dixon as well. Critical errors at critical times halted our drives from continuing. On the wind being a factor It definitely changed where we were going to kick our field goals from. Any fourth down outside of the 25-yard line, we were going to go for it. The fourth and fifteen and fourth and one were proof of that scenario. We had to get the ball to the 25-yard line to kick that field goal. On Blake McAdams Blake (McAdams) did a great job tonight, especially kicking into that wind he had. That was a very tough wind to kick into tonight and he handled the situation very well.

5 Auburn Head Coach Tommy Tuberville Quotes Mississippi State vs. Auburn September 13, 2008 OPENING COMMENTS: It is all about defense when you go on the road. Our guys came to play today. We gave up zero first downs today on 14 chances and only 116 yards total offense. You can win a lot of games that way. Our guys played hard and played with enthusiasm. On offense, we obviously need to go back to the drawing board a little bit but we did make some plays. You take away the penalties and the fumbles, I thought we did a decent job at times but we still have some things to work on. You can t take away anything from Mississippi State though. They were good on defense and we knew that going into the game. We knew coming in we were going to be conservative. They played zone defense so we didn t want to throw the ball down the field much, just take a few chances because all they were doing was dropping their safeties off. We did feel that we would be able to run the ball better than we did but their front four did a real good job. In regards to the kicking game, we can t miss field goals like we did. I understand missing one but two surely puts you in a bind. We should have had this ball game in hand a little bit earlier but there is a lot of pride from this football team. A lot of urgency and a lot of guys pulling for each other. We got a road win in the SEC and that is hard and it gives us a learning experience to go into next week. ON WINNING A 3-2 BALLGAME: I am an old defensive coach so I was liking it a little bit but I wish we had scored a few more points. We just wasted a few opportunities. That was a true defensive game. I thought their punter (McAdams) did a good job of keeping them in it with two punts inside the five yard line. Those really nailed us back and we couldn t do a whole lot with the football. I thought we did a good job the first time getting a first down and giving us some room. The second time sure put us in a bind. The holding calls are interesting to say the least. We are obviously going to have to work on that, especially in the end zone because they know not to do that. I will need to go back and really look at that holding call but just way too many mistakes on offense. ON WR #84 MONTEZ BILLINGS: He made some big plays and I thought he could have made another one in the endzone but there was some pushing down there. He did make some big plays over the middle. They were doubling up on one side and leaving him one-on-one and he is a tall guy that can jump and make plays. I definitely thought that he was one bright spot. ON INJURED BRAD LESTER: He is just sore. The x-rays were negative and he is inside right now. They were just taking precaution. He is a hard player and he will be ready to go next week.

6 Mississippi State vs. Auburn September 13, 2008 Mississippi State player quotes P Blake McAdams On holding Robert Dunn We came into the game just keeping their returners to a minimum, try to pin them to the sidelines. He s a great returner, and he showed it on one of the returns. Don t pin him in, he s going to return it. He only had one return, so we did a really good job of doing that. On the wind It was a factor definitely. For some reason, I kicked better into it a couple of times. It s a mindset though. On the botched field goal attempt It doesn t matter if it s a clean snap or not. I have to get it down. That s my job. It s all three of us, and I didn t do my job getting it down DL Jessie Bowman On the defensive effort We went out and played very hard. We are aware we missed a couple plays on defense and offense, but we ll bounce back next week. On the defensive line effort We don t have any all-stars, big-name players. We just have blue-collared workers, just come to work every day. We were very much prepared due to our coaches. We just went out and played hard like we re known to do. On holding Auburn to 3 points That s how the chips fell. We re just going to bounce back next week. LB Dominic Douglas On giving a full effort We came into the game and wanted to make our presence known. All the talk about Auburn being number 9 in the country, we just tried to show America what kind of defense Mississippi State had. A lot of players made big plays, and that was the outcome. They just had 3 points. We re just trying to keep our heads up. We re going to try and press forward 24 hours and we re going to have to forget about it. We re going to have to come back Monday and perfect whatever we messed up on On making improvements from the first game

7 We made a lot of improvements. You could see the effect in the game, just 3 points, and I know they have a pretty solid offense. There was a big improvement from week one to week three. QB Wesley Carroll On the team s offensive effort We have been in this position before, just like the Egg bowl, just like the Liberty Bowl. We were one play away the whole night. We had them where we wanted them. We were a touchdown away the whole night from going ahead. We just didn t make the play. We ll bounce back, I m sure. This team started off with a loss in the SEC last year, and we still did pretty well. It s a lot to work on, and we ll be alright. On Auburn s defense The team speed is so tremendous. They all fly to the football. They fit well on defense, clogging up holes. They were tough. They had a great effort all game, and I think we had a great effort all game. There was no problem how we played effort-wise. We just have to put it all together. On the interception I didn t get a good look. I was pretty far away from the play. It s something we ll have to look at on film. I know B-Mac (Brandon McRae), nine out of 10 times, is going to make that play. Something got the best of him. He ll come back next week, and I m sure he ll perform to his best. I m not worried about a guy like that. That play did not win or lose the ball game. There were plenty of opportunities that we had as an offense to get a first down or to keep a drive going, and we just didn t execute.

8 Defenses Back #8 Jerraud Powers Mississippi State vs. Auburn September 13, 2008 Auburn player quotes On the play of the defense... It was a good performance. We were out there just flying around. I know the fans didn t like that type of performance, but Mississippi State s defense thinks the same too. I was out there having fun, and I was joking to my roommate Walt (Walter McFadden) and the game reminded me of one of those Decatur High football games. It was a good performance and we were out their flying around trying to do our job. I know the fans didn t like to see those types of games, but it was fun. Overall game... It was crazy, the atmosphere to open up the SEC here at a packed-out stadium. It was exciting, it was fun, Mississippi State played their butts off. This game is one of those games that could have went either way, and it just so happen that the ball bounce our way this time. That s how it falls sometimes, just like last year it was a close, tight game and it bounce their way,but we just got on top this time. On special teams... Special teams wise, the opening kick off they got me off the back. I think it was Pegues that caught the opening kick off. He had a big return, and I think if I was on that side maybe there could have been a change of outcome. On Mississippi State... A team like Mississippi State, they take pride in running the ball. They are good at running the ball. That s just what they do and our defenses line had a good game tonight, but they will lull you to sleep as a secondary and then try to get a big play in. That s what they were doing when Walter McFadden intercepted; they were lulling us to sleep running comeback-to-comeback, then they ran a comeback and go and almost made a big play, and when you are in the secondary you got to make sure you stay focus and make sure you take care of your responsibility.