MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL

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1 2007 POSTGAME NOTES GAME 10 MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL Alabama at Mississippi State Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field Starkville, Miss. TEAM Today s captains were senior defensive lineman Titus Brown, junior wide receiver Aubrey Bell and senior wide receiver Lance Long. Today s attendance of 56,188 set a new school record in home attendance. The previous record was 54,807 on Nov. 16, 2002 vs. Tennessee. Today s game was also the first sellout for MSU since the 1999 Egg Bowl. Total attendance for this year is 244,048. The highest home attendance total for a season that featured six home dates is 289,748, set in MSU s second quarter kickoff resulting in an Alabama touchback was the first touchback posted by the Bulldogs this season. With five interceptions returned for touchdowns this season, Mississippi State joins Hawai i and Wake Forest as the nation s leaders in the category. The last time the Bulldogs posted back-to-back wins against ranked opponents was in 2000 vs. #3 Florida and #15 Auburn. INDIVIDUAL Sophomore Brandon McRae s first quarter catch was the second reception of his career and his first since the Tulane game earlier this year. Sophomore Anthony Johnson s late second quarter interception returned for a touchdown was his second of the season. The 100-yard return set an MSU school record for the longest individual interception returned for a score (previous was 97 yards, Jack Nix vs. Mississippi, 11/26/38). With his two interceptions returned for touchdowns, Johnson ties Harper Davis (1948), Walt Harris (1994), Conner Stephens (2000) and Derek Pegues (2006) for the single season record. Sophomore Anthony Dixon s third quarter touchdown was his 13 rushing score of the season and moves him into a tie for third on the single season rushing touchdown list (John Bond, 1983 and Keffer McGee, 1995). Dixon now has 22 career scores and is tied with Dontae Walter ( ) for fifth on the all-time list. With his 26 rush attempts today, Dixon is now one shy of the single season record in the category. With his 10 total tackles today, Junior cornerback Keith Fitzhugh set a career high. Senior Dezmond Sherrod s fourth quarter catch was his first of the season. Junior defensive back Jasper O Quinn also set a career high with nine total tackles. Junior Derek Pegues third quarter interception was his third of the season and eighth of his career. With his three kickoff returns for a total of 56 yards, Pegues now has 1,604 career kickoff return yards on 73 returns (both second all-time). Senior defensive lineman Titus Brown s game-ending sack was his eighth of the season, a new single-season high for the Tuscaloosa-native. Brown now has 18.5 sacks for his career, seventh all-time.

2 ALABAMA FOOTBALL POST GAME NOTES #21 ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE (6 4; 4 3 in the SEC) vs. MISSISSIPPI STATE BULLDOGS (6 4; 3 3 SEC) November 10, 2007 Davis Wade Stadium/Scott Field Starkville, Miss. ALABAMA MISSISSIPPI STATE SERIES Alabama holds a all time lead over Mississippi State in a series that dates back to the 1896 season. The MSU series is Alabama football s longest running series. Alabama has more wins (72) over Mississippi State than any other opponent. Today s victory by the Bulldogs is the first MSU win in Starkville since a 29 7 verdict on Nov. 11, ANOTHER DEFENSIVE BATTLE BETWEEN THE TIDE & STATE Today s Alabama Mississippi State game followed a pattern of recent games in this series as offenses struggled while defensive scores and turnovers were critical to the outcome. Alabama s defense held MSU to 215 total yards today, the lowest offensive output by a Tide opponent this season (previous low: 232 by Vanderbilt). Also, State s 100 yards passing is the lowest by a Tide foe this season (previous low: 150 by Vanderbilt). Conversely, the Tide offense managed only 274 total yards today, narrowly eclipsing the season low of 254 set last week against LSU. Alabama s 121 yards passing is the lowest total this season for the Tide (previous low: 150 at Vanderbilt). Alabama has not scored a touchdown against MSU in 12 quarters dating back to a four yard pass from Spencer Pennington to Le Ron McClain with 5:28 left in the fourth quarter of a Alabama victory on November 6, 2004, at Bryant Denny Stadium. TIDE SCORES FIRST AGAIN Alabama scored on its first possession of today s game, capping a six play, 12 yard drive with a 39 yard field goal by Leigh Tiffin with 12:00 left in the first period. It marked the eighth time in 10 games this season that the Crimson Tide has scored on its opening offensive possession (four touchdowns, four field goals). The score was set up by an interception by free safety Rashad Johnson that set up the Tide offense at the State 33 yard line. STOVER & CAPPS IN STARTING LINEUP Senior receiver Nikita Stover and senior offensive lineman Chris Capps started today s game, marking their first starting assignments this season. Capps started at right tackle, his 26 th career starting role, while Stover s start at receiver was his first for the Crimson Tide. ANOTHER INTERCEPTION FOR THE TIDE DEFENSE Free safety Rashad Johnson s interception in the first quarter today marked the ninth consecutive game this season in which the Alabama defense has recorded an interception. SACK ATTACK Alabama s defense recorded one quarterback sack today, an 11 yard drop by defensive end Wallace Gilberry in the first quarter. With that sack, the Tide has recorded 13 sacks (80 yards) in its last five games, compared to only five sacks (46 yards) in the first five games of the season. A total of eight different defensive players have at least one sack this season. Gilberry leads the Crimson Tide with eight sacks (43 yards) this season. ALABAMA S TV RECORD Alabama has compiled a all time record in 284 televised games. This does not include pay per view, tapedelayed or closed circuit telecasts. The Crimson Tide owns a record in 240 regular season televised games. Alabama is 4 4 in televised games this season. THE TIDE AS A RANKED TEAM Alabama falls to all time record when ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. Since 1983, Alabama has compiled a record when ranked in the AP Top 25. Since 1997, Alabama has been ranked in the AP poll 43 times and has compiled a ALABAMA IN NOVEMBER

3 Alabama falls to all time record in 387 all time November games. The Crimson Tide is 2 10 in its last 12 November games, including a seven game losing streak. Alabama has not won in November since a 17 0 win at Mississippi State on Nov. 3, Alabama is in the month of November since PLAYER NOTES PLACEKICKER LEIGH TIFFIN Sophomore placekicker Leigh Tiffin supplied all of Alabama s points today with four field goals (39, 29, 51 and 50 yards), the most by a Crimson Tide kicker since Michael Proctor made four against Southern Mississippi in The four field goals matched Tiffin s career single game high and tied with multiple other kickers for second on the UA list for field goals in a game (the record is 6 by Philip Doyle vs. Southwestern Louisiana in 1990). Tiffin has now made eight consecutive field goal attempts this season and improved to 21 of 28 on the season, moving into fourth place on the Alabama list for field goals made in a season (the record of 24 was set by Philip Doyle in 1990). His 51 yard field goal with 8:25 left in the first quarter is his longest made field goal of his Alabama career, surpassing the previous long of 47 set last year against Vanderbilt. The 51 yard attempt also marked the first time in Tiffin s Tide career that he has even attempted a field goal of 50 yards or longer. FREE SAFETY RASHAD JOHNSON Junior free safety Rashad Johnson ended the game s first offensive series by intercepting a State pass and returned it to the MSU 33 yard line early in the first quarter. That theft, Johnson s team leading sixth of the season (and his fourth in the last five games), set up a 39 yard field goal by Leigh Tiffin that gave Alabama a 3 0 lead with 12:00 remaining in the first period. Johnson s six interceptions ties for the seventh most in a season by a Crimson Tide defender. The interception also ended a streak of 137 pass attempts without an interception by State quarterback Wesley Carroll and prevented Carroll tying an NCAA record for most consecutive pass attempts without an interception at the start of a career by a freshman, a mark set in 1986 by current Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy when he played at OSU. DEFENSIVE END WALLACE GILBERRY Senior defensive end Wallace Gilberry, a semi finalist for the Ted Hendricks Award presented annually to the nation s best defensive end had a quarterback sack in the first quarter of today s game. With that sack, Gilberry leads the Crimson Tide with eight sacks this season and 18 total tackles for loss. All eight of his sacks have come in the last five games, including a career high three sacks against No. 3 LSU on Nov. 3. RECEIVER DJ HALL *Senior receiver DJ Hall s 16 yard catch at 11:27 of the second quarter at the State 30 extended his streak of games with at least one catch to 29 games. Hall led the Tide with five catches for 46 yards today. The school s all time leader in both career receptions (184) and receiving yards (2,804), Hall leads the team with 57 catches for 886 yards and six touchdowns this season including this game. ###

4 MSU Head Coach Sylvester Croom Opening Comments I want to wish Nick (Saban) and Alabama the best of luck the rest of the way. This is a big game for us for a lot of reasons. One, it is the first time we have been bowl eligible in a long time. Two, Alabama is our second most important rival. Third, our seniors beat Alabama two years in a row. I do not know the last time a senior class here (at MSU) got to say they beat Alabama two years in a row and that is great for them because they deserve it. I am proud of them because they hung in there and believed when a lot of people didn t. A lot of people and teammates did not believe and left them, but they stayed behind because they believed and days like this are proof of their effort. This senior class is filled with special people and this will carry with them throughout their lives. This is a big win for our fans and hopefully now we will finally get some respect. We have beaten three teams that have been ranked this season, and if no one believes now - they have their heads in the sand. We won a big game when we did not play our best and that is a sign of a good football team, when you can win big games when you do not play your best. On Wes Carroll He started out playing real up tight and not loose like I wanted him to. He showed that he was a freshman today, but the thing I like is that he put us in a position to win the game and that is what matters. After the first possession, I pulled him aside and said we are going to win or lose this game with you and I saw a different Wes (Carroll) step out on the field after that. On the first-half interception That was huge because it gave us the lead. We did a great job keeping their receivers out of rhythm today. The interception for the touchdown was a big move for us to end the half. On the Wes Carroll interception Wes (Carroll) did not play as well as he had been playing. On the interception he misread a route and that is the first time I had ever seen him do that. That is when I knew he had jitters. After that first possession he played with a different confidence. On Jasper O Quinn Jasper made some nice plays for us today and has played well for us all year. He has brought some maturity for us and has probably made the smoothest transition from junior college that I have seen since I have been here. On Anthony Dixon He played well today. I know on one of the short yardage situations, I thought he had a chance to break away but he told me I was just trying to get the first down and I can handle that answer. The good thing is he protected the football today. I felt like we managed the clock well with our running game down the stretch of the game. On team improvement I reflect on our improvement every day. I thank God daily for the players and coaches that I have been blessed with. For some of these guys, they did not have to come here but they did because they wanted to build a championship program for this state. In three hours, we changed the way people look at this program across the nation.

5 Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban Postgame Quotes Opening Comments Obviously very disappointing. We didn t execute. Mississippi State did a great job today and they deserved to win. We didn t make the plays in the game that we needed to make. It is everybody s responsibility starting with me and the coaching staff. We had a critical turnover right before the half that was at least a ten point swing maybe a fourteen point swing. Regardless of all that, we didn t do the things that we needed to do. You can say that we played a little bit better on defense in this game but the fact of the matter is that we turned the ball over and gave them a touchdown and then we gave them good field position at another time. We needed to force field goals in situations like that. When we lose, we lose as a team and when we win, we win as a team. We didn t execute very well in the passing game today and that is two weeks in a row. We need to do a better job with our ability to throw the ball where we are supposed to throw it. This is just very disappointing. I m proud of the players for the way that they competed in the game. I m proud of the way they have competed all season. This is a very disappointing loss for all of us and I am responsible for it. It starts with me. I did a poor job; we did a poor job as coaches. Psychologically we worked real hard this week after Tennessee and LSU, to where we needed to be during practice. To get the kind of execution that we wanted to get in the game and obviously we failed at that and that is my responsibility. On John Parker s play at the end of the third quarter That was a quarter back draw and on third and fifteen. We thought we could maybe get a first down which we had done in a long yardage situation before. The end pinched, the back needed to get outside, the back didn t get outside so there was a linebacker straight over the top but we ended up kicking a field goal. Either we get a field goal and a touchdown or a touchdown and a two point conversion. If we don t we would still need a field goal so we decided to take the points. Tiffin did a great job today. He made some big kicks in a 51 and 50 yarder in critical times in the game but we messed the game up right before the half. Even though we only scored nine points we were controlling the game. Fourth and one at the one we kick the field goal and we are up 12-0, were still in control of the game and that was a critical error.

6 Mississippi State Player Postgame Quotes Linebacker Gabe O Neal On the touchdown returned It was a big turnaround for the game. It s a big game that s gone forever, but we just can t get caught up in it. We just have to keep moving on with the season. On dreaming of this day I dreamed of it. I really didn t expect it to be turned around so quick. I just have to congratulate my players and coaches because we all just stuck together and worked hard. We just have to put this game behind us and keep moving on with the season. On Coach Croom s attitude before the game He was as calm as I ve ever seen him in a long time. He was happy and smiling. But I guess the emotion was building, but he tried to keep his cool and to keep his emotions in. He just tried to treat it as another game. Defensive Lineman Titus Brown On beating Alabama 2 years in a row It means a lot and it really says a lot about this program. We can compete with anyone in the conference and these guys come out to work every day. I m glad to see the hard work finally paid off. On senior class being bowl eligible That s good and it hasn t happened here in a long time. It s a great effort on the team, the coaching staff and the fans as a whole. It s great to say that we are bowl eligible. We just have to play these last two games as pretty as they come. Runningback Anthony Dixon On the second half touchdown It was big. We just weren t going to lay down for them and when that happened, everyone got excited on the sidelines and we were ready to roll. On people underestimating Mississippi State I guess they thought they were a better team. We beat them last year at their place. Then this year at our place and we shut them down. I don t know what they are going to say about this victory but we are going to take it. On playing with added pressure It s like Coach Croom told us - We could win all three of these or lose all three of these easily. We were just taking it one game at a time. A lot of people don t want to believe that. We have Arkansas next week. We are going to prepare for them this next week then go play.

7 Alabama Player Postgame Quotes Quarterback John Parker Wilson On his interception before halftime We had a great drive, and worked it to the one yard line. They got a hard rush on us, and when I tried to get away and throw it away I just could not get enough on it. It sounds weird to say I was trying to through it away, but I just could not get enough into it to get it to the bleachers. On his confidence after the second interception I am not going to lose my confidence just because I throw a couple of interceptions. That s not like me; I have never done that before. We just could not get things going. On The lack of a running game It s tough when they know you are going to run the ball, but if that is the way it is going to be we have to adapt to it and throw the ball anyway. Defensive Lineman Wallace Gilberry On the momentum swing before half That is the thing about football it can go either way, but unfortunately we went into halftime behind and had to struggle to fight back.. On Mississippi State s last drive We knew we did not have any timeouts left, and we had them in a third down situation. They are a hard running team, and we were out of sync. They took advantage of it. On how to move on We just have to put it behind us. We have to move on and forget about it. Kicker Leigh Tiffin On his 51 yard Field goal. It looked good there and it was a good snap and hold. Coach Saban asked me before I went out there if I thought I could make it, and I said Yeah let s do it.