MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL

Transcription

1 2007 POSTGAME NOTES GAME 6 MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL UAB at Mississippi State Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field Starkville, Miss. TEAM Today s captains were senor defensive back Gabe O Neal, junior linebacker Tim Bailey and junior offensive lineman Anthony Strauder. MState s third quarter 9:06 scoring drive was the longest scoring drive posted by the Bulldogs this season (previous was a seven minute, 14 play, 62 yard scoring drive against South Carolina). The 17-play, 75-yard drive was MState s seventh scoring drive consisting of 10+ plays this year. On the year, State has five scoring drives totalling five minutes or longer. This surpasses 2006 s season bests of four drives of 10+ plays and one drive over five minutes. Adam Carlson s third-quarter miss snapped State s 113 successful point after touchdown attempts. The last time MSU missed a point after touchdown was on Sept. 14, 2002 (John Michael Marlin vs. Jacksonville State). Junior linebackers Dominic Douglas and Jamar Chaney posted double digit tackles against UAB to become the first Bulldogs to accomplish the feat since Titus Brown (11) and Darren Williams (10) against Mississippi on Nov. 27, With today s win, Mississippi State moves to 4-2 on the year for the first time since Anthony Johnson s fourth quarter interception returned for touchdown marks the first time since 2000 that the Bulldogs have posted four interception returns for scores in the same season. MState s 21 fourth quarter points were the most scored by the Bulldogs since scoring 22 against Tulane (Sept. 16, 2006). INDIVIDUAL Sophomore defensive lineman Quinton Wesley and junior fullback Eric Hoskins made their first career starts. Redshirt freshman defensive lineman Brandon Cooper, redshirt freshman defensive back Emmanuel Gatling and redshirt freshman linebacker Mark Lynn all saw their first action as a Bulldog. For the second consecutive week, sophomore defensive back Kyle Love opened the game with a tackle for loss on the opponent s first play. UAB s second second-quarter field goal attempt was blocked by Love. It was MSU s first blocked field goal since Arkansas (2006). The block was returned by Marcus Washington. Douglas nine first half tackles were the most posted by a Bulldog in a single half this season. Douglas 10 total tackles were a career-high for the junior and tied for the second most tallied by a Bulldog this season (10, O Neal vs. Gardner-Webb). Douglas left the game in the second half with a sprained ankle. He did not return. Chaney posted a career-high 11 tackles on the day. His total is the most by a Bulldog this season (surpassing O Neal and Douglas 10 each). Sophomore running back Anthony Dixon s third quarter and two fourth quarter touchdowns were the 16th, 17th and 18th of his career and seventh, eighth and ninth this season. He is now tied with Dennis Johnson ( ) at #10 on the all-time list. Dixon also becomes the first Bulldog since Michael Henig (versus Kentucky, 2006) to account for three touchdowns in a single contest. Dixon surpassed the 100-yard rushing mark for the third time this season and fifth time in his career. His 152 rushing yards were a career high and his 32 carries were the most by a Bulldog rusher since Jerious Norwood s 34 rushes for 204 yards against Mississippi (2005). Johnson s fourth-quarter interception returned for touchdown was his second interception of the season and his first career interception returned for a touchdown.

2 Mississippi State Head Coach Sylvester Croom Postgame Quotes Opening Comments First I wish Neil Calloway and the Blazers nothing but good fortune the rest of the season. He is doing a great job with that program, and they are very capable of doing big things with their team. I am proud of how our players came out and played in the second half because it was obvious we only played one half of football. On the talk at halftime I told them it was obvious we were not playing very well, but it was also obvious I did not do a good enough job warning the players that if they did not come out early and play like they were supposed to we might get caught in a hole early on. I asked them to come out and play above my coaching in the second half and that is what they did. On Anthony Dixon s play He did an excellent job and the way he played in the second half is how he should run the football all the time. Anthony Dixon is a big time player when he runs the football like he does in practice and that is what I expect from him every play. He kept his pads down and his feet moving and that is how he got so much extra yardage on several plays. When he does all those things right, I can only think of one back in this conference that might be more impressive than him. When he does not run like that we are going to have a difficult time winning. On the running game We cannot play good football if we cannot run the football. We cannot get better if our running backs don t get better on the offense. On every good football team, there are one or two playmakers that make the world of a difference on how the team plays. On offense that is Anthony Dixon and on defense that is Titus Brown, and we need them to continue to improve so each side of the ball can improve with them. On Wesley Carroll and Michael Henig We started out with Wes, because he is healthy and more experienced thus far this season, but Mike did a better job throwing the football in practice this week. After the opening drive I decided to go with Mike to see if his passing could take effect and we ended up with a couple interceptions and one not being his fault, because we did not run the route correctly. That is why I felt like we had to go back to Wes. He does a good job managing the offense and has confidence on big downs like third and long situations. Even when he messes up he shows responsibility and has a great deal of poise and somehow does not turn the football over and drives the field. On playing a variety defensively We are finally able to play some more young guys defensively. Guys like K.J. Wright and Zach Smith were able to get some good playing time today and they did well. They are just young and they might make youthful mistakes now, but down the road they are going to be great football players and I am looking forward to seeing what they are capable of. They are also smart, and I do not think they are going to commit the same mistakes often. We as a defense must not make repeated mistakes or we will suffer every time. On Eric Hoskins Hoskins will be my starting fullback next week. I have been looking for a guy that is willing to block with authority, and Hoskins may not always get the job done, but he tries to do everything I ask of him the right way and until I see something from someone else Hoskins is my guy. On the blocked field goal We thought we were able to kick a field goal and so that was not a big shock, but on the same note we missed a PAT and that is ridiculous in my eyes. UAB had a tremendous kicker and I am still trying to figure out how we missed on that guy. On four wins It is nice, but we are taking things one game at a time, because if you do not take it one game at a time things could get ugly real fast. We are going to evaluate things from the film and hope to take things hard to Tennessee next week.

3 UAB Head Coach Neil Callaway Postgame Quotes On the game I thought our kids competed extremely hard. In the second half, Mississippi State came out and rolled their sleeves up and obviously beat us by running the football. On the one hand, we are a very young team playing six freshman up front. I am not trying to make excuses, but they just got out there and got manhandled. On the first half success I thought we were playing fast like we always talk about. We had the two interceptions that were really good for us. We were making good plays offensively and we knew that MSU was hard to run the ball against but we were able to do some things. We just played hard and fast but in the second half they just came out and whooped us like I said. On quarterback Sam Hunt I thought Sam played well overall. He made a couple mistakes there at the end, but Sam is a great young man, a competitor and I am extremely happy to have him on this football team. On playing numerous freshmen It s hard to go in their and starting all those young guys up front. Terrence Edge, I know he made some mistakes, but he is a true freshman and he is going against one of the best pass rushers in the SEC in Titus Brown. I really do feel he did some good things. On some fatigue in the second half I don t think we were tired. We rotate people up front pretty well. It had to do with us being pretty young and not bowing up at the right time. I know you get tired throughout the game but we rotated well and it shouldn t have been a problem. On the defensive turnaround from last week We were all clicking together even though we are young. We are all playing together and are just going through some growing pains. We are going to keep grinding until we get it done.

4 Mississippi State Player Postgame Quotes Linebacker Gabe O Neal On the win We came out and started slow. The key thing was though that we came out in the second half and just kept fighting. That is what I like about this team. No one pointed fingers and we came back and got the win. On halftime It really surprised me because there was no arguing and no one got too upset. The coaches said that they liked our effort but just told us that we had to make some big plays. We had good intensity in the second half and we made the plays we needed to. Running back Anthony Dixon On his performance I don t even know what I ended up with. I thought it was a good day s work though. On motivation from not starting You know I did have some motivation this week. After what Coach (Croom) said, I went back and looked at the tapes and really did see that there were some things that I could do better. I just went out there and tried to do what he wanted me to do. Quarterback Wesley Carroll On the second half Coach (Croom) told me at halftime that I was going to start. I knew I had to come out, control the ball and execute. We played our hearts out. On the run game We knew we had to come out in the second half and had to make a statement on the first play. We knew we could and had to run it straight at them. On confidence I thought I did pretty well from that standpoint. I just have to go try to lead the team the best I can. I believe everyone is behind me so I just have to go out there and get better every time.

5 UAB Player Postgame Quotes Quarterback Sam Hunt On the game We played with a lot of effort and a lot of fight. I thought the offense and defense fought all game. But the disappointment is just like last week. We just didn t make enough plays. On his injured shoulder No I knew I could play this week. I knew if I could just control the pain part of it that it wasn t going to limit me. It was kind of fortunate that of my four limbs, it was my left arm that got hurt. It didn t get hit directly today. A lot of times you can maneuver your body to avoid straight contact. On having the lead going into the fourth quarter We felt good. We wanted to be up by more. We came into the game confident we could score points. We knew when we were up 13-9 we wanted to score again but their running back got loose a couple of times and it just didn t work out. We just have to make more plays. We have to score more points. Safety Durrell Fuqua On the difference in the first and second half In the first half, we just made more plays. They weren t running it very much. They were doing a great job of mixing it up. In the second half, they just came out and pounded it and we just couldn t stop it. On Mississippi State s running back Anthony Dixon He s really good. He is a big back that can run and run tough. I know he made me miss some tackles here and there. He really hurt us on the third downs. He s a pretty good back. On the loss It s real tough. Being that close to a big upset on the road it is real tough. Every game except for our first one was real close. We just have to keep working on the little things. I think that is what is hurting us the most. Once we get those corrected, we ll be alright.