POSTGAME NOTES GAME 4 MISSISSIPPI STATE (2-2, 1-1 SEC) AT UMASS (1-3) SEPT. 24, 2016 GILLETTE STADIUM TEAM NOTABLES Mississippi State s 47-35 victory against UMass was the Bulldogs first game in the Northeast since defeating Syracuse on Sept. 6, 1986. Today s matchup between MSU and UMass was the first time the two teams have met on the gridiron. Three Bulldogs made their first-career starts against the Minutemen; DeAndre Ward (LB), Jesse Jackson (WR) and Martinas Rankin (LT). In total, MSU has had 14 first-time starters in 2016. After scoring 13 points in the first half, Mississippi State reeled off 34 second half points. With Jamoral Graham s pick-six, MSU picked up their first defensive touchdown of the season and first since Louisiana Tech in 2015. With today s game in the New England Patriot s Gillette Stadium, MSU has now played in an NFL stadium for seven-consecutive seasons. MSU s 598 total yards of offense were the most since racking up 631 at Arkansas Nov. 21, 2015 With three interceptions, MSU won the turnover margin 3-1. Umass won the opening toss and deferred to the second half. PLAYER NOTABLES With 126 receiving yards, Fred Ross now has eight-career 100 yard games to move him into a tie for first in MSU history. He caught MSU great David Smith. For his career, Ross now stands in sixth place in MSU history with 1899 career yards. Nick Fitzgerald set career highs in attempts (38), completions (25), yards (299), and touchdown passes (3). With 110 rushing yards today, Nick Fitzgerald now has two-career 100-yard rushing games. They both have come during the 2016 season. His 409 total yards are the most by an MSU player since Dak Prescott had 427 in the Belk Bowl Dec. 30, 2015. With eight receptions today, Fred Ross moved into third in Mississippi State history with 152 career catches. He surpassed Bulldog great Sammy Milner. With 2.5 tackles for loss today, A.J. Jefferson moved into a tie for fifth place in MSU history with 33.5 career tackles for loss. He surpassed Tyrone Keys. Donald Gray picked up a career-high eight receptions, elipsing his previous high of five. Aeris Williams scored his fourth-career touchdown and first of 2016 with a 16 yard run. It was his first score since the fourth quarter of the 2015 Belk Bowl Dec. 30, 2016. Kivon Coman grabbed the second interception of his career in the first quarter, his first since snagging one at Missouri on Nov. 5, 2015. Jonathan Calvin grabbed the first interception of his career to go along with a career-high nine tackles. Jamoral Graham picked up the first interception of his career late in the third quarter and returned it 38 yards to the house. It was the first pick-six for MSU since Brandon Bryant took one back 73 yards against Louisiana Tech Oct. 17, 2015. Late in the third quarter, Farrod Green grabbed his first-career touchdown. A 13-yard strike from Nick Fitzgerald Ashton Shumpert s 12-yard rushing touchdown late in the fourth quarter was his first since Sept. 19, 2015 against Northwestern State.
Mississippi State 47, Massachusetts 35 Gillette Stadium Foxboro, Mass. Sat., Sept. 24, 2016 Postgame Notes Offense Marquis Young recorded 125 rushing yards on 18 carries, including an 83- yard touchdown run. He averaged 6.9 yards per rush against the Mississippi State defense. Marquis Young rushed for his 83- yard touchdown in the opening quarter, his first TD of the season. It tied Young s longest career rush as he previous ran for an 83- yard touchdown at No. 6 Notre Dame on Sept. 26, 2015. The 100- yard rushing game marked Young s fourth of his career. His other 100- yard games include No. 6 Notre Dame (103), Eastern Michigan (155) and Buffalo (240). Jalen Williams pulled in a 31- yard Andrew Ford pass in the endzone on 4th- and- 7 with 1:48 left in the second quarter. Video review upheld the on- field call of a touchdown. It was Williams second consecutive game with a touchdown catch. Andrew Ford went to Jalen Williams in the left corner of the endzone for the second UMass touchdown reception of the day, a juggling 19- yard catch by Williams over two defenders. The multi- touchdown game by Jalen Williams went as his second career performance with multiple scores. He previously had two touchdowns at Toledo on Oct. 25, 2014. Bernard Davis caught an official review- assisted touchdown in the fourth quarter, his first TD since he had one against Maine on Sept. 7, 2013. Originally ruled out of bounds, the officials used a video review to determine his left foot landed in- bounds. Sadiq Palmer s fourth quarter touchdown reception (19 yards) was the first of his collegiate career. It was his first career reception as well. In his second career start, Andrew Ford finished 24- for- 40 with 273 passing yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions. He has seven touchdown passes to five different Minutemen during the two- game span. Defense Da Sean Downey forced a fumble on Mississippi State quarterback Nick Fitzgerald, Downey s third forced fumble of the season. Downey also had six tackles, including a eight- yard sack and tallied an assisted- TFL covering two yards lost. Steve Casali recovered Da Sean Downey s forced fumble, his second recovery in the last two games, and returned it 20 yards. It was his first career fumble return. Casali also had a career- high three pass breakups and added nine tackles against the Bulldogs. Da Sean Downey s sack was his fourth of the season, tied for the most in one year by a Minuteman during the FBS era (Justin Anderson, 4.0 for 20 yards lost, 2013). Jesse Monteiro finished with a game- high 11 tackles between his efforts on defense and during special teams plays. It fell one shy of tying his career- best output (12 at Buffalo; Nov. 27, 2015). For the fourth straight game, Lee Moses reset his single- game personal best in tackles. He finished the day with eight (4-4).
Special Teams and Miscellaneous Logan Laurent exceeded 1,000 punt yards on the season during his first punt of the game. He finished with 42.6 yards per attempt (five punts, 213 yards). The game captains for UMass were Khary Bailey- Smith (FS), Adam Breneman (TE), Fabian Hoeller (OL) and Peter Ngobidi (LB). UMass won the toss and elected to defer possession to the second half. Mississippi State received the opening kickoff and the Bulldogs defended the South endzone.
Mississippi State 47, UMass 35 Gillette Stadium Foxborough, Mass. Sat., Sept. 24, 2016 Postgame Quotes UMass Head Coach Mark Whipple Opening statement: The third quarter kind of killed us with the freshmen misques. But those guys all bounced back when (Sadiq Palmer) dropped the first down. Fred Ross is a really good player, the receiver beat Isaiah Rodgers on a double move and then Rayquan (Thomas) gets a hold. But those are our best guys and I m proud of the way they came back. Credit to (Mississippi State), that s why they re in the SEC. They re just bigger and faster, and our guys competed right with them. We just made too many mistakes on both sides of the ball. They ran 50 plays at halftime; that was really tough on our defense. We just needed to make one stop or get one turnover to get the momentum our way. But credit to them, we just couldn t do it. On UMass quarterback Andrew Ford: I thought he did a lot of really good things. He really battled back. He didn t drop his head, he lead the team. There wasn t any panic on the sideline, the guys believe in both our quarterbacks. He took a step forward. He just needs a little more experience, but I thought he battled and played hard. All of our guys did. I had a good time coaching the game. We have to get better and get back to work tomorrow afternoon. We moved it better than LSU did (against Mississippi State). Our guys battled, I m proud of them. There was a lot more good than bad. He s niftier than he looks. He made a smart play. On UMass receiver Jalen Williams: He s a really good player, he s a great kid, he makes a difference. We have Sadiq (Palmer) in there, his first time playing against SEC West, he makes a mistake and comes back and makes a touchdown catch. I m excited to coach them. I don t think there was any point on the sideline where our guys dropped their heads and thought we were going to lose. I think we re just getting better. Coach (Mike) Foley is new and he s doing a great job. It doesn t feel like we ve played four games. UMass redshirt junior quarterback Andrew Ford As long as there is time on the clock, as a team, we have to keep fighting. That s what we did today. Just one play and one drive at a time, playing to the best of our ability. We have a lot of weapons on offense and being able to spread the ball around to all of them is going to be our main goal. UMass sophomore running back Marquis Young We know that we can play with (this caliber of team). It definitely felt good to get into that end zone today. Giving my team a little more motivation to play. I just keep telling myself that big time players make big time plays in the big time games. Andrew (Ford) and I are definitely moving towards the right direction. He is a good player and keeps me calm and kept me patient in the back field. I try my hardest to do the same and try to give him the right motivation for him to make the right play. UMass redshirt junior linebacker Steve Casali The main thing is that we made too many mistakes and that goes back to our preparation. We have made those same mistakes during practice. The main focus for this coming week for us will be doing our job. We just made too many mistakes today and you cannot make that many mistakes against a big-time team like Mississippi State.
Mississippi State Head Coach Dan Mullen (We had) a lot of penalties, a lot of silly mistakes, a lot of errors we got to get coached up and get fixed. On the defense s performance: We made some big plays but we have to make better plays out there on the field and play more consistently. When things don t go right, there s mistakes on the play. We ve got all these young guys out there on the field; they ve got to learn from their mistakes. Young guys have got to learn. All that matters is this play, doesn t matter what happened on the play before, doesn t matter what s going to happen on the play following. All that matters is this play. Junior cornerback Jamoral Graham On his pick-6: I just made a play, it came to me and I just did what I had to do. My freshman year was the last time I scored a touchdown. On the people who doubt him: They didn t even come across my mind. I m just here and I m playing my game. I m just here playing football, I m doing what I m coached, and I m going to follow my team. I still have some work to do, me and the team, but I feel like I played pretty good.