MSM 2011 College Football Issue

MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 1

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>>> MSM | FROM THE PUBLISHER

Welcome to the 2011 College Football Preview

F

ootball season is finally here in Mississippi and not a moment too soon for some fans in our great state. Mississippi State fans have had a great off season reminiscing about last fall and two straight wins over Ole Miss.

Southern Miss fans had a good off season as the Golden Eagles continued their winning ways in 2010. Although some USM fans are becoming a little unsettled due to the fact that Southern Miss has not won an outright C-USA championship since 2003.

But for Ole Miss fans, this off season has seemed to drag on forever as the Rebels are coming off a lack-luster 4-8 season and have had to listen to MSU fans gloat over two consecutive wins in the Egg Bowl as well as State’s Gator Bowl victory over Michigan in January.

This is the time of year where everyone has high hopes and is debating on the message boards why each team will be better or worse than they were last season. There are some intriguing story-lines developing in Mississippi this year. Will MSU sustain their momentum from 2010 and play in another New Year’s Day bowl? Will another winning season for the Dawgs lead to Dan Mullen moving on to another coaching position? Will Houston Nutt show fans that last years disappointing season was just a fluke? Another performance similar to last season (especially on defense) may cause more coaching changes in Oxford. Will 2011 bring Southern Miss a C-USA Championship? Will Larry Fedora be on the hot-seat if they don’t?

How will JSU play this season knowing they cannot play in the SWAC Championship game this fall? Can Casey Therrieault leap-frog past Austin Davis as the best QB in Mississippi and take the Conerly Trophy?

All these questions and more will be answered over the next few months.

We wish each team in Mississippi a successful season and hope they all are playing football long after November in a bowl game or their respective division playoffs! So sit back and enjoy the 2011 College Football Issue of Mississippi Sports Magazine.

Greg & Mendy Pevey Publishers Join us on Facebook.

Philippians 4:13

www.mssportsmagazine.com

Volume 4, Issue 1 2011 College Football Preview

Published by Pevey Publishing, LLC Publishers Greg & Mendy Pevey Featured Columnists Steven Godfrey, Brian Hadad, Yolanda Moore Contributing Writers Eric Bartlam, John Davis, Steven Godfrey,Tonya Huffman, Paul Jones, Lanny Mixon, Chuck Stinson Contributing Photographers Bobby McDuffie, Greg Pevey, ESPN, Cincinnati Bengals, Sports Information Offices of Alcorn State, Belhaven University, MS Valley State, Miss. College, Jackson State University, Millsaps College, Oklahoma State University, The Bolivar Commercial, Philadelphia Eagles Advertising Sales Greg Pevey, publisher@mssportsmagazine.com

Mississippi Sports Magazine™ is published bimonthly by Pevey Publishing, LLC to promote Mississippi’s sportsmen and women, colleges, universities, high schools, communities and citizens in an informative and positive manner. We welcome contributions of articles and photos; however, they will be subject to editing and availability of space and subject matter. Photographs, comments, questions, subscription requests and ad placement inquiries are invited! Return envelopes and postage must accompany all labeled materials submitted if a return is requested. No portion of this publication may be reproduced without written permission of the publisher. The opinions expressed in Mississippi Sports Magazine are those of the authors or columnists and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, nor do they constitute an endorsement of products or services herein.

We reserve the right to refuse any advertisement.

Pevey Publishing, LLC is not affiliated with any institution, college, university, or other academic or athletic organization. Subscriptions are $24 (1 year, 6 issues). Make checks payable to Pevey Publishing, LLC and mail to: 405 Knights Cove West, Brandon, MS 39047 or subscribe online at www.mssportsmagazine.com.

Pevey Publishing, LLC Mississippi Sports Magazine 405 Knights Cove West • Brandon, MS 39047 Phone: 601-503-7205 • Fax: 601-992-2885 email: publisher@mssportsmagazine.com www.mssportsmagazine.com

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>>> MSM | 2011 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW

Contents

Inside 8 GODFREY’S TAKE

Steven Godfrey An Early Apology

9 BRIAN

HADAD

Are Bulldogs Taking the Next Step?

10 ESPN’s BCS

EXPERT

Q&A with Jackson native Brad Edwards who has become EPSN’s top expert in College Football

12 A NEW ERA

THE ACTION STARTS ON PAGE

18

72 COLLEGE

2011 College Football Preview 14

76

Earning Her Stripes

Mississippi Sports Medicine

Sarah Thomas of Brandon is making headlines in the world of college football.

- By Chuck Stinson

SCHEDULES

SEC and CUSA

74 2011-12

BOWL SCHEDULES

80 YOLANDA MOORE

Photo by Greg Pevey, Mississippi Sports Magazine

NATIONAL SCENE

Paul Jones introduces MSU’s new radio crew

There’s a Champion in You!

What’s Next in MSM?

SPORTS HEALTH

MSMOC has become one of the South’s top orthopaedic facilities - By Erik Bartlam

To Contact MSM > LETTERS, STORY IDEAS AND PHOTO SUBMISSIONS • Email MSM at publisher@ mssportsmagazine.com or mail to Mississippi Sports Magazine, 405 Knights Cove West, Brandon, Mississippi 39047. Letters should include writer’s full name, address and home phone number and may be edited for clarity and space.

HOOP IT UP! You think the 2011 Football season is looming large in Mississippi? The “Big 3’s” basketball teams are anticipating breakout years as well. MSU, Southern Miss and Ole Miss could each be ‘dancing’ together in the NCAA Tournament. Don’t miss the 2011-12 College Basketball Preview coming in November.

MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 3

>>> MSM | 2011 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW The Conerly Trophy is Mississippi’s version of the Heisman and is awarded to Mississippi’s top college football player each year. This year we have the opinions of three local sports figures to give their take on why each of these players should win this coveted award.

AUSTIN DAVIS Senior/QB Southern Miss

THE FAVORITE LANNY MIXON BigGoldNation.com

Davis is a seasoned senior QB who’s on pace to break every significant Southern Miss passing record by year’s end. He had more than 3,100 yards passing, 450 rushing and accounted for 31 touchdowns as a junior. He’s a smart, heady player with all the skills to continue to excel. He’s got the other cogs around him to have another great year for the Eagles. He may have to lead the Eagles to a C-USA Championship to get the nod from the Conerly voters.

PAUL JONES

mississippistate.247sports.com

Only an injury has ever slowed down this talent signal caller. But it didn’t take long for Davis to return to his gun-slinging days last year and will continue to do so in 2011. Although the names may change with USM’s receiving corps, Davis still manages to find a good amount of success in the passing game.

JOHN DAVIS The Oxford Eagle

Southern Miss’ offense has really taken off with Austin Davis as the QB. He is sharp, has a good arm and shows tremendous poise in the pocket.

His skills allow coach Larry Fedora to do a lot of scheming on offense and with a little help along the way, Davis should have a big year.

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CHRIS RELF Senior/QB - Miss. State PAUL JONES

mississippistate.247sports.com

Possibly no other player in the SEC has made more improvements than Relf has over the past two years. And once again, he expects to continue his dual-threat ways this fall. If his passing continues to improve, he could very well near 3,000 total yards in 2011.

JOHN DAVIS The Oxford Eagle

His ability to change the game with his running ability and his arm make him one of the most dangerous QBs in the SEC. Relf has made the Bulldogs better thanks to his strong work ethic that coach Dan Mullen likes so much about him.

LANNY MIXON

THE FOLLOWER

BigGoldNation.com

This past year Relf gave the Bulldogs the dual-threat QB they’ve been looking for, he passed for more than 1,700 yards and rushed for another 700 yards. Due to last year’s successful season he’s probably the early favorite, but the Bulldogs will have to continue their winning ways for Relf to carry home the award.

BRANDON BOLDEN Senior/RB - Ole Miss JOHN DAVIS The Oxford Eagle

Brandon is a hard worker and one of the most under appreciated players in the SEC. He has the ability to rush for 1,000 yards or more this season and his leadership will be key if the Rebels are going to improve on last year’s 4-8 mark. Bolden may not be on the preseason watch list in a conference deep at RB, but he might be there in the end.

PAUL JONES

mississippistate.247sports.com

Ole Miss entered the 2010 season with some question marks about their ground game but Bolden quickly erased those doubts last fall. With inexperience quarterback situation, Bolden will likely be the workhorse for the offense. And with plenty of touches, that means plenty of opportunities to compile impressive rushing totals for Bolden.

LANNY MIXON BigGoldNation.com

A solid runner who just missed 1,000 yards last year. If he can get a little help from the QB position he could break the 1,000 yard mark this year. His chances to win the Conerly may hinge on if Ole Miss can turn things around and turn in a winning record.

Conerly voters love a winner.

THE SLEEPER MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 5

2011 Schedule

EAGLES FOOTBALL

September 1

ITAWAMBA . . . . .6:30 p .m .

September 8

EAST MISS . . . . .6:30 p .m .

September 15

@ Co-Lin . . . . . . . . 7 p .m .

September 22

@ Miss . Delta . . 6:30 p .m .

September 29

EAST CENTRAL (HC) 7 p .m .

October 6

listEn to us livE on WJFn 970 aM 99.1 FM

JONES . . . . . . . .6:30 p .m .

October 15

@ Southwest . . . . 5 p .m .

October 22

WWW.HindsCCsports.CoM

PEARL RIVER . . . . . .1 p .m .

October 29

@ Gulf Coast . . . . 3 p .m .

ALL CAPS indicates home games at Joe Renfroe Stadium in Raymond .

&

JACKSON

Hinds CC EaglEs I

RANKIN

@HindsCCsports I

RAYMOND

I

1.800.HINDSCC UTICA

I

VICKSBURG

Hinds Community College offers equal education and employment opportunities and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, disability or veteran status in its programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies: Dr. George Barnes, Vice President for Administrative and Student Services, 34175 Hwy. 18, Utica, MS 39175, 601.885.7001.

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RIDGELAND/MADISON 398 HWY. 51 N

601-853-1951

FLOWOOD PLAZA In front of Wal-Mart

601-992-7272

BRANDON/PEARL 1490 W. GOVERNMENT ST.

601-824-0068

MAYWOOD MART 1220 E. NORTHSIDE DR.

601-982-2007

McDOWELL ROAD 717 W. McDowell Rd.

601-373-1112

MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 7

>>> MSM | GODFREY’S TAKE

An Early Apology

By Steven Godfrey Featured Columnist

I

married my wife a little under a year ago.

That means I’ve got more to consider in these dog days of summer when it comes to planning the nearly-here 2011 season. And by “consider,” most of you know I mean “apologize in advance.”

We got married on October 23, 2010. If magazine columns were live conversations, at this point a small portion of this publication’s readership would ask about the ceremony, the reception, the flowers and the dress, or the colors… right? I think weddings have official colors. Don’t they?

All of it, the bride most of all, was lovely, in a way as a grown man I’d come to understand and appreciate loveliness for the first time and in real time, for that matter. The groom’s head swims as much as the bride’s, and not because we had a bourbon bar at the reception, either.

But there’s a solid amount of this publication’s readership (who, if they posses any tact, will say the following out of earshot of their wife or girlfriend) that my dumbass got married in football season, and that meant a good number of other innocent men had to miss a precious fall Saturday of football and subsequently be rendered a salt pillar right there on the spot.

I choose to categorize my marriage as blessed, partially because of a minor miracle occurring on the afternoon of my mid-season nuptials, not in spite of them. Let’s not make me seem too pious - I wasn’t initially warm about the concept of an October wedding; Proposing in January, I assumed eight months wasn’t enough time to plan a ceremony, but bowed by the organizational wizardry of my future mother-in-law, I was soon very, very wrong in that assumption. Patton could’ve benefited from witnessing this woman orchestrate a campaign.

Wise beyond my years to agree with the plan set forth (and that plan was a Fall wedding, or an indefinite extension of my bach-

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elorhood) the only detail in a haystack of wedding minutia I had to fret about was the SEC’s two week advance scheduling of games.

Like the majority of Southerners, I was marrying into a family with contrary rooting interests – the bride and I met at Ole Miss, but almost her entire family attended and root for LSU. That meant two games to worry about guests and family seeing without “disturbing” the day’s events.

Hence the miracle. I needed the Arkansas / Ole Miss and Auburn / LSU games to be played before 6:30 p.m. Despite the fact that night games are now lopsided in the revised, gazillion-dollar broadcast contract the SEC signed with CBS and ESPN, somehow a benevolent God made some calls to Birmingham. Surging Arkansas dispatched Ole Miss in the early noon slot, and in the gamble of the day, CBS took Auburn / LSU over Alabama / Tennessee. All was well in a small kingdom across northeast Louisiana, and the handful of Tide fans invited to my wedding resorted to cell phone updates that night (we spit in their food anyway).

To this day I’m tempted to send the parameters of this situation to some Cal Tech mathematician and find out the exact odds of such a thing occurring. Sometimes I quietly thank Cecil Newton and Lane Kiffin for the serendipity – had the former not put his own son on the open market for the highest bidder, and had the latter not destroyed the Vol football team from the inside out, it’s highly likely that the two games would’ve been flipflopped to their usual time – LSU and Auburn at night, and the classic “Third Saturday In October” taking CBS’ first pick afternoon broadcast.

In some twisted line of logic, I guess we should write Ed Orgeron a thank you note.

Most of you have similar stories, some likely not as neat and tidy as Mr. and Mrs. Godfrey’s good fortune on that October Saturday.

That’s why I’d advocate now, on the eve of another football season you’ll no doubt force upon a beleaguered significant other, giving that loved one a special pre-season holiday.

You might think the example I’ve presented above doesn’t support honoring the loved ones who suffer our behavior from September ‘till January, but in all honesty, it’s the best example I could give of my own altruism, whereas I could point to hundreds and thousands of small compromises my bride has made in the name of football.

I feel for the woman. God knows what that first pick-up line I doled out years ago actually sounded like, but I’m sure it was it was something heavy on the mention of being a “writer” and low - or likely absent entirely on the “sports” part. If she had visions of me

as an accomplished, leather-patches intellectual chasing the concept of human expression, those were probably dashed four months into our courtship, when on a Double Decker morning in 2007, the Atlanta Falcons drafted Matt Ryan, and I danced around her apartment screaming. Oh, that human condition.

You likely torture your spouse with one, maybe two teams (college and pro), and some of you are bold enough to throw a fantasy football league in that mix. While I’ve never played fantasy football, I have inflicted an inordinate amount of football on my wife. Unlike you, I write professionally about college football. In the South, this is a perpetually standing loophole for divorce. Or it should be.

Writing about the sport you love sounds sexy, but it entails not only watching an inordinate amount of games, but also writing about, researching and generally breathing the sport. It also means I usually miss out on the lighter, more social parts of the season – tailgating, watching games in bars with friends or simply having friends over to cook out during a pointless Thursday night ESPN game. Y’all are making memories and casually conversing while I’m huddled over a laptop alone. Sexy, huh?

Sportswriting alone warrants an extreme amount of patience, but I’ve also married a woman who, along with her whole family, are fans of the New Orleans Saints, a team that post-Super Bowl victory, I’ve come to loathe with a white-hot, neverending intensity, versus the ages-old general dislike Falcons and Saints fans previously shared.

I say mean things on Sundays. I act like a moron about my irrational loathing of her favorite NFL team. I, at 30 years old, at a noticeable 6’ 5” and not exactly acting soft spoken, wear Falcons jerseys out to the bar her friends drink at, and might have fled said establishment teary-eyed and hysterical during the Playoffs, like a dumped and drunken sorority girl fleeing a Semi-Formal gone horribly wrong.

Amazingly, this woman still shares an income and mortgage with me. I’m aware of this fault of logic on a daily basis in the autumn months, and it’s why I’m proposing that this August and every other to come, you set up a fake holiday for your own suffering spouse.

Do all those supposedly terrible things in the span of a weekend focused entirely on them – visit the art gallery, eat at the place that serves the weird food, go see the movie obviously written, directed and acted out by nothing but menopausal divorcees, and in general shower the loved one with the attention you’ll misdirect to anonymous young black men for the APOLOGY - Continued on Page 17

THE DAWGHOUSE | MSM <<<

The Next Step?

By BRIAN HADAD Featured Columnist

I

have to tell you Bulldog fans, at first glance, even I have some optimism for the first time in a long time. I mean, all of the experts can’t be wrong, and everywhere I look, we are in the preseason top 25. We return experience at quarterback, and nothing is more important than that. We’ve got a great two headed monster at running back, guys that really complement each other well.

I know we lost a great talent at left tackle, but the returning guys are solid through the middle, and we’ve always had good linemen under this staff. Defensively, I’m really excited to see what this transfer brings at middle linebacker, and I love our defensive line. My main concern is the secondary, it’s going to be tough to replace an All-American corner, but we have hit on JUCO’s for so many years now, I can’t imagine it will be different this season.

Did I lose you? Were you just reading along and agreeing until that last little bit? All -American corner, who is he talking about?

I’m talking about Fred Smoot, of course, who else would I be referring to? Oh, you thought I was talking about the 2011 season, I see, easy mistake. No, I was looking back at 2001.

Eerie similarities, huh? Preseason ranking, experienced quarterback, two solid runners, lose a NFL left tackle, transfer middle linebacker, it all fits. That season didn’t exactly turn out the way Steve Robertson and the rest of the Bulldog nation planned, with a top 15 ranking giving way to a 3-8 season, the first of six straight losing seasons. We thought we were ready to take the next step, we fell down the stairs instead.

So you can imagine when I saw the video MSU put together, using “Take the Next Step” as a slogan, I felt a sudden twinge in my stomach. I remember all too well that 2001 season. I was there on Thursday night as a

simple fourth and short turned into a long touchdown for South Carolina, how the late comeback fizzled out. I was there when Florida unleashed four quarters of beatdown. I was there when Damon Duval kicked a field goal that would have been good from 70 yards for a last minute win. I was there when the bottom fell out of the sky and the season against Troy State. I was there, and I have never been able to forget those games. It was almost as if we were being punished for having the gall to think Mississippi State could take a place among the nation’s top teams, that the previous four seasons were a short reprieve from the circle of failure that has been Mississippi State football throughout most of its history.

It was a punch to the stomach, a slap in the face of reality, the worst feeling sports can give, and just so we really got the point, we would only have one more winning season in the decade. The Sports Gods decided to humble us, and even today, we still fear their wrath.

On the surface, Mississippi State football should be all about the good times this year.

We saw a lot of progress in Chris Relf last year, Vick Ballard and Ladarius Perkins really emerged, we finally have some depth and experience at wide receiver, and we’re solid up front and in the defensive backfield. We have playmakers at the skill positions, and Coach Hevesy has really done an outstanding job with linemen that two years ago couldn’t move the pile an inch. Coach Mullen hasn’t made a promise yet he hasn’t delivered on, season tickets are sold out, stadium expansion is in the works (another similarity!), and excitement is at the highest level I can remember since coming back from Atlanta in 1998. We’re riding high, and in one noticeable change from the 2001 season, our hated rivals in Oxford aren’t right there with us. Ten years ago, the Rebels were anxious to kick off the Eli Manning era. There isn’t that kind of anticipation in The Grove right now. It seems, on paper anyway, that Mississippi State is about to take off, maybe even leave Ole Miss far behind.

So that’s why I’m terrified. Thirty-five years I’ve been doing this, and it never, NEVER works out for us. Don’t call it pessimism, call it history. We had a couple of good years in the mid 70’s, the NCAA rocks us for a clothing discount that even Terrelle Pryor wouldn’t

sneeze at. We see two bowls the first two years of the 80’s, we follow with seven losing seasons in the next eight. We finally get a decade of consistent winning, only to follow it up with ten miserable seasons. Go back to the last play of the Snow Bowl. Imagine if I had told you that was it for winning until 2007. It seemed impossible, but we found out the hard way that success is fleeting, but abject failure can be found all around you.

For some silly reason, I hold on for optimism. It has to end sometime, doesn’t it?

We’ve lost eleven straight and eighteen of twenty to LSU, we have to beat them eventually, right? We haven’t beaten South Carolina in five tries, surely we can get them at home, can’t we? We haven’t won three straight against Ole Miss since 1942, it has to happen sometime again, and it just has to, right? Ole Miss had their time, Florida had their time, and heck Alabama has had their time since they started playing football. Doesn’t Mississippi State get a time, a run, a dynasty? I don’t even think I’m asking for national titles and Sugar Bowls, I’ll be happy going to mid-tier bowls forever.

This Mississippi State team can win this year, and they can win big. They could win ten games and I wouldn’t be absolutely shocked.

They could win the West, and I wouldn’t be totally surprised. Relf could be this year’s Cam Newton and I wouldn’t bat an eyelash. But God help me, I thought those same things in 2001. I thought we could go head to head with Miami, I thought we could get back to Atlanta, I thought Wayne Madkin could be an allAmerican. I bought in when we moved Mario Haggan to make room for T.J. Mahwhinney.

I thought Korey Banks and Richard Ball were the next Robert Bean and Fred Smoot.

I thought Dontae Walker would blossom into an elite back. I was wrong on all counts.

Ten years later, the Bulldogs are standing in the same place. In 2001, we tripped and fell flat on our face. It took a decade just to get back to where we were, on the floors between continued mediocrity and sustained excellence. Is it really time for us to keep climbing?

People who have been around longer than me have waited their whole lives for this season.

This time, the Bulldogs are moving onward and upward. We’re taking the next step. MSM

MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 9

>>> MSM | NATIONAL SCENE

Q&A: BRAD EDWARDS Jackson native Brad Edwards: Making a name for himself nationally as one of ESPN’s top College Football analysts and their Bowl Championship Series Expert

B

rad Edwards faces a nearly impossible task every year – trying to make sense of the Bowl Championship Series standings. The BCS, with its multiple rankings from computers, live human polls and a bucket of head-scratching formulas, has produced less than expected results in years past.

Edwards, who grew up in Jackson and graduated from Jackson Academy before attending Alabama, tackles that problem head-on, and with the kind of precision that’s earned him the title of “ESPN BCS Expert.”

MSM: Let’s jump right to it: What’s your ideal postseason structure for college football look like? Would it incorporate any elements of the current BCS system - such as use of the current rankings as a potential seeding system - or would you start fresh?

Edwards: How many pages do you have for this article? I’ll try to go light on the details. My ideal postseason for college football would be an eight-team playoff. The quarterfinals would be played on the home field of the higher seed, while the semis and championship game would be played at predetermined sites.

Best case, the eight teams and the seedings would be dictated by a selection committee of former players and coaches who are spending every Saturday watching games, Worst case, something similar to the current BCS Standings could be used to select and seed the teams.

Perhaps the trickiest part of this is when to play the games. I think the quarterfinals need to be played just before Christmas, leaving the semifinals for New Year’s Day and the championship a week later. It’s not too complicated. Do I think this could happen in the next 20 years?

Not a chance.

MSM: You graduated from Alabama with a broadcast journalism degree, yet you’re known primarily as a “numbers guy” among fans and media. Describe the process of becoming the BCS Expert once you were hired on at ESPN. Edwards: Even though my education didn’t have an emphasis on math, I’ve always been mathematically inclined and have been able to grasp advanced statistics very easily.

I was in my third season as a college football researcher at ESPN when the BCS was created, and the first formula had a decent amount of math involved. There was a schedule strength calculation and a maximum adjusted deviation - the kind of stuff that made most people immediately give up hope of understanding how it works.

Throughout that season, a lot of college football analysts and writers were trying to predict how the standings would adjust from week to 10 | MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE

Photo courtesy ESPN

week, and in our meetings at ESPN, I kept saying, “That’s not right. If this happens, this team is going to climb over that team (and so on).”

Recognizing that I understood this thing a lot better than most people, my boss suggested to ESPN.com that they let me write about it the next season. That established me as an “expert,” and from there, the TV and radio appearances followed suit.

MSM: What’s your advice to aspiring sports journalists and analysts? Certainly a strong math background has to come in handy when you’re about to tell the entire nation your prediction for the BCS bowls.

Edwards: My advice to anyone is to be well rounded. Whatever the nuts and bolts of your job are, there are many people who can do

those things well. You differentiate yourself by having a skill or knowledge set they don’t have. In my case, it was math. For someone else, it might be history or literature. A person who is good at basic communication but doesn’t do anything else particularly well, isn’t going to go very far in the communications field.

MSM: Much like Joe Lunardi and the mens basketball tournament, your name becomes household for roughly a little over a month each year. Describe your workload in the waning weeks of the regular season, and also, what does a BCS Expert analyze in July?

Edwards: I’m sure most people think anyone who’s on TV must be raking in the dough, but there’s not enough money in BCS analysis to keep me from needing to work the rest of the year. From February through July, I’m working on an extensive historical football database for ESPN. It allows us to quickly research a lot of the things that fans read or hear and say, “Wow!” But I love this time of year because the season is about to start, and that means exciting games as well as constant change to the national championship race. It’s a lot of fun to talk about. I get even busier around the 10th of October, just before the first BCS Standings are released, and the workload really doesn’t change much the rest of the season.

If there’s a lot of drama entering the final week, I may appear on a few more shows, but that first week in December isn’t generally much busier than November. That said, my typical week consists of several live TV shows, several more taped video segments - many of them for ESPN.com or the Bowl Bound app - an Insider column for ESPN. com, a couple of meetings, lots of appearances on local radio shows across the country, and then my weekend trip with College GameDay on ESPN Radio to one of Saturday’s biggest games. It’s a ton of fun, but it does start to wear on you late in the season. Obviously, though, there’s no way I’d trade it for another job.

MSM: As someone who understands the nuances of the BCS rankings, what was your reaction to both the indictments made and the suggested overhauls by Dan Wetzel and company in “Death To The BCS?” Edwards: To tell the truth, I haven’t read it. I’ve been involved in this business for so long that I’ve heard every criticism and seen every recommendation for improvement. Some of them are from crazy fans, but others are from professors, attorneys, doctors and many other intelligent people who just love the sport. There are flaws in every plan, just like there are flaws in the current BCS system.

I think the thing about the BCS that people have the hardest time grasping is that it wasn’t created for the common good; its purpose is not to make fans happy. It was created to protect the interests of six conferences, and it just happens to have evolved in a way that also benefits the other conferences, even though they clearly aren’t on equal footing with the six.

Yes, it’s probable that a playoff would generate even more money than the BCS does, but - hold your breath here - it’s not always about the money. The Big Ten and Pac-12 value their relationship with the Rose Bowl above all else, and they won’t agree to any postseason format that will cause them to lose that matchup on a regular basis. That’s the number one stumbling block to almost every playoff proposal I’ve ever seen.

MSM: Roughly a third of our readership are fans of a potential “BCS buster” in Southern Miss. What’s the ideal scheduling situation for a team like USM to make a BCS bowl? Should they schedule like Boise? Or could they could just hope to beat a few quality conference teams

like Houston or UCF and then run the table? Is there a perfect formula to bust the BCS (other than simply going undefeated)?

Edwards: To make it to a BCS bowl - not the championship game, but one of the other four - simply going undefeated could be enough. Hawaii proved that in 2007. The trick is that you have to finish top 12 but also be ranked higher than any other non-AQ (automatic qualifier) team. Let’s say Southern Miss goes undefeated and finishes 11th. In some years, that may be enough, but if Boise State also goes unbeaten, it’s a hopeless case.

I don’t even think it’s a slam dunk that USM would finish ahead of an 11-1 Boise if that one loss came in the opener against Georgia. When it comes to the BCS, playing an easier non-conference schedule can be just as much of a gamble as playing a tougher one. It all depends on what the other teams do around you.

MSM: While researching your history at ESPN, several panicked, angry and also jubilant message board postings came up while searching your name. Your predictions are taken as gospel in many corners. What’s the weirdest interaction you’ve had with a fan or fan base?

Edwards: Chris Fowler used to push me to frequently insert phrases like “I believe” or “In my opinion” when making predictions, simply because of the number of fans who take it as fact. There are some parts of my projections that are mathematically based, but a lot of it is an educated guess on the reaction of voters. Over time, I’ve started to insert phrases like “Don’t book your reservations yet.” The last thing I want is people spending hundreds of dollars because they trust me that much.

If I have a “relationship” with any fan base, it’s LSU. Both times the Tigers have reached the BCS title game, it required an unlikely series of events to play out in their favor on the final day of the regular season. I was interviewed by their local newspapers and radio stations all week, laying out what needed to happen for them to finish in the top two, and when it happened, some of their fans emotionally connected me to it, as if I somehow caused it to happen. It’s rare that I meet an LSU fan who doesn’t have some memory he wants to share about something I said in 2003 or 2007.

MSM: What’s your favorite sports memory in Mississippi? Obviously you’re a Bama alum, but I’m guessing you grew up with some kind of interest in the Egg Bowl rivalry. How often do you make it back to Jackson?

Edwards: Although I didn’t make it this year, I typically come back to Jackson for a week or two each summer, so my kids can visit their grandparents. Since I have girls and went to Alabama, it’s unlikely I’ll ever tell them about when the Egg Bowl used to be played in Jackson, but I’d say that’s where my love for college football began.

I grew up a State fan, because that’s where my dad went to school, and I’d say my fondest memory was when they ended Alabama’s 28game winning streak in 1980. I couldn’t go because I had a soccer game that afternoon, but I remember going nuts as I listened to the final few minutes on the radio. My most memorable Egg Bowl had to be 1983.

Watching that game-winning field goal attempt get blown back is something I’ll never forget. To this day, I’ve seen similar things happen on punts into a strong wind but never seen that happen again on a field goal. I maintain it was the first time I ever saw “the wave” in a stadium.

When the ball was kicked, the whole State side stood up, and when it blew backward, the whole Ole Miss side stood up. What’s great about rivalry games is that I didn’t even realize until a few years ago that State won only three games that year. It felt like the whole season had been ruined on that one play. - MSM MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 11

>>> MSM | LOCAL SCENE

THE START OF A NEW ERA

BY PAUL JONES,

mississippistate.247sports.com

W

hen Mississippi State opens the 2011 football campaign, the Bulldogs will do so with a new radio crew for the first time in 58 years. Following the 2010-2011 basketball season, longtime Bulldog sports broadcaster Jack Cristil retired due to health issues.

So this fall, MSU will feature Jim Ellis as the play-by-play announcer while former MSU quarterback Matt Wyatt will provide color commentary.

Ellis, a West Point native, was in the booth with Cristil for the past 32 years, and has also been calling MSU baseball games on the radio over that time-frame. Wyatt, who played at MSU from 1996-99, has helped MSU’s football radio broadcasts in pre-game and post-game duties the past few seasons.

“I can’t emulate Jack Cristil,” said Ellis. “He was a one-of-a-kind and was an icon. But I think that we can hopefully, as a team, put a product out that Mississippi State people will be proud of, and one that will be informative. Also, (a broadcast that) maybe brings some things to the forefront around the game that they will like to hear about.

“Jack really has been a good friend of mine for a very long time. Jack was an icon and you can’t replace a man like Jack Cristil. Hopefully though, as a group and as a whole package, we will be a team that delivers a good product for Mississippi State fans.”

Wyatt has also called MSU games albeit on television with Comcast Sports. Yes, he was anxious to get this type of opportunity but admits he had mixed feelings at first.

“I guess I would go back several years and say I had hoped someday to get the opportunity to do something like this,” said Wyatt, who has also worked color TV for Cellular South’s high school football series Y’all vs.

Us. “At the same time, I never wanted to think about Mississippi State football on the radio without Jack Cristil. So it is a catch-22 thing for me.

“But when Jack stepped down and I was offered the color job, it was one of those things that was, and I am truly not just throwing a word out there, but the best way to describe it was excitement. Right away I couldn’t wait for that first game and I am still that way.”

And being able to work with an experienced and well-known veteran announcer like Ellis, said Wyatt, is a perfect situation for his debut season.

“It will be great and an awesome experience working with Jim,” said Wyatt. “First, I have always respected Jim as a person and everyone who knows him respects him as a person and the kind of person we all look up to. Then secondly as a broadcaster, I respect him and I always listened to him covering Mississippi State baseball games.

“Over the years on my radio talk shows, I always felt honored when we lined him up for an interview. He always carries credibility when you say his name and I am excited to join him in the booth.”

For Ellis, he said he also welcomed the opportunity to share the airwaves with Wyatt and to be able to rely on Wyatt’s experiences on the field.

“We had a situation before of having a play-by-play guy and a second play-by-play guy,” Ellis said. “I, as a color analyst, tried to stay away from x’s and o’s. Matt can understand that part and brings that to the table.”

Wyatt’s playing experience at Mississippi State provided Bulldog fans

12 | MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE

Photo courtesy Mississippi State Univeristy

(Left to Right) John Correro, Matt Wyatt, Jim Ellis and Bart Gregory.

with many fond memories, including Wyatt’s game-winning touchdown pass to complete MSU’s comeback win at Auburn in 1999. And calling games at a stadium he used to play in will provide, as Ellis noted, a different aspect to the radio broadcast.

“The great thing about it being my alma mater is that I think it will help me to have that historical perspective, for a lack of a better term,” Wyatt said. “I have familiarity with Mississippi State football. Not just from the angle of a broadcaster but also as a guy that wore the uniform in that stadium. It feels like home as opposed to someone who is working for a team that didn’t go to school there or play there. For me, it is just like coming back home.”

Naturally, it will be a different situation this fall for Ellis and Wyatt.

The same can be said for Bulldog fans - young and old - that grew up clinging to every word that came out of Cristil’s smooth yet gravely voice.

Of course, it is a responsibility that the new football duo does not take lightly.

“I’m honored and humbled to assume the chair that Jack has occupied for so many years,” Ellis said. “It’s has been a great privilege to be a part of the Mississippi State broadcast and I look forward to continuing and building upon the legacy that Jack has created.”

And for Wyatt, he does expect to have a few butterflies and that would be natural. But he added, it will be a different set of so-called nerves than he experienced during his days on the gridiron.

“There were definitely (more nerves) playing the game than doing this,” said Wyatt. “Maybe that is an indication that I am actually better at this than I was playing quarterback (laughing). But seriously, it is just a different feeling. Playing quarterback, there were so many other variables and one possibility was the physical harm you could endure.

So the preparation was more intense but I hope I don’t get hurt in the booth (laughing).

“Doing the radio thing, I know we are going to do a good job. We may not always be perfect but I do know this much. I will be having fun. It was a lot more nerve-wracking getting ready to play a game. But now, I feel like a kid on Christmas morning waiting for Santa Claus. That is how I feel about my first broadcast and I can’t wait for September 1st to get here.” - MSM

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MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 13

>>> MSM | WOMEN IN SPORTS

earning her stripes Sarah Thomas of Brandon is making headlines in the world of college football Story by Chuck Stinson

I

Photos by Greg Pevey and Bobby McDuffie

t seems odd that someone who didn’t play football and was not very fond of officials in the world of sports would break through a large barrier in the world of football officiating. But that is exactly what Pascagoula native Sarah Thomas did by becoming the first female to officiate at the highest level (Football Bowl Subdivision) of college football.

The married mother of two is now entering her fifth season of calling Conference USA games and has a league championship game, a bowl game and a professional title game under her belt already.

And believe it or not, it all happened on a whim.

Growing up the daughter of Spencer and Donna Bailey, Thomas was a self professed ‘Tomboy” growing up on the coast. “Whatever season it was we were watching it or playing it”. The attraction of the games was the same for Thomas that most athletes reflect on. “Just the competition. The discipline that you learn, the relationships that you build. Those are probably the biggest things that I enjoyed.”

Her brothers, Lea and Scott, who are also officials, would also include her in the sandlot games they would play but she did not get preferential 14 | MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE

treatment. “I didn’t get any help from my brothers.

They said if you are going to come and play you are going to have to hold your own. So I just learned that I had to.”

Being a lover of competition, Thomas didn’t back down. She even played three years in a basketball league with boys from the fifth grade to the eighth grade because they didn’t have a league for girls at the time. She eventually got into junior high and competed with girls through high school, ending up at the University of Mobile on a basketball scholarship.

Her love of sports did not dwindle after college and she did not like being idle. That is where the whim comes in. Talking to her brother Lea one night in 1996 she asked what he was doing that evening.

“He said he was going to a football officials meet-

Photo by Greg Pevey, Pevey Publishing, LLC

MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 15

ing. I asked ‘Can girls do that?’ He replied, ‘I guess so sis. Be there at six o’clock and don’t be late.” This is really a strange twist considering Thomas “hated officials” as a player and now she was considering joining those the rank and file in the striped shirts and doing so in a sport she never did play.

When Sarah arrived at the meeting for the Gulf Coast Officials Association in Moss Point she noticed something from Lea that was odd. The brother from the past who expected her to pull her weight was now being cautious and protective. “He just said this is a bunch of old men set in their ways. You might get some stares. I said okay.”

Being the ultimate competitor, Sarah took the challenge head on.

“There was a gentleman in the front and he was talking and he was the leader. He just stopped what he was doing and he just watched me. To break the ice I just said, ‘Is this where you become a football official?’

He had a few choice words for me and said I guess so.” That man was George Nash. “I said ‘Oh hell’, Nash recalled after being asked

by Thomas if she was in the right place. At that moment the challenge had been issued to Thomas. “I guess it was my arrogance that got me in the door but it was my pride that wouldn’t let me leave at that point.”

Nash was tough on Thomas but he was also fair. She, like everyone else, had to earn her stripes. It didn’t take him long to realize that he couldn’t stop Sarah from pursuing the job and doing it well. “The reason I had the reaction at first was that female officials were unheard of in Mississippi. Never had we had a female. Once the shockwave subsided and I got my fella officials to breathe I said, ‘What reason do we have not to be one of us? She can outrun all of us and she is smarter than every one of us,’ he remembered with a laugh. But it was really her study habits and desire to learn the game inside and out that led Nash to believe she would be great on the field and great for the game. Thomas was assigned to work the clock her first few times on a high school officiating crew. It was after those games that Nash realized she was going to make it. “She wanted to know when certain things happened in the game and why did y’all do it this way. Her desire to learn and excel is exactly why she is where she is.”

Thomas has nothing but admiration for the man who was at first a little taken aback by the idea of a female calling football games.

“He ended up being my mentor. I think he got me prepared for what I would endure.

He knew what it would take to be an official.

I truly think he got me prepared for what was to come and how to be successful in this business.” Thomas even went as far to say, for the first time in an interview that she was aware of, “If it hadn’t been for him I probably wouldn’t have made it.”

16 | MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE

Photo by Bobby McDuffie

Sarah officiating a scrimmage with the New Orleans Saints

Thomas officiated for ten years in the high school ranks and was on the verge of giving it up to raise her boys Bridley and Brady with her husband Brian. But as she was contemplating hanging up her hankie and whistle, another challenge presented itself.

Gerald Austin, the coordinator of game officials for Conference USA had been told Thomas might be someone his league would want on the field. “Sarah came to my attention through Dr. Joe Haynes in Jackson. He and I were in the NFL together. Joe called me and

said he had an official I needed to take a look at for college football. I said ‘Well Joe what’s his name?’ and he said ‘his name is Sarah’.”

Austin asked Thomas to attend an official’s camp in Reno, Nevada and the next season she called two games for C-USA. “When I got the call and the schedule came out I was shocked.

I wasn’t worried about myself. I didn’t want to embarrass Gerald or Conference USA or any of the other officials I had worked for. I knew I had to be as prepared as I could be for that first division one college football game.”

current fields she calls on, “One day, one year at a time. If I am ever granted the chance to go to the NFL I am not going to turn them down.

My goal is just to be the official I am able to be. It is hard. You are going to mess up, be critiqued and you just hope that build on it and you don’t keep making the same mistakes.”

Sarah’s husband Brian is her biggest fan and her biggest critic at the same time. To him her biggest mistake might not have been a blown call or a missed one, it might just have been an awkward television appearance as she was trying to clear out a big pile up. “I go into the pile and he said don’t ever do that again. Your derriere was all over national television.”

Aside from being out of position for a brief camera angle, Thomas has taken the right position as the first female in D1 football. She is quite grounded about her accomplishments.

“The thing is when I’m out there with the guys I am never referred to as a female referee. I’m an official.”

But the importance of what she has accomplished is not lost on her. “I never set out to be the first. It’s the one thing that, regardless of what anybody does as the first, it can never be taken away from me. I have reflected back on when I did work that first game and the impact it did have on a lot of people. Economic background, race, gender, my story has impacted somebody in a positive manner and that is more meaningful to me than anything.”

As her mentor George Nash would say, she has earned her stripes. - MSM

Sarah officiating a game at Southern Miss

APOLOGY - Continued from Page 8

Photo by Bobby McDuffie

She hasn’t embarrassed anyone. Thomas was an official in the 2009 Little Ceasar’s Bowl Pizza Bowl and in 2010 she graded out as the best at her position earning her a spot in the C-USA league championship game. Austin, who himself worked 27 years in the NFL and three Super Bowls prior to his ten years with C-USA recognizes Thomas not just as a good female official but a good official period. “She is a very capable official. Very savvy about not just knowing the rules but how the rules need to be applied within the spirit of play. That is the most important characteristic”, said Austin. Staying ‘in the game’ is something Sarah knows she has to do each time she is on the field. ” There is no doubt you have got to be focused. It will be the one play that you drift and you will look and you will say what just happened. You definitely have got to stay focused and you have got to have good judgment.”

Larry Upson who is a Vice President of the United Football League and in charge of Of-

ficiating Operations has much the opinion of Thomas’s ability. “She came highly recommended from people I knew around the football world. Sarah didn’t hesitate when asked to call in the developmental professional league that was in its second season.“It’s another way for me to get additional snaps. Faster pace of the game, quality football, pro rules, pro mechanics. It’s just another opportunity that I am grateful for to build on my officiating career.”

She did so well that in 2010, her first year calling in the UFL, she again graded out highest at her position and was on the field for the league’s championship game.

Upson’s vision of Thomas’s officiating is in line with that of Nash and Austin. “It’s knowing how to officiate in the flow of a game and Sarah has that which is fantastic.” He also sees a time where she could move up to the highest point on the football mountain one day. “I could see her moving up to the NFL any time now. She has that much potential”.

Thomas is not quite ready to look past the

next five months.

It pays off, and in a line-by-line comparison, you’re getting away with a steal: the next time the neighbors call about inappropriate obscenities they heard, or why their young child suddenly spouts the phrase, “[screw] you in the ear, ref!,” remind the wife of your all-about-her weekend. Chances are, seven days prior she nursed you back to health and played hooky from church, because you passed out at a tailgate and lost one or more of your children for a substantial amount of time.

I’ve been married less than a year, but trust me when I say that this is timeless, prestige advice to any football fan.

That, and if you have one of those kitchen sinks that has the two-sink, there’s one part you put dishes in, and one part that, for the love of God and creation, you most certainly DO NOT. Figure that out, too. Steven Godfrey is a freelance writer based in Nashville, Tennessee. Contact him at sgodjr@gmail.com or on Twitter, @GodfreyCM.

MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 17

2011 college Bulldogs look to build on success of 2010, Ole Miss is out to prove last season was just a fluke, and Golden Eagles still looking for their first C-USA Title under Fedora 18 | MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE

e football Preview Photo by Bobby McDuffie, XtremePhoto FX, Ocean Springs, MS MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 19

>>> MSM | SPOTLIGHT

REGGIE KELLY:

An NFL Dream not Deferred

R

eggie Kelly’s childhood dream was to make it to the NFL. Day in and day out, he honed his skills to make his dream reality, and his talents have taken him from the Magnolia State to The Big Peach and then to The Queen City. And he continues to pay it forward to other aspiring athletes who share his same dream. But before Reggie’s animated fantasies came to life, his childhood activities fostered his flame for the game.

By Tonya M. Huffman, Photo courtesy Mississippi State Sports Information

Special to Mississippi Sports Magazine

20 | MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE

Reginald (Reggie) Kuta Kelly was born on February 22, 1977 in the small town of Aberdeen, Mississippi. Among a population of 6,000, everybody knew each other and depended on one another. As a child growing up in the 1980s, most Sunday afternoons spent in Aberdeen featured, in their play clothes, the neighborhood boys gathering into a backyard, splitting up into teams, and facing off in football on the grass gridiron. These realistic weekend get-togethers were ongoing games of pretend as each youngster on the scrimmage line imitated one of their favorite NFL stars.

Whether mimicking Reggie White, Lawrence Taylor, Joe Montana, or Walter Payton, all the children graced mile long smiles envisioning themselves strutting down the field the way their childhood heroes had. These weekend clashes did more than just fill the beginning of the week’s afternoon - they fed a dream.

“As neighborhood boys, making it to the NFL was our dream. We would gather in

someone’s backyard to play football, and we often played tackle football with no helmets. Even when I was not playing with the boys, but just playing with my football alone, there were times I ran down the street with the football in my hands and envisioned myself playing pro. I even slept with my football by my side like it was a teddy bear,” said Reggie, reminiscing with a smile.

Every tackle, sack, and touchdown fueled the fire of these youngsters’ small town aspirations, and every yard gained brought them closer to their NFL dream. Whereas some youngsters’ fantasies of going pro may have faded over time, Reggie’s fantasies were permanent, and his flame for the game burned even hotter. For Reggie, those Sunday scrimmages were more than just an afternoon of “pretend” - they were the practice games that revealed his future. Those backyard days contained the plays and seeds that eventually turned Reggie into a true football player.

When Reggie entered Bulldog territory at

Photo courtesy Cincinnati Bengals

MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 21

Aberdeen High School, this linebacker football star was happy to follow in his brother’s footsteps by donning jersey #45. Reggie was eventually requested to play quarterback and later sported #4.

Just playing high school football allowed Reggie to positively go in the direction of his dreams.

Reggie played other sports in high school that helped sharpen his football game. “I played basketball all four years of high school and as a power forward, this sport helped strengthen me and build endurance. Basketball is actually my favorite sport but I excelled in football,” he confessed with a smile.

“As a junior, I got into power lifting and this aided my hand and eye coordination and helped me get stronger.” As Reggie advanced from one grade to the next, he soared in football. As a senior with the Aberdeen Bulldogs, he was a first-team all-state selection. Select colleges and universities from all over recruited this Bulldog to their school so he could bring his flame to their game.

Reggie envisioned that his next step of enrolling in college would bring him closer to his NFL dream. “I had to keep my passion for the game going. I narrowed down my college choices to either Ole Miss or Mississippi State,” he says. So after this Bulldog graduated from Aberdeen High School, he proudly resumed his Bulldog status when he enrolled in college at Mississippi State University, a place he believed was a good fit for him.

“MSU had a great team, and going there allowed me to get some significant playing time,” said Reggie. His preparation and drive earned him dual spotlights in academics and sports, for he garnered a coveted spot on the SEC Honor roll, and he blazed up the football field. Sporting his #89 jersey in college, as a senior, he finished second on the team with 54 knockdown blocks, and had 12 catches for 140 yards. Throughout his college football career, Reggie racked up an impressive record, finishing with 44 career games, 22 starts, and 29 catches for a total of 474 yards Others were hesitant that Reggie would play college football, but Reggie knew he could and he was pleased with his football performance at MSU. “I am very pleased with my college football career. There were very few who thought I could successfully play at that level, for many people thought I was too nerdy, too mild mannered, and that with my even temperament, I would not have the mean streak that it takes to play on the field.

But, actually, my mild manner belied my aggressive play and competitive edge, because I played my hardest on the field. I was extremely humble and grateful to play for the Bulldogs,” said Reggie.

With the strength of his impressive stats, coupled with all his envisions that translated to daily performance on the field, Reggie soon 22 | MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE

Photo courtesy Mississippi State Sports Information

found himself in the 1999 NFL draft.

“In the summer of 1998, I received a letter informing me that I was eligible and would be a part of the next year’s NFL Draft. Chills ran down my spine as I thought with excitement, ‘A country boy from Aberdeen, Mississippi is about to live out his dream!’ I was thankful to the Lord God to have the talent and to be in this position to get drafted,” said Reggie.

The Atlanta Falcons drafted Reggie in the second round, and his contract signature on June 25 sealed the deal. “On draft day, I got a call from then-Atlanta Falcons Head Coach Dan Reeves telling me that I got drafted. I was simultaneously ecstatic and shocked getting drafted into the NFL. I had mixed emotions. On one hand, I said to myself, ‘I’m in the NFL!’ but on the other hand, I also asked myself, ‘I’m in the NFL?’” joked Reggie. “It was overwhelming. I was happy and my family was happy. But I had to eventually seclude myself for a while just to soak it all in.”

Sporting his # 89 jersey, with his dream finally a reality, pro football player and tight end Reggie was ready to play and prove himself. He made his first NFL catch on October 10 at New Orleans, a 16-yarder from teammate Tony Graziani for a first down. On an October 17 game versus the St. Louis Rams, Reggie initiated his season ledger with three catches for 70 yards, including a career-long 50-yarder from Graziani. On December 5 versus New Orleans, Reggie further fulfilled his ultimate dream in football. Subbing for injured teammate O.J. Santiago, Reggie made his first NFL start, his first of two rookie starts and made two catches in the process.

Reggie was clearly ecstatic of having his golden moment in football, a moment he will never forget. “I was wide eyed in amazement to have my first start. I thought to myself, ‘It was Reggie Kelly’s time to start - this country boy from Mississippi is about to have his first start!’ I played up to par on the field,

and eventually during the 2000 football season, I was named a permanent starter. I was honored.” Playing in 16 games with a total of 2 starts, Reggie finished the 1999 football season averaging 18.3 yards per catch, and 8 catches for 146 yards.

During the 2000 season, Reggie continued to fly high as a Falcon. He posted career highs of four catches and 83 yards on the September 24 game versus the Rams, including a seasonlong 37-yarder for his first pro touchdown.

Reggie helped teammate Jamal Anderson post 119 rushing yards on the November 12 game versus Detroit, the first 100-yard game by a Falcons rusher in two years. On a December 3 game versus the Seattle Seahawks, Reggie recorded career-high tying four catches, and his 44 receiving yards included a 19-yard touchdown catch from rookie quarterback Doug Johnson.

Playing and starting in all 16 games, Reggie finished the 2000 season with 31 catches for 340 yards, and 2 touchdowns. Reggie was sore with knee and ankle injuries for the

162 yards. During this season, Atlanta progressed to the Divisional playoffs, and Reggie was happy to be a contributing factor in the team’s playoff berth.

“In my first few seasons playing for the Altanta Falcons, we struggled to win games. But eventually, we got on our feet and made it to the playoffs. Being in the playoffs gives you such a rush. I didn’t want to go another season without being in the playoffs. It was electrifying,” said Reggie with extreme fervor.

Reggie’s time in Atlanta was well spent, for as a Falcon he soared as a person and football player. Playing with the Falcons gave Reggie the discipline of working hard as an NFL player and taught him the importance of teamwork.

“When I first started in the NFL, I was selfish, so focused with making a name for myself. It was all about me - Reggie. I was immature, undisciplined, and I took a lot of hits and knockdowns before realizing that this was cancerous thinking. With this selfish attitude, I tried to elevate my game, and conse-

Cincinnati Bengals wanted me as well. Initially I had no interest in joining the Bengals because these other two teams had more of a winning streak going on and moreover, I was interested in joining the Colts because I liked the head coach at the time, Tony Dungy. But when I took a trip to Cincinnati and met with head Coach Marvin Lewis, he mentioned that he needed me to teach these men around me to be men of integrity. Coincidentally, about a month before my free agency, I prayed to God about joining a team where I could be a role model and teach my teammates integrity. So the fact that Coach Lewis didn’t even know my prayer---but requested of me something I prayed to happen anyway---that’s what led me to sign with the Cincinnati Bengals,” said Reggie.

During the 2003 season, due to a left foot injury, he played in only 12 games with 11 starts and amassed 13 receptions for 81 yards, and 1 touchdown. On a September 28 game versus the Cleveland Browns, he broke a 1414 tie with the final scoring play in a 21-14

“I am very pleased with my college football career. There were very few who thought I could successfully play at that level, for many people thought I was too nerdy, too mild mannered, and that with my even temperament, I would not have the mean streak that it takes to play on the field. But of course, my mild manner belied my aggressive play, because I played my hardest on the field. I was extremely humble and grateful to play for the Bulldogs.”

2001 season as he missed 2 games and the season finale, but he played his best in the games he played in.

On the September 30 game versus Arizona, Reggie netted a season high three catches for 28 yards while supporting a 379-yard offensive output. Playing in 14 games with 13 starts, Reggie racked up 16 catches for 142 yards. During the 2002 season, at a November 24 game versus the Carolina Panthers, Reggie had two catches for a season high 42 yards, and on an October 20 game versus the Panthers, Reggie had two catches for 25 yards and helped his teammates amass an impressive rushing record of 260 yards, the most since 1972, and four rushing touchdowns, the most since 1973.

Throughout the 2002 season, playing and starting in all 16 games, in addition to helping three different Falcons rushers gain 500 or more yards, Reggie had 14 pass receptions for

quently, my game remained monotonous. But when I stopped being selfish and instead, became selfless and I worked with the team, the Lord God allowed my game to truly elevate.

This is a consistent reminder that when you let go and let God in, great things happen,” said Reggie.

And sometimes it is important to keep it moving and be on the go in order to grow, and on March 13, 2003, Reggie traded his Falcon wings for a pair of Bengal claws as this tight end signed with the Cincinnati Bengals as an unrestricted free agent. At first, Reggie had reservations, but he eventually adjusted to the trade.

“When I became a free agent, I had the opportunity to visit and sign with any team who wanted me. The teams that had great records and at first wanted me were the Carolina Panthers, St. Louis Rams, and the Indianapolis Colts. But soon thereafter, I learned that the

win. If that wasn’t enough, Reggie’s emerging leadership skills helped sustain an incredible 225 rushing yards in a December 14 contest with San Francisco, and this was the team’s best output of the season.

Some of Reggie’s personal best efforts were when he engaged in teamwork. During the 2004 season on the October 3 game at Pittsburgh, Reggie aided teammate running back Rudi Johnson’s 123 rushing yards, the most yards by a Bengal on Steelers turf since 1989.

Playing all 16 games with 15 starts, Reggie finished the 2004 season with 15 catches for 85 yards.

During the next season in 2005, Reggie had three catches for 12 yards with a touchdown on a December 4 game at Pittsburgh, scoring on a one-yard second quarter catch that tied the score 14-14. Playing in 15 games with 14 starts, Reggie finished the season with 15 catches for 90 yards and a touchdown.

MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 23

Photo courtesy Cincinnati Bengals

24 | MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE

In 2006, Reggie had two catches for 35 yards on the September 17 game versus Cleveland, and helped running back Johnson rush for a season high 145 yards. The next month during the October 22 game versus the Carolina Panthers, Reggie had three catches for 34 yards, including a 16-yard touchdown that tied the score 7-7 in the second quarter. Reggie played in and started all 16 games during the 2006 season and finished with 21 catches for 254 yards and a touchdown.

In 2007, the Bengals ranked second in the NFL behind New Orleans in fewest sacks allowed. Reggie had two catches for 15 yards on the November 4 game at Buffalo, and had a key block on teammate Glenn Holt’s 100-yard kickoff return. Playing and starting 15 games, he racked up 20 catches for 211 yards.

In 2008, at Pittsburgh on November 20, Reggie had 3 catches for a season high 41 yards, highlighted by a personal season-long 31 yarder. On the December 14 game versus

cross between a superstar and a garbage guy.

So although there is no ‘i’ in team, there is an ‘i’ in win, and each individual has to do his or her specific part to ensure the team’s success,” said Reggie.

Reggie knows firsthand that there is no ‘I’ in ‘team.’ During a morning practice session on August 3, 2009, he suffered a ruptured left Achilles tendon. Two days later, he was placed on the season-ending injured reserve list.

Sad to be injured and not able to play, Reggie had to concentrate on healing and he and his teammates know they had to carry on without his contributions.

“At this point in my career, I had two strikes against me. First of all, I was an older guy on the team, namely an 11-year veteran, and secondly, I injured my Achilles tendon, which really is a career-ending injury. But my teammates and coaches were very supportive of me and they treated me extremely well.

Rather than tell me to hang up my uniform

Undoubtedly, Reggie looks forward to future NFL seasons and wants to accomplish individual and team goals. “I hope to continue to perform up to par, to be the best tight end in the NFL where my blocking and catching skills remain great. A team goal is to win a Super Bowl. Winning a Super Bowl would be the icing on the cake,” said Reggie.

Affectionately dubbed “The Rev” by his teammates for his listening ear, Christian beliefs, great advice, and genuine affection and agape love towards them, Reggie has put his mind, 6’4” frame, and indelible spirit into passing on what he has learned from lessons of the gridiron to the fumbles and stumbles made in the course of everyday life.

To reach the end zone of his ongoing dream, this married father of two has chronicled his insights into his first book aptly titled, “Prepared.” “‘Prepared’ touches on how small happenings in life take place to prepare you for what

“On every team there are three key types of players: the superstars who are well known and who take a lot of the credit, even though other teammates may have helped make a score or a win possible. Then there are the garbage guys who do all the dirty work as they selflessly carry out plays that other players don’t want to, really deserve the most credit but who don’t necessarily get it, and sacrifice the most to contribute to a team’s win. And lastly, role players fit right in the middle, as they fulfill specific roles on the team, being a cross between a superstar and a garbage guy. So although there is no ‘i’ in team, there is an ‘i’ in win, and each individual has to do his or her specific part to ensure the team’s success,” - Reggie Kelly Washington, Reggie’s blocking helped fuel the team’s second best offensive output of the year with 310 yards. Playing in 16 games with 15 starts, Reggie recorded 31 catches for 207 yards.

Throughout his years playing pro football, Reggie has learned to make both individual contributions and be a team player and contribute accordingly to reach the common goal of winning games.

“On every team there are three key types of players: the superstars who are well known and who take a lot of the credit, even though other teammates may have helped make a score or a win possible. Then there are the garbage guys who do all the dirty work as they selflessly carry out plays that other players don’t want to, really deserve the most credit but who don’t necessarily get it, and sacrifice the most to contribute to a team’s win. And lastly, role players fit right in the middle, as they fulfill specific roles on the team, being a

and retire or otherwise get out of the game, they encouraged me to do what was necessary to heal and eventually get back in. I was very appreciative of their encouraging words, for a little goes a long way with me. I didn’t quit. I came back,” said Reggie. Throughout the 2009 season, Reggie worked in rehab at the team facility and was expected to be at full speed for the next season.

As the 2010 season approached, a healthy Reggie was again ready for full force action on the field. Reggie’s blocking helped running back Cedric Benson rush for a second straight 1,000-yard season, and Reggie aided pass protection that allowed no sacks in the final three games. In his twelfth pro season, Reggie was garnered as one of the offense’s top blockers, and throughout the 2010 season, playing in 16 games with 14 starts, Reggie had 10 receptions for 42 yards. Reggie is second on the roster to fellow NFL player Terrell Owens in career NFL games with 168 and starts with 147.

will be faced down the road, and ultimately in Heaven. Everything happens for a reason and to strengthen us, for like Fredrick Douglass once said, ‘If there is no struggle, there is no progress,’” said Reggie. “I wrote the book to encourage people, for not everyone responds to criticism, but everyone responds to encouragement.”

Reggie’s wife Sheila and their two children, Kyla and Kavan, continue to encourage him.

In 2005, Reggie and Sheila founded a business called Kyvan. The proud parents rightly named the business after combining the first two letters of their daughter’s name with the last three letters of their son’s name. Kyvan markets and distributes to consumers seasonings, sauces, and hot and mild salsas. Currently, the product is available to everyone online, and at stores in many cities in Mississippi and in Cincinnati. But as Kyvan continues to take off, it could very well be in a city near you. MSM MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 25

>>> MSM | 2011 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW

MISSISSIPPI STATE

BY PAUL JONES,

BULLDOGS

mississippistate.247sports.com

2011 Schedule Sep. 1

at Memphis (W)

Sep. 10 at Auburn (W) Sep. 15 LSU (L) Sep. 24 Louisiana Tech (W) Oct. 1

at Georgia (L)

Oct. 8

at UAB (W)

Oct. 15 South Carolina (W) Oct. 22 OPEN DATE Oct. 29 at Kentucky (W) Nov. 5 UT Martin (W) Nov. 12 AlabamA (L) Nov. 19 at Arkansas (L) Nov. 26 Ole Miss (W)

MSM 2011 PREDICTION: 8-4 Overall; 4-4 SEC BOWL: CHICK-FIL-A

T

here is little doubt that Mississippi State enjoyed its share of gridiron success in 2010. In head coach Dan Mullen’s second year, the Bulldogs finished 9-4 and capped off the year with a dominating performance against Michigan in the Gator Bowl.

So naturally, MSU fans had plenty to boast about last season. But excuse Mullen for not falling into that category and for good reason.

“We don’t want to be patting our guys on the back,” said Mullen. “That leads to be content and satisfied and we are not close to where we want to be with this program. Yes, we took steps in the right direction but everyone else is going to be working hard, too.

So we have to make sure we are working the hardest and not be giving pats on the back for what we did last year.”

MSU does return several proven playmakers for 2011, particularly on the offensive side of the ball with the likes of senior quarterback Chris Relf and senior tailback and 2010 leading rusher Vick Ballard. But there are

26 | MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE

DAN MULLEN

Photo by Bobby McDuffie

2010 TEAM STATS

Photo by Greg Pevey, Mississippi Sports Magazine

STEPPING UP: MSU lost two All-SEC lineman from last seasons rushing attack.

Protecting Chris Relf and maintaining consistency on the ground will be important keys to the success of the Dawgs in 2011. question marks on both sides of the line and the normal depth issues faced in the rugged Southeastern Conference.

OFFENSE The numbers were obviously an improvement from Mullen’s debut season. As a whole, the Bulldogs averaged 401 yards a game and 29 points a game. With the players more comfortable with the spread offense and the development of Relf, the balance was also noticeable with 214.8 rushing yards a game and 185.5 passing yards a game.

But behind most of that success last year was a steady offensive line, one that has since seen left tackle Derek Sherrod get drafted in the NFL’s first round and center J.C. Brignone graduate.

“I guess the thing that concerns you is the offensive line,” Mullen said. “Not so much the ones as soon as you take one guy out, there’s not an experienced guy coming in. It’s gonna be a rookie coming on the field.”

The Bulldogs did move an experienced veteran to center as former starting guard Quentin Saulsberry slid into Brignone’s spot. In the spring, Sherrod’s replace was not settled, however, as senior James Carmon and redshirt freshman Blaine Clausell were in a tight battle for that job. Carmon played on the defensive line in 2010 but moved to the other side of the ball in the spring.

While neither has starting experience, or

even SEC playing experience, that are some other veterans back up front besides Saulsberry, who is a three-year starter.

Senior Addison Lawrence is a returning starter at right tackle while guards Gabe Jackson and Tobias Smith also drew starts last year. Jackson and Smith missed much of spring, however, with injuries.

But then the experienced depth issue rears its ugly head. Junior guard Templeton Hardy has limited experience on the field due to injuries but got some starting reps in the spring.

Yet besides Hardy, redshirt freshmen Dillon Day, Damien Robinson, Archie Muniz and Eric Lawson are still awaiting their first college experiences.

“You take two returning starters out, the trickledown effect becomes huge in that there’s not a lot of experience with the backups,” noted Mullen. “Hardy got a lot of work with the 1’s in the spring and Dillon Day got a lot of work with the 1’s. But (the backups) need to grow up fast. James Carmon and Blaine Clausell have not played left tackle in a game, in an SEC football game.

“If we can stay healthy with the 1’s, then you start to feel good about the depth because the (backups) will get their time to slowly develop and not be forced to be the starter.”

Speaking of development, no other Bulldog offensive player has made strides that Relf has exhibited over the past couple of years.

Last season, Relf completed 58.6 percent of his passes and threw for 1,789 yards with 13 touchdowns and six interceptions. He was again a threat on the ground and ranked second on the team 713 yards and five touchdowns.

Behind Relf, the depth is also a strong point and possibly the strongest MSU fans have wit-

.........................................................................MSU.....................OPP SCORING ............................................... 377 .................258 Points Per Game ............................. 29.0 ................19.8 FIRST DOWNS .......................................268 .................252 Rushing ............................................. 144 ..................95 Passing ...............................................111 ..................140 Penalty ............................................... 13 ................... 17 RUSHING YARDAGE ............................. 2793 ...............1548 Yards gained rushing ......................3084 ............... 1878 Yards lost rushing ............................ 291 .................330 Rushing Attempts ............................ 619 .................435 Average Per Rush ............................. 4.5 .................. 3.6 Average Per Game ..........................214.8 ............... 119.1 TDs Rushing .......................................28 ....................11 PASSING YARDAGE ..............................2424 ...............3091 Comp-Att-Int .............................. 168-288-13 .....258-446-13 Average Per Pass ............................. 8.4 ................. 6.9 Average Per Catch ............................14.4 .................12.0 Average Per Game ..........................186.5 ...............237.8 TDs Passing ........................................ 18 ...................19 TOTAL OFFENSE ....................................5217 ................4639 Total Plays .........................................907 ................. 881 Average Per Play ...............................5.8 .................. 5.3 Average Per Game ..........................401.3 .............. 356.8 KICK RETURNS: #-Yards ....................51-1083 .......... 64-1450 PUNT RETURNS: #-Yards ................... 17-153 ............. 17-94 INT RETURNS: #-Yards ........................13-84 .............. 13-151 KICK RETURN AVERAGE .......................21.2 ................ 22.7 PUNT RETURN AVERAGE ...................... 9.0 ................. 5.5 INT RETURN AVERAGE .......................... 6.5 ..................11.6 FUMBLES-LOST .....................................17-8 ................18-15 PENALTIES-Yards ...............................68-559 ............78-617 Average Per Game .......................... 43.0 ................47.5 PUNTS-Yards ....................................59-2450 .........59-2497 Average Per Punt .............................41.5 ................ 42.3 Net punt average .............................37.9 ................ 38.4 TIME OF POSSESSION/Game ............... 31:32 .............. 28:28 3RD-DOWN Conversions .................. 90/196 ........... 64/185 3rd-Down Pct .................................. 46% ............... 35% 4TH-DOWN Conversions ....................15/19 ...............9/24 4th-Down Pct ...................................79% ................ 38% SACKS BY-Yards ..................................26-158 .............23-134 MISC YARDS ..........................................-20 ..................24 TOUCHDOWNS SCORED .........................48 ...................30 FIELD GOALS-ATTEMPTS ......................13-19 ...............17-26 ON-SIDE KICKS ......................................1-1 ..................0-2 RED-ZONE SCORES ....................... (39-49) 80% . (29-40) 73% RED-ZONE TOUCHDOWNS .............(32-49) 65% ...(17-40) 43% PAT-ATTEMPTS ..............................(48-48) 100% .. (27-29) 93% ATTENDANCE .....................................384995 ...........375568 Games/Avg Per Game ................. 7/54999 ..........5/75114 Neutral Site Games ............................. ................ 1/68325 SCORE BY QUARTERS.................1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT Total Miss. State..................................105 111 76 85 0 377 Opponent.................................. 67 74 56 54 7 258 MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 27

nessed in decades. Redshirt sophomore Tyler Russell got his feet wet last year and threw for 635 yards with five touchdowns and six picks.

A pro-style quarterback, Russell exited the spring as Relf ’s backup but it wasn’t without a tough battle from redshirt freshman Dylan Favre.

Favre showed his productive skills in the spring and quickly displayed his leadership skills and gutsy style on the field. He was one of the top standouts in the Bulldogs’ spring game and should get his first collegiate action this fall.

“It is so much better than when we first arrived here,” said MSU offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Les Koenning. “I can honestly say we feel comfortable in putting anyone of those three guys on the field. With Relf, it has come so far with his confidence and that comes from making plays and making good decision. There is no question he left spring as the starter and he ended the spring on a solid note.”

Behind Relf are two other proven running threats and a steady tailback duo in senior Vick Ballard and redshirt sophomore LaDarius Perkins. Entering the year somewhat of an unknown player, Ballard led MSU with 968 rushing yards and a school-record 19 rushing touchdowns. And those numbers were produced despite Ballard missing one games in 2010.

Perkins also finished strong last fall and also showed his skills off as a receiver out of the backfield. Perkins rushed for 566 yards and three touchdowns and also had nine catches for 247 yards and three more scores.

Joining the Bulldogs’ tailback picture this spring was redshirt freshman Nick Griffin, who showed signs of being heavily in the mix this fall. Griffin, however, tore his ACL midway through spring drills but could make a return to the lineup in late September.

“I felt a lot more comfortable this spring,” said the humble and soft-spoken Ballard.

“Last year I was just trying to learn the plays and keep up. But this spring I was able to spend more time focusing on the little things.

Once you know the playbook then you can focus on doing those little things the proper way.”

And learning the system and gaining experience was something that aided the MSU receiving corps last season. That late momentum also carried over to the spring as that position started to display a rarity of late proven depth.

For the second straight season, current junior Chad Bumphis led the team in all receiving categories and had 44 catches for 634 yards and five touchdowns. But during the 2010 stretch run, the Bulldogs had other receivers making clutch plays.

Juniors Arceto Clark and Chris Smith combined for 49 catches and 626 yards and 28 | MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE

four touchdowns last season. Fellow classmate Brandon Heavens was also reliable last fall and had 22 catches for 316 yards and two scores.

Also, sophomores Michael Carr and Ricco Sanders collected their best showings in the Gator Bowl and both had their first career touchdown catches.

Redshirt freshmen Robert Johnson and Jameon Lewis got their first real shots in the spring and are expected to add more depth at receiver. Lewis turned many heads last fall and also in the spring with his quickness at the slot position.

MSU also inked a pair of receivers in February with Joe Morrow and Devin Fosselman.

“There is some depth there and experience there now,” said Mullen. “I’m comfortable there. I still don’t know if we have the go-to, playmaking receiver. But I do think we have multiple ones that are gonna be comfortable in game situations.”

Another proven performer in the passing game back in the fold is Marcus Green. But with Green, injuries are the lone question mark and that was the case last fall. Earlier in his career, Green missed most of his redshirt season with a hip injury. Then last year a torn ACL limited the senior tight end to just two games and just three catches.

Green saw little action in the spring and avoided contact to keep him protected, but he is expected to be fully recovered this fall.

The Bulldogs also return another senior at tight end with Kendrick Cook, who saw most of his time as a blocking tight end in powerrunning offensive sets. Like Green, Cook was also limited in the spring with an injury, which was considered a minor nerve injury.

With Green and Cook being cautious this spring, that allowed for redshirt freshmen Brandon Hill and Malcolm Johnson to get the majority of the reps. Johnson spent last year redshirting as a receiver but was moved to tight end early in spring drills.

“A healthy Marcus Green creates a lot of headaches for opposing defensive coordinators,” said MSU tight ends coach Scott Sallach. “And that is the only question mark with him. He is a guy that can line up wide, a guy that can be in the backfield and a guy that can block. So he is the total package. Kendrick is also a better receiver than most believe but he knows his role well on this team and performs that role well.

“And with Brandon and Malcolm, they are both very athletic and can catch the ball well.

Malcolm is also a difficult matchup and a guy we can use in different spots.”

DEFENSE For the fourth straight season, the Bulldogs enter the fall with a first-year defensive coordinator. But this year it comes with some familiarity. Last year’s defensive line coach/

co-defensive coordinator Chris Wilson was promoted to the defensive post shortly after last year’s defensive boss Manny Diaz took over Texas’ defense.

“Like any change, we will have a few new wrinkles here and there,” said Wilson. “But our aggressive mindset will not change one bit. We will continue to attack the quarterback and come from all directions to get to the other team’s backfield.”

In 2010 the Bulldogs allowed just 19.8 points a game and 356.8 yards a game. But a trio of last year’s standouts - linebackers K.J. Wright and Chris White and defensive end Pernell McPhee - have since taken their talents to the NFL. But several veterans do return for the Bulldogs, particularly in the middle of the defensive line.

Junior defensive tackles Fletcher Cox and Josh Boyd have been in the starting lineup since their rookie campaign. And the duo combined to collect 14 tackles for loss and five sacks last season.

Depth-wise, senior Jeff Howie returns at defensive tackle but as noted above, Carmon has switched sides of the football. That means redshirt freshmen Kaleb Eulls and Curtis Virges will get their first shot at aiding MSU’s rotation at defensive tackle.

The “wildcard” up front is another experienced junior in Devin Jones, who has rotated at tackle and end previously in his college career.

“We have two solid starters with Boyd and Cox,” said Wilson. “And they were, as expected, steady this spring. But we need to find that two-deep group like we had last year. We call Devin Jones our ‘wildcard’ and ‘flavor of the month’. He can line up in different sets and gives us good flexibility.”

On the edge, the experience factor is not as strong. In fact, senior Sean Ferguson is the lone defensive end back with double-digit career starts and he had 23 tackles last year, including five for loss.

Battling for the other starting end spot will be redshirt juniors Shane McCardell and Trevor Stigers along with sophomore Corvell Harrison-Gay. “Sean Ferguson took a positive step in the right direction this spring,” noted Wilson.

“And you expect that out of a senior who is only guaranteed 12 more games in his career.”

Perhaps the biggest question mark entering spring was the linebackers’ position. The Bulldogs actually lost a trio of starters in Wright, White and Emmanuel Gatling. The lone Bulldog backer returning with starting experience is junior Cam Lawrence, who had 34 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss in 2010.

But as spring progressed, the MSU linebackers did exhibit possibly more talent, speed and depth than last year’s collection of linebackers.

Lawrence is expected to draw the nod at ‘will’ linebacker and in the spring, sophomore Chris Hughes got most of the starting reps at ‘sam’ linebacker. In the middle was junior Brandon Wilson and Wilson got quality time last year as White’s backup. But those positions did not come without a battle. Also in the mix was senior Jamie Jones, redshirt sophomore Deontae Skinner and redshirt freshmen Matt Wells, Ferlando Bohanna and Christian Holmes.

“I do think that guys stepped forward,” Mullen said. “I do think we have a bunch of SEC linebackers here. We’ve got to make sure they’re SEC-ready this September, not just that they’re SEC-caliber players, but that they’re ready to perform at that level come this September. That’s still got a long way to go.”

The depth issue got even better after spring when former Clemson starting linebacker Brandon Maye transferred and will play his senior season at MSU. “This spring was about making sure our linebackers knew each position and the ins and outs of every spot,” said first-year linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator Geoff Collins. “We will play our best three linebackers and our six best linebackers regardless of their position. We don’t want to have our outside linebacker go down and have to replace him with our fourth or fifthbest guy. If our backup middle linebacker is better than the other option, then he will be well-rehearsed at that position and able to step in and play.”

MSU’s most experience spot on defense is easily the secondary where several returning starters and key contributors return. And that leadership begins with senior strong safety Charles Mitchell, and the Clarksdale native ranked third on the team last year with 93 tackles.

Fellow classmate and free safety Wade Bonner finished 2010 on a strong note and received valuable playing time. But also at that spot last year and earning starting calls is redshirt sophomore Nickoe Whitley. To add more versatility to the secondary, junior Johnthan Banks rotated between cornerback and free safety.

“We know what Banks can do at corner so we moved him to safety to give other guys more reps,” said cornerbacks’ coach Melvin Smith. “He gives us a lot of flexability and versatility at both positions and is a good asset to have back there.”

Banks, Whitley and junior cornerback Corey Broomfield shared team honors last year with each grabbing three interceptions.

Broomfield maintained his starting job this spring and when Banks moved to safety, several guys took their shot at the opening left behind. Seniors Damein Anderson and Marvin Bure along with redshirt freshmen Jay

Hughes and Jamerson Love were all in the mix this spring.

Also arriving in the fall and expected to battle for immediate playing time is former junior college All-American cornerback Darius Slay.

SPECIAL TEAMS MSU did graduate a pair of seniors in 2010 with placekicker Sean Brauchle and punter Heath Hutchins. But the special teams’ cupboard is not completely bare.

Senior Derek DePasquale handled most of the placekicking opportunities last year, including kickoffs. DePasquale was perfect on extra points (28-of-28), drilled 10-of-12 field goals and had three touchbacks on kickoffs.

Expected to battle DePasquale on kickoff duties is sophomore Brian Egan, who is a former Western Illinois transfer and former Parade All-American from Prattville, Ala. However, MSU will trot out a new punter this fall and it is likely to be redshirt freshman Baker Swedenburg.

Concerning kickoff and punt returns, the Bulldogs featured several options in the spring. Bumphis returned the majority of punts last year but Banks and Lewis also took turns at returning punts.

On kickoff returns, Perkins, Carr and Lewis could all be possibilities as well.

OVERVIEW The Bulldogs’ non-SEC slate in 2011 is expected to offer little resistance from the likes of Memphis, UAB, Louisiana Tech and Division 1-AA Tennessee-Martin. But as usual, the SEC portion of the schedule will offer plenty of challenges.

The Bulldogs will play host to LSU, South Carolina, Alabama and Ole Miss and have to travel to Auburn, Georgia, Kentucky and Arkansas.

So having certain guys grow up at certain positions will be a must if the Bulldogs are to repeat last year’s success.

“Just because there was inexperience, there’s still a lot of unanswered questions there,” Mullen said. “I didn’t doubt the talent level we have there. The biggest question is the experience level we have there. When you get into that live-game situation and the crowd is going crazy. You’re playing an offense with some talented players and they’re motioning guys all over the place, all of the sudden you’ve got to make that read, hit the gap and make the tackle on a Heisman trophy candidate tailback, that’s when you’re going to get to see it.”

And just like he stated when he first took over the MSU program, the goal remains the same this year.

“That’s always been our goal: find a way to get ourselves to Atlanta,” Mullen said. “That’s it.” - MSM

2010 RESULTS RECORD: 9-4 (4-4 SEC) Sep. 4 Sep. 9 Sep. 18 Sep. 25 Oct. 2 Oct. 9 Oct. 16 Oct. 23 Oct. 30 Nov. 13 Nov. 20 Nov. 27 Jan. 1

Memphis Auburn at LSU Georgia Alcorn St. at Houston at Florida UAB Kentucky at Alabama Arkansas at Ole Miss #Michigan

W L L W W W W W W L L W W

49-7 14-17 7-29 24-12 49-16 47-24 10-7 29-24 24-17 10-30 31-38 31-23 52-14

#Gator Bowl

2011 SIGNEES Dee Arrington .....................DB .................... Wiggins Taveze Calhoun..................ATH...................... Morton Justin Cox.............................DB.................West Point Devin Fosselman................WR................. Woodville John Harris..........................DL....... Boynton Bch., FL Zachary Jackson..................DB.................Heidelberg P.J. Jones..............................DL........................Tupelo Daniel Knox......................TE/OL............... Collinsville James Maiden.....................OL.................. Woodville Justin Malone......................OL..................... Madison Kendrick Market.................WR..................Batesville Benardrick McKinney..........LB....................Rosa Fort Derek Milton........................RB...............Pineville, LA Joe Morrow.........................WR.......... Ocean Springs Shaquille Perry....................RB.......................Walnut Dak Prescott....................... QB............ Haughton, LA Nick Redmond.....................OL..................... Gulfport Josh Robinson.....................RB..........Franklinton, LA Darius Slay...........................DB...........Brunswick, GA Preston Smith......................DL..........Stone, Mtn., GA Joey Trapp...........................OL.........Rolling Hills, CA Rufus Warren......................TE................... Indianola *15 PLAYERS FROM MISSISSIPPI MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 29

>>> MSM | 2011 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW

CHRIS RELF

BY PAUL JONES,

mississippistate.247sports.com

O

ver the past two seasons, Chris Relf ’s progress on the gridiron has been obvious. The Mississippi State quarterback improved his passing by leaps and bounds, as well as his decision-making on the field. He led the MSU offense last year and created quite the presence inside the Bulldogs’ huddle.

But yet, this spring Relf remained the same low-key personality - on and off the field. Sure, curious on-lookers could hear Relf talking a bit more, either encouraging his offensive teammates or challenging the opposing defenders.

While some may say Relf also took strides in becoming more of a vocal leader, he says it was more about just being comfortable.

“I really didn’t have to work on that and I just went out there in the spring talking a little more,” said Relf. “I am real comfortable around the guys and I think the guys like me a lot. I am kinda laid back but when it’s time for me to talk, I will talk.”

And what led to Relf feeling comfortable was having confidence in his abilities, as well as having confidence in those surrounding him.

“Chris Relf really improved his confidence in what he was doing,” said MSU quarterbacks’ coach Les Koenning. “He didn’t start the spring off very well and he will tell you the same thing. But he really finished strong and did some good things in the spring game. He got the tar knocked out of him a couple of times but he stayed in there and took it. But after the second time he got hit pretty good, I told him he was through for the day and we already know what he can do in a game.”

And Relf showed often last year what he could do in a game, especially in MSU’s regular-season finale against Ole Miss and in the dominating performance over Michigan in the Gator Bowl.

For the year, Relf completed 58.6 percent of his passes for 1,789 yards with 13 touchdowns and six interceptions. He was again a force with his legs, and the 6-foot-3 and 245-pound Relf rushed for 713 yards and five touchdowns to rank second on the team in rushing totals.

Early in his junior campaign of 2010, Relf was sharing some reps with backup quarterback and now-redshirt sophomore Tyler Russell.

But all of that changed when Relf took over and helped fuel MSU’s home victory over Georgia last fall.

“I think it was just a natural thing,” said Relf of last year’s progression. “The coaches gave me a chance and during the Georgia game, I played the whole game and thrived off that responsibility. Then towards the end of the season I just got better with each and every game.

I just went out there and executed and relied on my teammates.”

And to much of the delight of MSU coaches and fans alike, that confidence grew bigger and bigger with each game last fall. Of course, that was a far cry from Relf ’s early years in Starkville.

In fact, after his redshirt freshman season, there was even some talk that Relf could be moved to tight end. But Relf eventually proved the doubters wrong and made believers out of many, including his SEC opponents.

“His confidence has really boosted a lot and that has been very helpful to him,” said Koenning. “When he first came in he wasn’t loaded with a lot of confidence. That is not saying anything bad against the 30 | MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE

Photo by Greg Pevey, Mississippi Sports Magazine

other staff here. It was just that Relf was a young kid that has matured now. We’ve tailored some things for him in the offense and it’s been a good marriage.

“The other part with Relf was just playing well in games and the teams he beat gave him a lot of confidence. And he likes that role of being a leader. Since we are usually a no-huddle team, his vocal leadership is not that big of a deal but he did improve in that area. He is still a quiet leader that leads by example and he does that in our offseason program, too, and it shows out on the field.”

And that journey actually started before last year. At the end of his sophomore season, Relf started to make a name for himself due to his play in State’s 2009 win in the Egg Bowl.

“The issue with Chris, and just my first early dealings with him, it took him to really until the School Up North game my first year here to

Photo by Bobby McDuffie

hit his stride,” said MSU head coach Dan Mullen. “That is when he, to me, started to grasp what it even is to be a quarterback. That is the key with Chris. I don’t really even think he grasped his role until that game and he kind of turned a corner.

“Going before last season, he was a different guy. I think he understood the approach he had to take as a quarterback, the preparation it takes to be a quarterback, and he really started focusing on that. Now, I think he understands the offense. He understands what it means to be the quarterback.” What Koenning referred to with Relf ’s leadership off the field has been evident this offseason. Never feeling satisfied about his progressions, Relf has spent much of the offseason focused on one area of his game heading into his senior campaign.

“It feels good knowing I am preparing for my senior season and I am looking forward to a big season this year,” said Relf. “I’ve been working out hard and I stayed up here in May to do a little extra on my own and work a little more on my footwork. My footwork and working on my quickness were my main focuses this summer.”

And naturally, Relf has been busy working on the normal things on a quarterback’s to-do list this summer.

“Just working with the wide receivers nearly every day,” said Relf.

“Just throwing and working with them during the week and doing the

right things in my throwing game.”

Sure, Relf is mainly responsible for his development due to his extra work in summer time and also due to gaining more game experience. But also aiding his production has been the maturation and development of the MSU receivers.

Still considered a youthful bunch - no senior receivers in 2011 - Relf does have more dependable options these days when he drops back in the pocket.

“I think a lot of guys have made some strides,” said Relf. “Arceto Clark, Chris Smith, Chad Bumphis, Ricco Sanders and Jameon Lewis and then Robert Johnson, who had a good showing this spring. I think all of our wide receivers are good and all of them have upped their game.”

When not on the practice field throwing with his receivers, Relf is preparing his body for another rugged season in the SEC. Easily the most physical college league in the country, Relf also takes his share of extra pounding as a dual-threat quarterback.

“I was pretty beat up late last year and I remember well the Ole Miss game when I had tweaked my hamstring a little bit,” said Relf.

“But it wasn’t that much of a beating. That is why I work so hard in the weight room with (MSU strength) Coach (Matt) Balis in order to go out there and compete with the guys in the SEC. You have to make sure your body is ready for that weekly pounding in the SEC and you have to be prepared for it.”

But this offseason wasn’t all about physical hard work. Relf has honed in on the mental part of the game and was busy doing his homework off the field.

He also took on more of a leadership role this spring. Yes, he was in quite a battle with Russell as well as freshmen quarterback Dylan Favre and Dak Prescott. But he was quick to offer his advice for the less-experienced quarterbacks on the roster.

“This offseason was also about staying in the film room and watching a lot of film,” said Relf.

“I also came out this summer trying to lead the younger guys, too, and make them better. You never know, I might go down and then Tyler, Dylan or Dak may have to come in.”

Along with the mentioned receivers above, Relf will also have more experience around him in 2011. The Bulldogs must replace NFL firstround draft choice Derek Sherrod at left tackle as well as a three-year starter at center in J.C. Brignone. But three starters are back on the O-line as well as an experienced backfield.

Leading rusher Vick Ballard is back for his senior year after setting a school record last fall with 19 rushing touchdowns. The elusive LaDarius Perkins also returns in the backfield.

Relf pointed to that experience when asked what kind of offense could the Bulldogs produce this fall. But he also pointed to having a sense of urgency from the season opener to the, hopefully, postseason.

“We have a lot of guys back on offense this year and a lot of guys I think can be successful on offense,” said Relf. “We just have to go out there and play every game like it’s our last game and do that for our whole team. That is what we are working for and I know I am going to play every game like it’s my last game and I know the guys around me are going to do the same.” - MSM MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 31

>>> MSM | SPOTLIGHT

BACK WHERE HE BELONGS Gunter Brewer left his position at Oklahoma State as coach of the Cowboys high flying receiving corps to return home to Ole Miss to take the same position with the Rebels - and is bringing a new attitude to the offense along with him

By Steven Godfrey,

Special to Mississippi Sports Magazine

H

is name is familiar to Rebel fans, but his ability to create brand name wide receivers is what landed coveted receivers coach Gunter Brewer back home in Oxford, Mississippi.

Brewer’s namesake endears him to loyal Rebel fans happy to see a member of the “family” on the coaching staff. His father Billy coached the Rebels for a decade (1983 – ’93), but his almost incomparable resume developing collegiate wide receivers into brand name pros is what Ole Miss is hoping will make a marked and immediate improvement at the position.

Throughout his career, Brewer has coached a list of future pros, from Randy Moss up to Dez Bryant. Along with new West Virginia

32 | MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE

head coach Dana Holgorsen as offensive coordinator, Brewer’s Oklahoma State receivers put up a staggering 345 yards a game last year, good for second best in the nation.

Meanwhile, running back Brandon Bolden led the 2010 Rebels in receiving yardage in a hapless 4-8 campaign. Not since Mike Wallace’s senior season in 2008 have the Rebels been able to effectively stretch the field in the passing game. Enter Brewer, whose credentials should instantly inspire a roster full of unproven hopefuls.

“It helps to be able to relate to a young player in terms of a guy like Randy Moss. You can relate a certain style of play you see in them to a NFL player they might know of, and show them where hard work can get them,” Brewer said.

Of the incumbent receiving corps, Melvin Harris (30 catches, 408 yards) and Ja-Mes Logan (29 catches, 397 yards) are the only

wide outs with double digit catches in 2010.

The Rebels were a forgettable 82nd nationally in passing offense last season (192 yards per game), but Brewer is confident that, even without the much heralded freshman, the team is capable of improving immediately.

“There’s potential in the current group. If they’re not reaching their level of talent and not getting the most out of themselves, you have to find out why. But certainly we have to start looking for that all conference type player that will make a difference. You have to have an explosive guy, and we’re looking for that.”

How that reclamation arrives is a lot less miraculous and a lot more plain-old repetition, Brewer assures.

“I would say the one thing needed most with this group was and is consistency. With consistent hard work, good old elbow grease, you can start to hold kid accountable for their

“It helps to be able to relate to a young player in terms of a guy like Randy Moss. You can relate a certain style of play you see in them to a NFL player they might know of, and show them where hard work can get them.” - Gunter Brewer Photo courtesy Oklahoma State University Sports Information

MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 33

actions in all phases of what they do, and create a new atmosphere. You can get technical; ‘this particular thing isn’t being done on the field, or it’s route running or position,’ but it’s really about changing habits overall.”

Much like the early season shuffling behind center last season, Ole Miss will enter fall practice without a starting quarterback.

When asked if he had any kind of say as to which quarterback would better suit his receivers, Brewer didn’t pick a favorite in the race, and deferred judgment to fall practice – and his fellow coaches.”

“Sure, there’s players that you might chime in on, if you think one guy can throw a more catchable ball, but we’re going to have these guys ready no matter who wins that job.

When there’s a QB battle, you just hope to see development of timing with each of them.

Each quarterback has that particular timing, and you look to see the receivers responding to that,” he said.

While Brewer expects to see improvement from his incumbent receivers, most fans are focused on a bumper crop of recruits at the position. Ole Miss landed a record haul of potential receivers, including Mississippi Dandy Dozen members Donte Moncrief, Nickolas Brassell and Tobias Singleton. Rather than pick opposing schools, the trio each committed to Ole Miss on their own and have apparently become vocal leaders among the incoming freshman class.

Yet for all their accolades – the trio caught for over 3,000 yards combined in their senior campaigns – Brewer maintains a poker face when it comes to showering praise.

“Anything they’ve done up until we see them on the field is really irrelevant at this point. We can’t do anything with them in the summer, other than hear what they’re talking about or see what they’ve done in the weight room. That’s it, and nothing else matters.”

If jumping from one of the nation’s most powerful offensive machines to a reclamation project under a head coach that’s notoriously run-focused seems like an odd transition, Brewer admits that Mississippi’s call to come home factored in his return to Oxford.

Gunter’s mother and Billy’s wife, Kay, passed away in December, pushing Brewer to bring his family (his wife hails from Mississippi as well) closer together.

‘I had the ability to come home at a time when my family needed that. Family is talked about a lot, but there’s not many opportunities to significantly alter the course of how life can be or how life goes in this profession. I had the chance to come to a place I love, that my family loves, and help rebuild, or just build, at a position that needs some assistance,” he said.

But the Oxford that last saw a Brewer on the sidelines is a long way from 2011, Gunter admits. The days of his father moving the family into the athletic dorms in Kinard Hall 34 | MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE

Photo by Greg Pevey, Mississippi Sports Magazine

Justin Blackmon

Dez Bryant

to better monitor players – “you won’t see something like that happen again,” Gunter laughs – are long gone.

“Since [leaving for college], Oxford went through an explosion. You saw the facilities change in recent years, and the actual city of

Randy Moss Oxford change, and you saw a taste of success when Eli [Manning] was here.”

“And once people got a taste of that, it affects the whole community from the businesses downtown to the university community. They want that success again.” - MSM

MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 35

>>> MSM | 2011 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW

OLE MISS

BY STEVEN GODFREY,

REBELS

thegodfreyshow.com

2011 Schedule Sep. 3 BYU (W) Sep. 10 So. Illinois (W) Sep. 17 at Vanderbilt (W) Sep. 24 Georgia (L) Oct. 1

at Fresno State (W)

Oct. 8

OPEN DATE

Oct. 15 Alabama (L) Oct. 22 Arkansas (L) Oct. 29 at Auburn (L) Nov. 5 at Kentucky (W) Nov. 12 Louisiana Tech (W) Nov. 19 LSU (W) Nov. 26 at Miss. State (L)

MSM 2011 PREDICTION: 7-5 Overall; 3-5 SEC BOWL: MUSIC CITY BOWL

I

t was easier to see 2010 coming than most people at Ole Miss will admit.

While the Rebels’ double overtime upset loss against “cupcake” season opener Jacksonville State was in no way a result any college football pundit could claim they forecasted, Ole Miss’ seemingly “sudden” slide into sub .500 play shouldn’t have been considered a shock.

Houston Nutt took Oxford by storm in 2008, energizing a battered fan base and a disheartened – yet incredibly talented – roster. The results were almost immediate; After a few ugly stumbles early, the Rebels upset eventual national champion Florida, beat rival LSU and slaughtered Texas Tech in the 2009 Cotton Bowl.

That game, for all its balanced execution on both sides of the ball, is the current high point of Nutt’s tenure at Ole Miss. 2010 began with hype of a national title and ended right back in Dallas, albeit with ugly losses due to offensive implosions early (South Carolina, Alabama) and defensive stumbles late (Auburn,

36 | MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE

melvin harris

Photo by Greg Pevey, Mississippi Sports Magazine

2010 TEAM STATS

BRADLEY SOWELL

Photo by Greg Pevey, Mississippi Sports Magazine

TIME TO SHINE: Bradley Sowell was distinguished as a candidate for the 2011 Outland Trophy for the best interior lineman in college football, as selected by the Football Writers Association of America.

Mississippi State).

A team as starved for marquee success as Ole Miss could hardly consider consecutive Cotton Bowls a letdown, but the sour, bumbling play during a desperate win over Oklahoma State would portend woes to come.

Jevan Snead inexplicably declared for the NFL Draft a season early, and then promptly disappeared from football altogether. Dexter McCluster, the feel good protagonist of the “Savior Nutt, Demon Orgeron” storyline took his talents to the NFL, along with a host of other Orgeron-recruited talent.

Suddenly the gap of quality recruiting between the two coaches’ tenures seemed to be a chasm, and with no D1-quality quarterback on the roster, Nutt would take a nationally maligned flier on an embattled graduate transfer. Jeremiah Masoli would pay off, but the defense would collapse so quickly and completely that any chance a hodgepodge roster could maintain Nutt’s streak of winning seasons was gone when the Gamecocks made

headlines that September Saturday.

This summer there’s no fan-wide denial of the potential problems new personnel pose.

There’s no explaining away gaps on the depth chart, and with a 4-8 season riddled with losses to a 1-AA scrub, Vanderbilt, rivals LSU and Mississippi State and blowouts across the division, the bloom is off the rose for Houston Nutt and Oxford.

That might not be a bad thing. Expectations are tempered and fans understand that while talent is still present across the roster, the task at hand is a longer build than the laying-ofhands miracle Nutt seemed to pull off in ’08.

Critics pointed to consistent meddling of the head coach in the offensive playbook, and new offensive coordinator David Lee (late of the Miami Dolphins and a former Arkansas OC) is the best compromise possible. Lee authored the Wildcat/”Wildhog” phenomenon that Darren McFadden and Felix Jones used to steamroll their way to first round draft status. And the defense? Well, it’s almost statistically impossible to get much worse. That cold comfort should be a motivating fire for highly paid assistant head coach Tyrone Nix to stop the bleeding, before this era of Ole Miss football dies out as quickly as it rose from the dead.

..........................................................................UM......................OPP SCORING ............................................... 367..................422 Points Per Game................................. 30.6................ 35.2 FIRST DOWNS........................................224..................222 Rushing .................................................110....................88 Passing ................................................ 102...................118 Penalty .................................................. 12....................16 RUSHING YARDAGE.............................. 2491................ 1834 Yards gained rushing......................... 2774................2200 Yards lost rushing................................283..................366 Rushing Attempts................................496.................. 413 Average Per Rush................................ 5.0.................. 4.4 Average Per Game..............................207.6................152.8 TDs Rushing...........................................28.................... 21 PASSING YARDAGE...............................2307................2956 Comp-Att-Int.................................. 185-330-14.......216-352-6 Average Per Pass..................................7.0................... 8.4 Average Per Catch................................12.5..................13.7 Average Per Game..............................192.2............... 246.3 TDs Passing............................................ 17....................24 TOTAL OFFENSE....................................4798................4790 Total Plays............................................826................ 765 A verage Per Play.....................................5.8................... 6.3 Average Per Game............................. 399.8.............. 399.2 KICK RETURNS: #-Yards.....................63-1349............52-1219 PUNT RETURNS: #-Yards................... 19-240.............31-416 INT RETURNS: #-Yards.........................6-63.............. 14-203 KICK RETURN AVERAGE........................21.4................. 23.4 PUNT RETURN AVERAGE.......................12.6.................13.4 I NT RETURN AVERAGE............................10.5..................14.5 FUMBLES-LOST ....................................17-10................18-12 PENALTIES-Yards ................................68-613............ 71-554 Average Per Game............................... 51.1................. 46.2 PUNTS-Yards .....................................63-2913............61-2497 Average Per Punt................................ 46.2................40.9 Net punt average.................................36.5................. 36.3 TIME OF POSSESSION/Game............... 30:48...............29:12 3RD-DOWN Conversions....................60/175.............61/163 3rd-Down Pct.......................................34%................ 37% 4TH-DOWN Conversions.....................16/27................ 8/13 4th-Down Pct...................................... 59%................ 62% SACKS BY-Yards................................... 31-178...............14-81 MISC YARDS.............................................0......................0 TOUCHDOWNS SCORED..........................46....................52 FIELD GOALS-ATTEMPTS.......................16-18............... 19-23 ON-SIDE KICKS.......................................1-1...................0-2 RED-ZONE SCORES......................... (45-51) 88%....(35-37) 95% RED-ZONE TOUCHDOWNS..............(30-51) 59%....(27-37) 73% PAT-ATTEMPTS................................(43-44) 98%...(45-45) 100% ATTENDANCE .....................................391,289...........400,788 Games/Avg Per Game..................... 7/55898.......... 5/80158 SCORE BY QUARTERS.................1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT Total Ole Miss......................................103 100 59 91 14 367 Opponent.................................. 97 121 81 108 15 422 MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 37

OFFENSE Incumbents? Experience? Who needs that in an offensive leader? The Rebels have a field general – his name’s Brandon Bolden – but somebody has to play QB (we checked, they have to).

The only time in which Nutt’s Ole Miss knew exactly what to expect in a returning quarterback – 2009, Snead’s second and final season in Oxford - it was as much a shock and a letdown as any carousel of transfers and greenhorns could produce. Since Snead’s stumbles early in ’09, it’s been a guessing game as to what would show up behind center – both in name and production – ever since.

Almost every preseason publication, including this one, went to press last season thinking Snead’s former backup Nathan Stanley and freshman Raymond Cotton would battle for the gig. Seems like ancient history, huh? Since that time, Cotton left in a huff over playing time, and Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli showed up seemingly out of nowhere. Suddenly national transfer rules were revaluated, headlines were made, and Stanley was once again a muted second fiddle.

The embattled bridesmaid QB is now at Southeastern Louisiana, and the Rebels are stirring the same pot of redshirts and transfers, desperately hoping to make a meal.

Overlooked in the statistical horror flick of ’10 is how admirable Masoli played – 56.4% completion, 20 TDs (six rushing) and a 121.1 passer rating. The 13 interceptions (among many other things) hurt the offense, but that was a +7 improvement over Snead’s ’09 campaign.

After last season’s failings, this year’s QB will be expected to manage the game and do little else for a squad whose returning strength is in the trenches (we’ll get there in a second).

Throughout the post-Spring alumni dinner circuit, Nutt said that sophomore transfer Barry Brunetti currently has the edge over redshirt junior Randall Mackey, a Ju-Co transfer thought initially to be the starter come September.

The uncertainty created another interesting Grove Bowl (Mackey: 9 of 18, 151 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, Brunetti: 12 of 21, 211 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INT), but as usual, spring drills were pretty much meaningless as both QBs are almost even, and will be measured on their play in August, unlike the Masoli/Stanley/Cotton competitions. Both can run, but both would rather pass.

The most popular rumor supporting Nutt’s endorsement of Brunetti is a better grasp of the playbook and decision making, which would lead credence to the theory that this football team will run, run, run and run some more in 2011. That’s because the best player on the entire roster is senior tailback Brandon Bolden, Ole Miss’ top returning rusher and receiver. Names like Lattimore and Richard38 | MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE

EARLY TEST: The Ole Miss defensive backfield will get an early test when passhappy BYU comes to Oxford to open the 2011 season. The Rebel “D” had a league worst six interceptions last season.

Photo by Greg Pevey, Mississippi Sports Magazine

son will dominate the headlines in the SEC, but Bolden could sneak up on both after two years of spelling Dexter McCluster and a schizophrenic season alongside running threat Masoli (he still managed a career-high 976 yards, 6.0 a carry).

Bolden is without question the linchpin to a successful offense this fall: Despite having never run for a 1,000 yard season in his career, he’s second all-time for the Rebels in TDs scored (28) and rushing TDs (23). Bolden is poised to challenge a host of Deuce McAllister’s records and vie for national attention in what could be a 2,000 yard season given the inexperience at quarterback, his command of touches out of the tailback pool, and – finally – a stout offensive line.

Bradley Sowell is no longer the hapless replacement for first round pick Mike Oher – he’s an Outland Trophy candidate, a 24 game starter and now the anchor to a (finally) mature offensive line. No more east-west running out of necessity – the Rebels should be able to pound the ball for the first time in years behind A.J. Hawkins (center), Bobbie Massie (RT) and a deep rotation. The only real “new” starter or backup will likely be guard Matt Hall, a coveted Arkansas transfer. Did we mention that the best option is to run the ball this season?

The receiving corps will assuredly be as green as whoever ends up throwing the ball.

As of press time true freshman and Dandy Dozen member Tobias Singleton was still battling eligibility issues. He and fellow signees Nick Brassel and Donte Moncrief are crucial to developing anything resembling a go-to option. Returners Ja-Mes Logan and Melvin Harris totaled less than a 1,000 yards receiving last year, and if Bolden’s the leading receiver again, it’s goodbye bowl bid. As for

tight ends, well, we’re beginning to treat them purely as a myth in Nutt’s kingdom.

Say Brunetti wins the quarterback job in a quiet, steady fashion. Mackey could find a perfect home in the Wild Rebel formation, retooling under Lee (arguably the system’s modern architect) with the departure of hereand-gone-and-here-again utility player Jessie Grandy. With Mackey’s eligibility pressing (two years left to play two seasons), a QB’s arm and speed to spare, he might be forced into this role, yet end up more exciting than Dexter.

DEFENSE One year ago Rebel fans won a huge battle on defense – coordinator Tyrone Nix turned down an offer from Florida to remain in Oxford and take a promotion to assistant head coach. Often overshadowed by the brand name stars Nutt developed on offense, the Rebels’ resurgence in 2008 was just as much to do with defense 19 points and 307 yards allowed a game, both Top 20 rankings nationally). But it was the last victory the defense would record all season: the Rebels would squander lead after lead after lead, allowing a stunning 399.7 yards and 35.4 points a game.

Fresh blood is the order of the day. If there’s an upside to a disaster like last season, it’s that no one seems all that concerned with what the unit lost in personnel, as only five starters return. Except for junior linebacker D.T. Shackelford: The Chucky Mullins Courage Award Winner went down with a torn ACL in the Spring, dealing a massive blow to the Tyrone Nix’s rebuilding project both in on-field production (48 tackles, nine for a loss, five sacks) and desperately needed off-field leadership.

Now, just like Singleton and the receivers, the effectiveness from the linebacker position

will hinge on the performance of true freshman C.J. Johnson, hotly pursued in February

by State and Ole Miss. Johnson will be expected to immediately stem the loss of Shackelford (likely for the season) as well as graduates Allen Walker and Jonathan Cornell. Junior weakside linebacker Joel Kight (2010: 35 tackles, three for a loss, two sacks) has the most experience of the returnees.

Fon Ingram and Johnny Brown were mainstays of this defense for several seasons, and their departure from safety takes with it 100 tackles last season, but that many stops from the safety position for a defense ranked lower than 100th nationally tells you just how woeful things got. Sophomore Brishen Matthews and a host of Ju-Co transfers will fill the gaps, while sophomore Charles Sawyer and senior Marcus Temple likely return to their corner positions. Ole Miss intercepted only six passes all season, worst in the SEC (combined with Masoli’s frequent picks, the Rebels had a league worst -.50 turnover margin). New secondary coach Keith Burns is expected to insert discipline in assignments and a trademark aggression into his new unit.

Remember when the Ole Miss defensive line was arguably the team’s best single unit?

Love Ed Orgeron or hate him, his specialty recruiting paid off long after he left for other programs to terrorize. No one’s asking for a Peria Jerry to immediately appear, but chances are out there – especially inside – for a new “big” name to be made on the line.

Senior Kentrell Lockett will return after a medical redshirt year (ACL tear), but the rest of the line (so long, Big Powe!) will be a collection of post-Orgeron replacements. Lockett’s 31 tackles in ’09 weren’t as valuable as vocal, natural sense of leadership, and with so many new faces he’s as important to the defense as Bolden is on offense. Senior Ju-Co transfer Wayne Dorsey will likely start opposite Lockett. Expect New York City native Gilbert Pena and Madison High School star Carlton Martin to fill in the middle.

SPECIAL TEAMS There should be no change at all in the kicking game. Junior kicker Bryson Rose (2010: 16 of 18 FG, 43 of 44 PAT) debuted last year and filled the departure of Josh Shene (OM Career: 57 FG) nicely, with junior Andrew Ritter handling kickoff duties (2010: 12 touchbacks, 4th in the SEC ). And don’t forget to fear the punter: Tyler Campbell returns after taking the NCAA statistical punting championship, with a national best 46.37 yard average. If Rose can maintain his consistency, it will go a long way towards curing the growing pains of a young set of playmakers.

At press time, utility man Jessie Grandy was rumored to be back on campus in Oxford, but not officially part of the team again. Grandy left the program after last season for “family

reasons” after doing a little bit everything for the Rebels in his sophomore season. He had 45 returns in 2010 (30 kick, 15 punt), and scored a touchdown on a punt return against Fresno State. Ju-Co transfer Philander Moore is a likely replacement.

OVERVIEW Nutt calmed the Rebel majority by winning the offseason in a recruiting coup – despite Mississippi State’s nine-win season, Ole Miss raided the Dandy Dozen and landed almost every available weapon in the state.

While counting February stars are usually just counted as moral victories, these freshman will have to contribute immediately for the Rebels to compete for a bowl.

Fans should know what to expect immediately: The season opener against newly independent BYU will test the rehabbing defense and new-name offense immediately. If the Rebels can control the clock – something the high scoring ’10 offense struggled to do – and simply bend instead of break in the secondary, Ole Miss has a fair shot against the Cougars, and in turn a reasonable path to a bowl bid. Before Georgia visits on September 24, the Rebels should be at worst 2-1. If they can escape September at .500, their bowl hopes will live on.

For Nutt to pull off one of his patented surprises campaigns during a low-expectation year, several things will have to gel quickly, most notably a stable situation at quarterback.

This team has talent, but to forecast such a miraculous jump would be naïve, given the amount of drastic improvement the defense would have to make.

Then again, if your definition of a “surprise” is the low road to bowl eligibility (BYU, Southern Illinois, Vanderbilt, Fresno State, Louisiana Tech, Kentucky) peppered with splitting rivalry games (LSU, Mississippi State) and scoring a Nutt-flavored unexpected upset (Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas), that kind of eight-win campaign is what’s made the Right Reverend a SEC legend.

That’s not to say but another round of faith healing is on the prayer request sheet.

The Rebel football program is nowhere near as critical as when Nutt arrived – just look at the loaded incoming class (something David Cutcliffe couldn’t provide) and Nutt’s proven track record of turning talent into wins (a feat Orgeron never managed) if you’re doubtful of the future.

In a tenure marked by uncertainty and delusional expectations, 2011 should be the year Rebel fans get rational with Houston Nutt. A two-win improvement over last season and a consolation bowl will position the program to build back to good. - MSM

2010 RESULTS RECORD: 4-8 (1-7 SEC) Sep. 4 Jacksonville St. L (OT) 48-44 Sep. 11 at Tulane W 27-13 Sep. 18 Vanderbilt L 14-28 Sep. 25 Fresno State W 55-38 Oct. 2 Kentucky W 42-35 Oct. 16 at Alabama L 10-23 Oct. 23 at Arkansas L 24-38 Oct. 30 Auburn L 31-51 Nov. 6 UL Lafayette W 43-21 Nov. 13 at Tennessee L 14-52 Nov. 20 at LSU L 36-43 Nov. 27 Miss. State L 25-31 2011 SIGNEES Justin Bell............................OL......................Jackson Nickolas Brassell.................WR..................Batesville Chief Brown..........................S.......................Winona Sederius Bryant...................LB.................Sanford, FL Aaron Garbut........................S.........Westminster, CA Senquez Golson..................CB................Pascagoula Uriah Grant..........................DT................Miramar, FL Mitch Hall.............................OT..........Russellville, AR Woodrow Hamilton............DE.......................Raleigh Ethan Hutson........................C.............Destrahan, LA C.J. Johnson.........................LB..............Philadelphia Keith Lewis..........................LB...................Tampa, FL Marcus Mayers.....................LB.................Taylorsville Maikhail Miller.................... QB.........................Fulton Donte Moncrief...................WR......................Raleigh Collins Moore......................WR.................... Madison Philander Moore................WR..................Austin, TX Aaron Morris........................OL......................Jackson Jamal Mosley.......................TE..............Memphis, TN Ivan Nicholas........................S...........Jacksonville, FL Gilbert Pena.........................DT................Yonkers, NY Wesley Pendleton...............CB......................Natchez Cody Prewitt.........................S................ Bay Springs Tobias Singleton.................WR.................... Madison Zack Stoudt........................ QB................. Dublin, OH Kameron Wood...................DE........Birmingham, AL T.J. Worthy..........................WR............. Gadsden, AL *14 PLAYERS FROM MISSISSIPPI MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 39

>>> MSM | 2011 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW

BRANDON BOLDEN

BY STEVEN GODFREY, thegodfreyshow.com

T

he first of many new commercials marketing an overhauled Ole Miss football program – from the players on the field to the people marketing the team – has all the arresting visuals and drama of a summer popcorn flick.

Senior running back Brandon Bolden stands alone in the south end zone of Vaught-Hemingway stadium, pensively staring across the field.

He suddenly spins a football on the goal line, and as the ball rotates on its end, he takes off in a mad sprint to the 50-yard-line and back, touching the bright red “Ole Miss” script at midfield and then making a manic lunge back to his starting point, all while the music swells and the camera angles intensify the drill to a crescendo.

Bolden leaps, and in the nick of time, cradles the ball before it comes to a rest. Back on his feet, he stares at the camera and asks simply, “Are YOU Ready?” It’s a goose bump moment and a visual effort worthy of an Oscar for cinematography and editing, but it’s got a little Hollywood-style “magic” in terms of plausibility. Running 50 yards and back in the time it takes for a football to spin is, in fact, a bit of cutting room magic.

“The man who can do that is a very, very bad man,” Bolden said laughing, “but, that’s not me.”

Never mind the exaggeration – Bolden is the superstar in waiting

40 | MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE

the Ole Miss Rebels desperately need to return to their winning ways this season. With a perpetual turnover at quarterback over the last three seasons and a very, very green receiving corps entering August (Bolden, with 344 yards, was the team’s leading receiver in ’10), the Baton Rogue, La., native is both the de facto face of the team but still the rightful recipient of preseason hype.

Bolden’s career stats are impressive but not explosive – yet. His career totals (2,132 yards rushing, 23 rushing TDs, 660 yards receiving, 5 TDs) are solid enough to position him to break several school records if he can earn his first 1,000 rushing yard season, a likelihood with his role as the feature back behind an improved offensive line.

After three seasons platooning alongside a committee of running backs (two years of which a shaky offensive line struggled to keep pace with SEC play), it’s his season to shine.

“I haven’t even thought about a specific number I want. I never really do. Lately it’s been about getting through spring and summer camp.

Honestly, I don’t pay much attention. People come up on campus and ask me why I don’t sound excited about my numbers. If it was about stats, football wouldn’t be any fun,” he said.

Before he can contend with record books and eclipsing his SEC competition at tailback to make a name to NFL scouts, Bolden’s tasked

with leading an offense in transition – new coordinator David Lee arrives from the Miami Dolphins, a former Houston Nutt assistant at Arkansas who help modernize and promote the wildcat formation, something Bolden could potentially shine in much like former Hogs Felix Jones and Darren McFadden.

“We’re not going to run the exact same thing you’ve seen [at Arkansas or the Dolphins].

We’ll take what some of what they had in their schemes, and what we have on the field, and add together. We’re not trying to duplicate those teams. We’re not that Arkansas team.”

No single player could benefit from Lee’s focus and style than Bolden, who has shown versatility in the Wild Rebel formation and various facets of the running game.

“A guy with [Lee’s] type of background, that’s a great thing to have right now. When I have any questions, all I have to do is call coach Lee, because he’s been there, done that.

It’s good to get that information from someone who knows exactly about the pros, too.”

Bolden, though soft spoken, has become an impromptu spokesman for the team in addressing last season’s disappointing 4-8 campaign, as well as what exactly the team plans on doing differently in 2011.

“It’s not like we weren’t focused last year. That idea has been talked about, but we were focused. We didn’t come out with our guns half cocked. We don’t want to give that impression. We worked hard, and we’re working harder now.”

“We’ve got a serious attitude about we go through small stuff, all the little things that count, and we’re taking that more serious. Where are your hands supposed to be exactly on the bar when you’re doing a rep in the weight room? That matters. That kind of focus is this year, just

being more aware of everything.”

The rising senior has also kept an eye on the vaunted incoming freshman class, although he doesn’t put much stock into accolades.

“To me, nothing counts until you put pads on and go play at this level. I can’t tell you anything right now about any [incoming freshman], but we’ll know real quick who stands out after that first day in practice, trust me.”

Consider Bolden a champion of experience – as tentative as he is to comment on unproven signees, he’s quick to pump up the potential of the best offensive line the Rebels have seen since his freshman season.

“This line is going to be great. They’re big guys that come to play, and that same line went through a whole SEC season. Now they know what’s coming. You want to run behind people that know what they’re doing, and those guys have their feet wet. They’re ready,” he said.

With uncertainty in a quarterback competition featuring a frontrunner that’s a program newcomer and his competitor having never taken a snap at the Division 1 level, Bolden and his offensive line are the sole reliable, consistent component of the 2011 Rebel offense entering fall practices. He’s the face of the commercial campaigns for home game tickets, a press emissary chosen by Nutt for his soft spoken leadership, and potentially looking at a Deuce McAllister type season in red and blue.

“It’s an honor, but I’m not ‘the face of an offense.’ It’s not just one face you see on a good offense, it’s 11, it’s everybody. The best scenario for me is the same for everyone else; a winning season, and that takes a quarterback and linemen and a punter and, yeah, everyone. Not just me” - MSM MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 41

>>> MSM | 2011 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW

SOUTHERN MISS

BY LANNY MIXON, biggoldnation.com

GOLDEN EAGLES

2011 Schedule Sep. 3 Louisiana Tech (W) Sep. 10 at Marshall (W) Sep. 17 SE Louisiana (W) Sep. 24 at Virginia (L) Oct. 1

Rice (W)

Oct. 8

at Navy (W)

Oct. 15 OPEN DATE Oct. 22 SMU (W) Oct. 29 at UTEP (W) Nov. 5 at East Carolina (L) Nov. 12 UCF (W) Nov. 19 at UAB (W) Nov. 26 Memphis (W)

MSM 2011 PREDICTION: 10-2 Overall; 7-1 C-USA BOWL: LIBERTY

F

or Southern Miss the 2010 season can best be described as what could have been. Despite an offense that was among the best in the country the team sputtered to an 8-5 season that ended with a disappointing 31-28 loss to Louisville in the Beef O’Brady’s St. Petersburg Bowl.

Falling short on a number of goals for the program in head coach Larry Fedora’s third season in Hattiesburg seems to have given the program a new sense of urgency. Headed into the 2011 campaign there are several new faces in the program.

The biggest change is at the defensive coordinator position. Todd Bradford is gone to Maryland and Dan Disch is in to call the defense. Southern Miss fans will likely notice some big changes on the defensive side of the ball.

DEFENSE Let’s start with the defense first. The Eagles not only feature a new coordinator, but a new 42 | MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE

AUSTIN DAVIS

Photo by Bobby McDuffie

2010 TEAM STATS

KOREY WILLIAMS

Photo by Bobby McDuffie

RUN STOPPER: Senior Korey Williams was named to the Bednarik Award Watch List as one of the country’s top linebackers for 2011. scheme and defensive philosophy.

“Overall on defense I anticipate us being much better,” Fedora said. “Dan Disch has that knack, the kids are drawn to him. They want to play hard for him. On defense 90 percent of the game is effort and playing hard.”

Disch will also implement a new defensive scheme. Disch has spent the last several years at Illinois after a stint a Florida where he coach with Fedora. This spring he began to install the 4-2-5 defense and Fedora believes that could be a key for the Eagles in 2011.

“With the 4-2-5 we’re going to have more athletes on the field.” he said. “In C-USA when everyone runs a version of the spread you’ve

got to be more athletic on defense. We’ll be able to do that with this new style.”

Despite being one of the worst statistical defenses in the nation a year ago the Eagles have some talent on that side of the ball.

The Eagle defense will be led by senior linebacker Korey Williams. The New Orleans native led the Eagles with 92 total tackles as a junior. He was recently named to the Bednarik Award Watch List, an honor given to the nation’s top linebacker.

Jamie Collins is back after a sensational sophomore year, and a new position on defense will give him ever more opportunities to make plays. Collins will be featured as the Bandit End in Disch’s defense and will be a hybrid DE/OLB, much in the mold of former Eagle Adalius Thomas.

The biggest personel questions will be in the secondary. Gone are three starters from

.........................................................................USM.....................OPP SCORING ...............................................479 .................384 Points Per Game ..............................36.8 ................ 29.5 FIRST DOWNS ....................................... 315 .................256 Rushing ............................................. 134 .................. 81 Passing .............................................. 158 ................. 137 Penalty ...............................................23 ...................38 RUSHING YARDAGE ..............................2611 ................1469 Yards gained rushing ...................... 2916 ............... 1794 Yards lost rushing ............................305 .................325 Rushing Attempts ............................559 .................405 Average Per Rush ..............................4.7 .................. 3.6 Average Per Game ......................... 200.8 ..............113.0 TDs Rushing .......................................28 ................... 18 PASSING YARDAGE .............................. 3283 ............... 3155 Comp-Att-Int ...............................294-471-8 ......247-430-17 Average Per Pass ..............................7.0 ...................7.3 Average Per Catch ............................11.2 .................12.8 Average Per Game ..........................252.5 .............. 242.7 TDs Passing ........................................24 ...................28 TOTAL OFFENSE ...................................5894 ...............4624 Total Plays ........................................ 1030 ................835 Average Per Play ...............................5.7 .................. 5.5 Average Per Game ..........................453.4 ...............355.7 KICK RETURNS: #-Yards ....................57-1324 ...........81-1981 PUNT RETURNS: #-Yards ...................30-217 ............. 15-85 INT RETURNS: #-Yards ....................... 17-159 ..............8-93 KICK RETURN AVERAGE .......................23.2 ................ 24.5 PUNT RETURN AVERAGE .......................7.2 .................. 5.7 INT RETURN AVERAGE .......................... 9.4 .................11.6 FUMBLES-LOST .................................... 16-9 ............... 19-9 PENALTIES-Yards ...............................98-925 ...........78-598 Average Per Game ...........................71.2 ................46.0 PUNTS-Yards .....................................56-2175 .......... 74-2887 Average Per Punt .............................38.8 ................ 39.0 Net punt average .............................36.2 ................ 34.7 TIME OF POSSESSION/Game .............. 32:19 ............. 27:41 3RD-DOWN Conversions ..................105/215 ........... 58/169 3rd-Down Pct .................................. 49% ............... 34% 4TH-DOWN Conversions .....................8/15 ................ 9/13 4th-Down Pct ...................................53% ................ 69% SACKS BY-Yards ..................................27-152 .............17-106 MISC YARDS ............................................0 ....................97 TOUCHDOWNS SCORED ......................... 57 ...................50 FIELD GOALS-ATTEMPTS ......................26-31 ............... 11-13 ON-SIDE KICKS ..................................... 2-3 .................0-5 RED-ZONE SCORES ........................(52-61) 85% ...(39-43) 91% RED-ZONE TOUCHDOWNS .............(36-61) 59% ...(31-43) 72% PAT-ATTEMPTS ..............................(55-55) 100% .(45-48) 94% ATTENDANCE ..................................... 176400 ...........196626 Games/Avg Per Game .................6/29400 ..........6/32771 Neutral Site Games ............................. .................1/20017 SCORE BY QUARTERS.................1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT Total Southern Miss............................138 107 98 122 14 479 Opponent.................................. 78 92 79 120 15 384 MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 43

last year’s unit, couple that with the defense moving to five defensive backs and that creates some challenges.

Safety Kendrick Presley is the lone full time starter back from last year. As a junior he was third on the team with 63 total tackles. The young defensive backs are likely more talented than the departing seniors that they replace, but they’re not nearly as experienced.

Jacorius Cotton will likely hold down the other safety position.

A key will be corner-back Deron Wilson who saw extensive time a season ago. Other corner-backs that will see playing time include junior Marcal Robinson and sophomore Alex Walters.

The defensive front will be in much better shape with stalwart defensive tackle Terrance Pope anchoring the line. He’ll be joined up front by emerging star Khyri Thornton. Cordarro Law has quietly developed into one of the leagues best defensive ends.

There’s depth at the DE positions but the Eagles may call on a couple of first year players for help in the middle.

The Eagles have the best linebacker corp in the league and one of the nation’s best with Williams and Ronnie Thornton (61 total tackles). And they have depth with players like Justin Penn, Alan Howze, Tim Green and Jeremy Snowden.

“The kids believe in what we’re doing,” he said. “They’re excited about the changes.

They’re working hard and having fun.”

OFFENSE Moving the ball and scoring points has never been a problem for the Eagles during the Fedora Era. This past season the Eagles broke season scoring records for the fourth consecutive year putting up 478 points.

One constant over that four year period has been quarterback Austin Davis, the red-shirt senior enters his forth year as a starter for the Eagles and is everything you want in a field general.

“It all starts with Austin,” Fedora said of his offense. “He’s coming back for his forth year as a starter, I’m excited about what he brings to the table on offense and his leadership is something you can’t measure.”

Sophomore Chris Campbell is slightly ahead of red-shirt freshman Arsenio Favor to back up Davis this season.

As good as Davis is he reaps the benefits of having a fantastic supporting cast.

The Eagles may have one of the deepest running back corps in the nation. Sophomores Kendrick Hardy fel just short of 1,000 yards a season ago (903 yrds, 7 Tds) despite having only 139 carries on the year. Desmond Johnson, a junior, returns after gaining 611 yards and eight scores. Red-shirt freshman Jamal Woodyard had a break-out spring and is now expected to factor heavily in the Eagle 44 | MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE

DANNY HRAPMANN

MR. AUTOMATIC: Danny Hrapmann, broke 10 Golden Eagle records last season to get a Watch List nod for the Groza Award, awarding the top collegiate placekicker in the country.

Photo by Bobby McDuffie

backfield. Sophomore Jeremy Hester offers a unique combination of speed and elusiveness as another option.

All of the Southern Miss running backs are a threat out of the backfield.

Less could be more at the receiver position in 2011.

“I think we’re going to be very good at the receiver position,” Fedora said. “The guys we have are hard working, they have a desire to get better and they’re unselfish.”

Senior Kelvin Bolden was named to the Biletnakoff Award watch list for the nation’s top collegiate pass catcher. As a first year player for the Eagles a year ago he hauled in 46 passes for 722 yards and six scores. He leads a deep and talented group of receivers that have for more potential than experience.

The Southern Miss offense likes to rotate as many as eight pass catchers during games so

they’ll need more than just Bolden to make the offense go. Quentin Pierce gives the Eagles another sure handed play-maker with a lot of experience, in 2010 he pulled down 38 receptions for 454 yards and four touchdowns.

Dominique Sullivan, Markese Triplett, and Ryan Balentine are also expected to add quality depth and play making ability. JUCO transfer Jhryrn Taylor could factor in as a first year player. He played at LSU before transferring back to Pearl River this past year.

A wild card could be Tracy Lample who will see a lot more time in space than in the backfield where he’s spent the last two years for the Eagles. Smart money says he’ll be a big factor in the Golden Eagle passing game.

Headed into the spring there were some questions on the offensive line but those questions have been answered.

“The offensive line can be a strength for

LARRY FEDORA

Photo by Bobby McDuffie

TIME FOR A TITLE: Coach Fedora begins year three at the helm of Southern Miss and most fans are ready for him to put together a team that will compete to win the Eagles fifth C-USA championship. us,” Fedora said. “When you look at things we really only lost one guy, our center. Austin Quattrochi has jumped in and he’s doing well.”

The Eagles have been stock-piling talent on the offensive line since Fedora arrived in Hattiesburg. He’s mixed in a few high quality JUCO players and turned over the development of high school prospects to line coach Chris Kapilovic who’s managed to have good lines even when the Eagles were supposed to be rebuilding.

Joe Duhon has one of the guard positions locked down while Darius Barnes and Ed Preston have a heated battle going on at the other guard slot. At offensive tackle, the Eagles are stacked with three players returning that started at least six games last year – Thomas Edenfield, Lamar Holmes and Jason Weaver.

SPECIAL TEAMS Southern Miss has the best returning placekicker in the country in Danny Hrapmann. A Lou Groza finalist as a junior he connected on 26 of 31 field goal attempts and all 55 PATs. He booted a career long of 54 yards and also handled most kick-off responsibilities. This year he may have a little of the work load lightened as red-shirt freshman Corey Acosta

may handle some kick-offs.

Peter Boehmn returns to assume his punting duties. This past season he was serviceable, averaging 39.2 yards with a long of 61 yards. But, he showed a knack for pinning the opposition inside their own 20 yard line.

Look for improvements out of Boehmn this year, a hard working student of the game.

Despite the success of the specialists Fedora wasn’t happy with the special teams performance.

“Overall, I wasn’t happy with our special teams play last year,” he said. “Two years ago we were pretty good in special teams. We have to get back there.”

This year the Eagles will be a little deeper at certain positions that contribute to return and coverage units and Fedora thinks it will make a difference.

“If we’ve been doing our jobs recruiting, we’ll be better there,” he said. “Pat Washington has taken over more responsibilities with our special teams and I think we’ll be much improved.”

OVERVIEW Southern Miss has one of the most favorable schedules in recent memory. In non-conference play the Eagles host Louisiana Tech and FCS program Southeastern Louisiana, while they’ll take to the road to face ACC foe Virginia and the United States Naval Academy.

A year ago the Eagles barely clipped LA Tech 13-12 on a rainy evening in Ruston, but having the Bulldogs at home should give the Eagles an advantage. Away games at UVA and Navy will be tests for the Eagles, but tests they must meet to have the season Southern Miss fans are expecting.

“Our goals don’t change,” Fedora said. “We expect to win every game we play. I know some people will say that’s not realistic, but we don’t look at it that way. We coach and teach or kids to expect to win every week.”

The Eagles host C-USA foes, Rice, SMU, UCF and Memphis while traveling to Marshall, UTEP, ECU and UAB. If Southern Miss is going to make a run at the C-USA East Division Championship and a birth in the Championship Game, this is their time.

This is a team that has the potential to win 10 or more games, but the same could have been said the last two years.

Will the Eagles finally get over the hump?

Time will tell and it’s looking like a exciting season is in store for the fans at “The Rock.”

- MSM

2010 RESULTS RECORD: 8-5 (5-3 CUSA) Sep. 2 Sep. 11 Sep. 17 Sep. 25 Oct. 2 Oct. 9 Oct. 16 Oct. 30 Nov. 6 Nov. 13 Nov. 20 Nov. 26 Dec. 21

at South Carolina L Prairie View A&M W Kansas W at Louisiana Tech W Marshall W East Carolina L at Memphis W UAB L (OT) at Tulane W at UCF W Houston W at Tulsa L #Louisville L

13-41 34-7 31-16 13-12 41-16 43-44 41-19 49-50 46-30 31-21 59-41 50-56 28-31

# Beef O’Brady’s Bowl

2011 SIGNEES Vincent Brown.....................OL....................Miami, FL Clifford Johnson..................DB..........Jacksonville, FL Martez Thompson...............DB................Pascagoula Garrett Clark........................OL.............Suwanee, GA Max Mason...........................TE......... Kenneesaw, GA Trent Johnson......................LB..............Memphis, TN Michael Brinson...................DT.....................Flowood Michael Smith......................DE........Birmingham, AL Rakeem Nunez....................DL.......... Phonix City, AL Cooper Harrington.............WR.......Birmingham, AL Collin Jarbo..........................TE.............. Gadsden, AL Ed Wilkins............................DB........ McDonough, GA Emmanuel Johnson...........ATH.............McKenzie, AL Jordan Greene.....................OL........New Orleans, LA Rashad Hill..........................OL..........Jacksonville, FL Terrick Wright......................LB.............. Gadsden, AL Chris Briggs........................WR.........Franklinton, LA Lance Schuffert...................DS..............Prattville, AL Chauncy Smith....................LB.............LaGrange, GA Khalid Wilson......................DT........New Orleans, LA Ricky Lloyd.......................... QB............... Concord, CA Cortez Hartzog....................DT..................... Gulfport Tray Becton-Martin............WR.................... Eads, TN Jhyryn Taylor.......................RB..........Franklinton, LA Keivondre Watford.............TE...........Tuscaloosa, AL *3 PLAYERS FROM MISSISSIPPI MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 45

>>> MSM | 2011 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW

AUSTIN DAVIS

BY LANNY MIXON, biggoldnation.com

F

or most football fans when they think about the quarterback position at Southern Miss one name comes to mind – the ole gunslinger Brett Favre, and with good reason. Favre is a three time NFL MVP, Superbowl winning signal caller and future Hall of Famer. But, if you were to pull out the Southern Miss record books and start checking out the quarterback stats, you’ll find that Favre has slipped to number two in most categories and possibly before the season ends, all.

Current Southern Miss quarterback and four year starter Austin Davis is etching his name at the top of those categories, passing up a player he grew up watching as a youth.

But, what makes the story even more intriguing is that Davis was never offered a football scholarship by Southern Miss. When he set foot on campus, there were high expectations. The coaches who brought him to campus fully expected him to be a team leader and a starter by his redshirt freshman year. But, they expected him to be starting at third-base not quarterback.

Davis, much like Favre was a lightly recruited high school quarterback, both playing in offenses that focused on the ground game and only passed out of necessity. Anyone getting a sense of irony here? The two most prolific passers in Southern Miss history were seldom called upon to air it out in high school.

Two coaching changes shifted Davis’ path dramatically. Louisiana Tech had offered Davis in football early, but it wasn’t to be.

“It was a very interesting process how it all worked out,” Davis said. “I wanted to play football the entire time. I was probably going to take an offer from Louisiana Tech, but they changed coaches and the offer was pulled.”

Davis turned down several football scholarship offers and signed a baseball scholarship with Coach Corky Palmer and the Baseball Eagles.

“At this point I kind of started questioning myself,” he said. “I was thinking if no other D-I school was offering me maybe I wasn’t that good.

Maybe baseball was the way to go, I had offers from Southern (Miss) and (Miss) State. I was all-state in baseball, my brother was down here playing.”

His older brother Bo was a multi-year starting center-fielder and a team leader.

A coaching change closed a door at Louisiana Tech for Davis, and oddly enough a coaching change would open another door.

When current Southern Miss head coach Larry Fedora was hired, Davis went to him and asked if he could try out for the team. Baseball coach Corky Palmer agreed.

“I was still thinking about football,” he said. “There was a side of me that said I wasn’t going to take “no” for an answer.”

After talking with Fedora, Davis given his opportunity.

“I remember telling my parents that if someone would give me an opportunity to be on a team they wouldn’t regret it,” Davis said.

With virtually no experienced quarterbacks on the roster, Fedora gave Davis just that opportunity. He made the most of it and was named the starter prior to Fedora’s first game in Hattiesburg.

The Fedora Era opened at home with the Eagles taking on regional 46 | MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE

Photo by Greg Pevey, Mississippi Sports Magazine

rival the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns at The Rock. Davis led his squad onto the field and in his first start in college he completed 14 of 21 passes for 203 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He also rushed for 63 yards and two scores.

The Eagle offense rolled up 633 yards of offense that day and Golden Eagle faithful knew they were in for a totally different brand of football than they had seen before in the black and gold.

Four years later the Eagles will kick-off the 2011 season against the Louisiana Tech team that pulled Davis’ only major offer out of high school, and he’ll be leading the Eagles against them.

“I wanted to prove people wrong,” he said. “I used it as motivation. I wanted to make all those teams who didn’t recruit me wish they had.”

And prove them wrong he has. A season ago he passed Brett Favre and Lee Roberts in touchdown passes thrown (53). His holds the single season mark in completions and touchdown passes, he is just 299 passing yards short of Favre’ career passing number of 7,695 yards. He needs seven rushing touchdowns to pass Reggie Collier on the career rushing touchdown by a quarterback.

“I’m aware of the stats and the awards,” he said. “Is it something I focus on, no...but, with all the attention I’m aware of them.”

Heading into his senior year he’s been named to the Davy O’Brien

Advertise in MSM! Email us at publisher@mssportsmagazine.com for more information.

Photo by Bobby McDuffie

Award Watch List. The award is given annually to the nation’s top collegiate quarterback.

So may will ask the question is Austin Davis the greatest Southern Miss quarterback of all time. No, if you ask him.

“Times change, the game has changed since the time Brett and Lee Roberts played,” he said.

“We pass the ball a lot more. It has so much to do with the era I play in...”

And while the polite and very humble Davis may not put himself at the top of the all-time Southern Miss pecking order at quarterback he understands the what it means to be mentioned.

“Everyone knows Brett Favre,” Davis said.

“He’s a national name one of the best ever.”

As far as the records he’s just as humble.

“I’ll probably use that as leverage with my kids one day,” he said with a laugh, “When we’re in the yard tossing the ball and they don’t think I know anything, I’ll pull it out then.”

But there is a serious note to those accomplishments and Davis full well understands the significance.

“I’ll be honored,” he said. “To have your name beside those greats. It’s a great honor.”

In the late summer Davis is more focused on getting himself and his team ready for his senior season than thinking about records and his place in the annals of Southern Miss football history.

“I’m as ready as I have ever been,” he said of the coming season. “I’ve gained about 10-15 pounds but I’m physically as good as I’ve been.”

Davis looks to enter his senior season between 215-220-pounds, he’s played his first three years between 205 and 210-pounds.

“It’s not just me, he continued. “I’ve never seen our team as good this physically.”

When Davis leads the Eagles into The Rock on Sept. 3rd, with each pass he throws and each yard he rushes he’ll be moving a step towards history, but the only goal he’ll see is the endzone. - MSM MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 47

>>> MSM | 2011 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW

JACKSON STATE

BY JACKSON STATE SPORTS INFORMATION

TIGERS

2011 Schedule Sep. 3 CONCORDIA Sep. 10 at Tennessee St. Sep. 17 at Southern Univ.

Sep. 24 ALABAMA ST. Oct. 1 TEXAS SOUTHERN Oct. 8 ARK.-PINE BLUFF Oct. 15 at Miss. Valley St. Oct. 22 OPEN Oct. 29 at Prairie View Nov. 5 GRAMBLING ST. Nov. 12 at Alabama A&M Nov. 19 at Alcorn* * at MS Veterans Memorial Stadium

T

he Jackson State Tigers had an outstanding 2010 season, as Head Coach Rick Comegy led the program its fourth winning season during his five year tenure. JSU finished with an 8-3 overall record and a 6-3 Southwestern Athletic Conference mark.

2011 marks the 100th season of Jackson State football and the Tigers have high expectations.

The 2010 season saw JSU regain its standing as one of the premier teams in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. JSU has one of the best quarterbacks in the country and the defense should be one of the better units in the SWAC. “I feel good about this team,” said Head Coach Rick Comegy. “We have a very good offense and a solid defense.”

Offense Under Offensive Coordinator Earnest Wilson (now in his second season at Jackson State) the Tigers offense improved dramatically from the previous season. In 2010 JSU’s offense led the SWAC in five statistical categories – scoring offense (33 points/game), total offense (412 yards/game), pass offense (314 yards/game), pass efficiency (149), first downs (21/game).

The Tigers were seventh in rushing offense (98 yards/game).

48 | MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE

CASEY THERRIAULT

Photo courtesy Jackson State University

2010 TEAM STATS

NORMAN JOSEPH

Photo courtesy Jackson State University

Senior Casey Therriault (6-3, 205) will look to continue his assault on the JSU record book.

Last season the prolific signal caller tied JSU’s single season touchdown record with 31. His 3,436 passing yards ranks second in JSU’s single season record book, behind Robert Kent’s 3,640. Therriault did break JSU single season completion record with 255. The Wyoming Park, Michigan native finished 2010 as the SWAC Newcomer of the Year, a first team AllSWAC member, a Walter Payton Award finalist (I-AA Offensive Player of the Year award), a Conerly Trophy finalist and was named a Sheridan Broadcast Network (SBN) All-American.

The Tigers will have a good group of backups with some experience. Redshirt junior QB Dedric McDonald (6-5, 215) saw action in only three games last season and completed one of five pass attempts for six yards. He was hobbled with a broken foot at the end of the season. However, in the previous season he completed 41 percent of his passes for 539 yards and two touchdowns. Sophomore Mark Thigpen (6-3, 200) was thrown into the fire as a true freshman when Therriault was knocked out of the Capital City Classic. He completed two passes for 12 yards, but did enough as a running QB to help JSU hold on to the win.

“Of course everyone who followed us last year knows that Casey is one of the best quarterbacks in the country,” said Comegy. “His leadership and decision making were a huge part of our success, but we also have capable back-ups in Dedric and Mark. We have three quality quarterbacks who can step in and lead the team when needed.”

Therriault and the other quarterbacks will have a group of talented, experienced wide receivers and tight ends. Senior Marcellos Wilder (6-3, 195) proved to be one of the best weapons in the SWAC. Wilder, a Tuscaloosa, Alabama native has the combination of size and speed that offensive coordinators covet for the position. Last season he caught 57 passes for 726 yards and eight touchdowns. He was ranked third in the SWAC and 38th in the nation in receptions per game. Wilder was a first team AllSWAC member. Junior Rico Richardson (6-1, 185) was third on the team in receptions with 34 for 538 yards and four touchdowns. Junior E.J. Drewery (6-6, 220) provided a large target for JSU QBs. He caught 23 passes for 468 yards and a touchdown. He averaged 20.3 yards per receptions. Senior Keenan Tillman (6-5, 220) fought his way through injuries to haul in nine passes for 110 yards and two touchdowns.

Senior tight end Renty Rollins (6-4, 255) was named an All-SWAC first team member and a SBN All-American. The Detroit, Michigan native was arguably the best pass catching tight end in the conference. Rollins caught 30 passes for 336 yards and six touchdowns.

JSU will have a stable of capable running backs and full backs. Junior B.J. Lee (5-7, 185) returns as Jackson State’s most productive back. He led the team in rushing with 439 yards and two touchdowns on 99 carries. He averaged 4.4 yard per carry. He was also the fourth leading receiver on the team, hauling in 34 passes for 325 yards and a touchdown.

Sophomore Tommy Gooden (6-0, 215) is a prototypical, every down back – with his size

..........................................................................JSU......................OPP SCORING................................................365..................247 Points Per Game................................33.2................. 22.5 FIRST DOWNS........................................238..................200 Rushing................................................ 72....................90 Passing.................................................141....................82 Penalty.................................................25....................28 RUSHING YARDAGE.............................. 1085.................1818 Yards gained rushing.........................1510.................2225 Yards lost rushing..............................425..................407 Rushing Attempts..............................336..................435 Average Per Rush.............................. 3.2.................. 4.2 Average Per Game............................ 98.6................165.3 TDs Rushing......................................... 16.................... 18 PASSING YARDAGE...............................3454................2095 Att-Comp-Int................................ 449-258-9...... 336-142-13 Average Per Pass................................7.7................... 6.2 Average Per Catch..............................13.4..................14.8 Average Per Game............................314.0................190.5 TDs Passing.......................................... 31....................10 TOTAL OFFENSE....................................4539................ 3913 Total Plays...........................................785.................. 771 Average Per Play.................................5.8....................5.1 Average Per Game............................412.6................355.7 KICK RETURNS: #-YARDS...................45-965............63-1215 PUNT RETURNS: #-YARDS....................17-85..............29-439 INT RETURNS: #-YARDS......................13-228............... 9-74 KICK RETURN AVERAGE........................21.4..................19.3 PUNT RETURN AVERAGE....................... 5.0.................. 15.1 INT RETURN AVERAGE............................7.5................... 8.2 FUMBLES-LOST......................................11-11.................22-14 PENALTIES-YARDS............................. 106-987.......... 131-1194 Average Per Game.............................89.7.................108.5 PUNTS-YARDS....................................62-2150........... 58-2273 Average Per Punt...............................34.7................. 39.2 Net punt average.............................. 26.0.................37.0 TIME OF POSSESSION/GAME................29:37................30:19 3RD-DOWN CONVERSIONS.................59/156............ 43/159 3rd-Down Pct.....................................38%................. 27% 4TH-DOWN CONVERSIONS..................12/20............... 7/25 4th-Down Pct.................................... 60%................ 28% SACKS BY-YARDS.................................25-177.............29-266 MISC YARDS.............................................0......................0 TOUCHDOWNS SCORED..........................50.................... 31 FIELD GOALS-ATTEMPTS........................ 7-11..................9-17 ON-SIDE KICKS.......................................0-1...................0-0 RED-ZONE SCORES..........................40-50 80%......28-47 60% RED-ZONE TOUCHDOWNS...............33-50 66%...... 21-47 45% PAT-ATTEMPTS.................................38-46 83%......28-29 97% ATTENDANCE...................................... 120698............. 31424 Games/Avg Per Game................... 5/24140...........4/7856 Neutral Site Games........................ 2/38744 SCORE BY QUARTERS.................1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT Total Jackson St.................................. 97 85 75 108 0 365 Opponent.................................. 57 66 79 45 0 247 MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 49

and speed. He recorded 80 rushing yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. Both Lee and Gooden were sprinters on the JSU track and field team. Senior Demario Pippen (5-9, 215) served as a slot receiver last season, but returns to his natural running back position. Last season he caught 10 passes for 79 yards and a touchdown. Senior Luther Edwards (5-8, 225) returns to the JSU backfield after sitting out last season due to academic issues. Edwards rushed for 102 yards and two touchdowns in 2009. Sophomore Marquese Dunn (6-3, 230) saw limited playing time last season and will see time at full back this season.

“We will be able to run the ball well next year. We expect to have a solid ground game to compliment the pass.”

The offensive line will have only one full time starter return this season in junior Roderick Gladney (6-4, 360). Gladney will anchor JSU’s O-line. Despite the loss of four starters along the line, Jackson State should have great depth up front. Senior Keyun Swinney (6-4, 315), redshirt junior Derrick Jean (6-3, 270), redshirt freshman Darius Mitchell (6-3, 320), junior Stephen Capler (6-2, 270) and redshirt sophomore Aristacus Forster (6-3, 300) will all compete for starting jobs. JSU also added depth in this year’s recruiting class. Zion Pyatt (6-6, 280), Maurice Brooks (6-2, 295), Jeff Travillion (6-2, 305), Alvin Kelly (6-3, 350), Danny Williams (6-3, 320) and Remund Jackson (6-4, 295) will look to earn playing time this season.

DEFENSE Under Defensive Coordinator Darrin Hayes, the JSU defense has consistently performed at a high level. Last season JSU’s “Dark Side” defense was ranked sixth in total defense in the SWAC. Because of injuries, JSU was forced to play inexperienced players last season and should have depth at most positions.

For the JSU defense everything starts up front with the defensive line. Senior defensive end Donavan Robinson (6-4, 250) will look end his collegiate career with another dominant season. Robinson was named as a second team All-SWAC member. He finished last season with 52 tackles, 18.5 tackles for loss and a team high eight sacks. He was ranked in the nation in sacks (T-24) and tackles for loss (T12). Robinson should be in the running for the Buck Buchannan award in 2011.

Junior Jonathan Billups (6-1, 320) is projected to be an anchor on the defensive line.

He recorded 42 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss and three sacks. Junior Javarius Conner (6-3, 250) is also projected to be an impact player, as well as newcomer Joseph Lebeau. JSU fans should also remember the name of junior Luis McLeod (6-3, 330). He had a solid spring and should be a lighter and more agile player in 2011. Last season he finished with 14 tackles.

The linebacker corps will be a key group for 50 | MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE

the Tigers defense this season. Last season’s group had only one senior in Ryan Rich. This season junior Milton Patterson (6-1, 235) will look to make an impact for the entire season.

An early injury last season kept him from performing at a high level. However, as the season progressed he became one of the team’s biggest impact players, finishing as the team’s leading tackler with 66. He also had 13.5 tackles for loss (T-38th in the nation), a sack, an interception, two fumble recoveries, a forced fumble and a safety – all with a broken wrist.

He missed spring practice to have surgery on the wrist and is expected to be ready for the opening day of fall camp.

Sophomore Todd Wilcher (6-2, 230) was

MARCELLOS WILDER Photo courtesy Jackson State University

one of the freshmen forced into early action last season. He had a slow start but came on as the season progressed. He finished with 54 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, a sack, an interception, a fumble recovery, a forced fumble and a blocked kick. Junior Mike Hill (6-1, 190) and senior Andre Wright (6-0, 200) will also look to crack the starting lineup. JSU fans can also look for newcomers Arian McCree, Ryan Griffin and Chaise Pinesette to make contributions this season.

The return and solid play redshirt senior cornerback Anthony Johnson (6-1, 205) will be key for Jackson State in 2011. His loss last season left a huge hole in the secondary. Johnson went down with a knee injury in the second game of the season. Prior to the injury he was JSU’s most coveted NFL prospect. With his size and speed he can cover the fastest wide receivers and is physical enough to make plays against the run. He should be a leader of the secondary and an All-SWAC performer this season.

When Johnson went down redshirt sophomore Qua Cox (6-0, 185) was thrown into the mix as a freshman. Last season he had 29 tackles and two interceptions. He should be the starting corner on the opposite side of Johnson and should have plenty of opportunities to

increase his interception number. JSU coaches believe he will take his game to another level as his skill and confidence grows.

Last season’s impact player, Tim Dandridge (6-1, 195) will move from his outside linebacker position to safety. The senior replaces three year starter Kerry Hoskins. The move should be a good one for JSU. In 2010 Dandridge showed the ability to cover and make plays against the run. He finished as the third leading tackler with 63. He also had five tackles for loss and along with Hoskins led the team with three interceptions. Junior Richard Hughes (60, 195) will look to fill the void left by Hoskins.

He recorded 11 tackles last season.

SPECIAL TEAMS JSU should be solid on special teams this season. Kicker Jabril Smith (6-1, 180) looks to return after suffering a foot injury that kept him sidelined most of the season. Last season he had only 17 kickoffs, but recorded a 57.5 yards average. Senior punter Reed Gallagher (5-10, 180) should have a productive season.

Last year he handled all of the kicking duties when Smith went down. He punted 61 times for 2,150 yards (35.2 yards/punt) and had 51 kick-offs for another 2,731 yards (53.5 average). He was also 5-9 in field goals. He was a perfect 3-3 from 30-39 yards out.

B.J. Lee is projected to handle kick off duties and Rico Richardson has game experience at handling punt return duties. Lee recorded 369 kick return yards and Richardson had 43 punt return yards.

THE SCHEDULE JSU will play two non-conference games this season. The Tigers will open the season against Concordia College from Selma, Alabama for the fourth Annual W.C. Gorden Classic at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium on Sept.

3. The following week JSU will face Tennessee State in the Southern Heritage Classic in Memphis, Tennessee. On Sept. 17 JSU will travel to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to face Southern in a rematch of last season’s shootout. The Tigers can expect a hostile atmosphere, as Southern played its last home game in Jackson at Memorial Stadium in 2009.

On Sept. 24 Alabama State comes to Jackson and the Tigers will look to get a little revenge against the Hornets. JSU opens the month of Oct. with back-to-back home games. JSU will host Texas Southern on Oct. 1 and ArkansasPine Bluff on Oct. 8 for the homecoming game.

The Tigers head to Itta Bena, Mississippi to face Mississippi Valley State on Oct. 15 and to Shreveport, Louisiana to face Prairie View A&M on Oct. 29.

The Tigers will host Grambling State on Nov. 5 and will make its final road trip of the season on Nov. 12 to face Alabama A&M. On Nov. 19 the Tigers will face arch rival Alcorn State in the Capital City Classic. - MSM

>>> MSM | 2011 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW

ALCORN STATE

BY ALCORN STATE SPORTS INFORMATION

BRAVES

2011 Schedule Sep. 3 GRAMBLING ST.* Sep. 10 at Ark.-Pine Bluff Sep. 17 MISS. VALLEY ST. Sep. 24 at Texas Southern Oct. 1

at Alabama State

Oct. 8 OPEN Oct. 15 OPEN Oct. 22 concordia st.

Oct. 29 at Southern Univ.

Nov. 5 ALABAMA A&M Nov. 12 PRIARIE VIEW Nov. 19 Jackson State# * at Port City Classic - Shreveport, LA # Capital City Classic - MS Veterans Memorial Stadium

T

he 2010 season proved to be one of progression for the Braves. Alcorn State produced a 5-6 overall record and won four out of nine conference games.

The team opened the season with a three game win streak before dropping four straight against Mississippi State (49-16), Texas Southern (30-20), Grambling State (38-28) and Arkansas-Pine Bluff (39-35). The Braves next win came on October 30th against Southern University, 27-20. Alcorn State posted a 1-2 record in the end of the season picking up a win against the Bulldogs of Alabama A&M then losing to Prairie View A&M and Jackson State.

With the departure of Coach Collins to Northern Colorado, Alcorn State conducted a national search for their next head football coach. On January 19, 2011, Alcorn State University named Melvin Spears, Jr., as the 17th Head Football Coach.

Spears, a 1983 Alcorn Alum, played under the legendary Marino Casem and looks to return the Braves back to the forefront of SWAC Football dominance.

TIM BUCKLEY

Photo by Greg Pevey, Mississippi Sports Magazine

MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 51

MELVIN DAVIS

AVIS SHELTON

Photo courtesy Alcorn State University

Offense Offensive minded Alcorn State head football coach, Melvin Spears, will run a multiple pro-type offense with the Braves this season. The offense will be centered around returning quarterback, Brandon Bridge, who passed for 19 touchdowns and over 2,000 yards his freshman season. ‘Air Canada’ was second on the team in rushing yardage and scored six touchdowns rushing.

Both running backs will return this season, Gabriel Nash, who led the team in rushing and Arnold Walker, injured in game number two.

Spears is very excited about the recruited running backs and is looking forward to having a very balanced offensive attack this season.

Receiving wise, Bridge and the new offense, which will see as many as five receivers in the game, will only increase his completions and touchdowns. He’ll have returnees Simon Collier, Chris Perkins, and Donte Parker plus the transfer from Ole Miss, Andrew Harris. The recruits should help make the receiving corps just as potent, or more, than it was last season.

The offensive line will be anchored by senior center, Isaac Williams (6’2/290) of Clinton, MS. Spears and staff will be retooling the rest of the offensive line and are looking for the newcomers in camp in June to compete for the other starting slots.

DEFENSE Defensive coordinator, Michael Roach, has to replace many starters from the defensive unit of 2010 which yielded 29 points per game.

The Braves averaged 28 points and Roach and staff want to cut that 29 down to 14 or 10 points allowed.

Brandon Morris, Jon Hughes, Rickey Joseph – 6’2 and 320 lbs, Jermaine Turner- 6’3 and 275 plus Carrington Aloese – 6’3 and 320 from 52 | MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE

Photo courtesy Alcorn State University

Samoa has Spears and staff smiling in anticipation.

The defensive backs will be green, and Spears admits that they could conceivably start four freshman. Leadership is expected from Jamison Knox, Oscar Goldman and Casey Freeman. But as Spears puts it, “We are actually starting over with younger guys.”

Linebacker coach, Louis Green, is really excited with Laron Trigg, Kenneth Roby, Leviticus Cain, Gabriel Grey and Daniel Roberson.

The most intriguing duo may be twins, Reginald and Robert Clay, both standing 6’1 and weighing in at 225 pounds.

Spears adds that on defense they are in a rebuilding mode as so many players have to be replaced. Much emphasis was put on special teams as Spears says that offense packs the stand, defense wins games and special teams wins championships.

SPECIAL TEAMS Arturo Tamayo will handle the extra points and field goals, plus the punting as well. Spears is looking for more depth in that department by adding another kicking specialist. Jacquez Caldwell and Gabriel Grey, both very explosive and elusive, are being counted on to make big returns.

Jonathan Hill is being relied upon to lead on the coverage teams, getting down field to make crucial tackles. States Spears, “Kickoff coverage will be very crucial to our success on special teams.”

THE SCHEDULE The 2011 season will feature 10 games with the Braves hosting four at Jack Spinks Stadium.

The Braves will open the season on September 3rd against Grambling State in the Port City Classic which will be held in Shreveport,

2010 TEAM STATS

MALCOLM TAYLOR & KENNY ROBY

Photo by Greg Pevey, Mississippi Sports Magazine

Louisiana.

On September 10th, the team will travel to Pine Bluff, Arkansas to face the Golden Lions of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.

After back-to-back road games, Alcorn State will host Mississippi Valleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Delta Devils on September 17th.

The Braves will close out the month of September on the road against Texas Southern.

On October 1st, the Braves will face Eastern Division rival, Alabama State before having two open weekends.

A well-rested team will face Concordia College for homecoming on October 22nd.

On October 29, 2011, the Braves travel to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to face the Jaguars of Southern University. The following week, Alcorn State will meet divisional rival, Alabama A&M on the grid-iron.

November 12th will be the Braves final home game as they host, Prairie View A&M. Alcorn State will cap off the regular season against arch-rival, Jackson State, in the Capital City Classic. - MSM

ARTURO TAMAYO Photo courtesy Alcorn State

.........................................................................ASU.....................OPP SCORING ...............................................326 ................. 319 Points Per Game ............................. 29.6 ............... 29.0 FIRST DOWNS ........................................181 ..................209 Rushing ..............................................69 ...................79 Passing ...............................................90 ...................113 Penalty ...............................................22 ................... 17 RUSHING YARDAGE ............................. 1534 ............... 1583 Yards gained rushing .......................1817 ................ 1957 Yards lost rushing ............................283 .................374 Rushing Attempts ............................ 413 .................405 Average Per Rush ..............................3.7 .................. 3.9 Average Per Game ..........................139.5 ...............143.9 TDs Rushing ....................................... 17 ...................23 PASSING YARDAGE .............................. 2261 ...............2554 Comp-Att-Int ...............................167-333-13 ......202-365-14 Average Per Pass ............................. 6.8 ..................7.0 Average Per Catch ............................13.5 .................12.6 Average Per Game ......................... 205.5 ............. 232.2 TDs Passing ........................................ 19 ...................14 TOTAL OFFENSE ................................... 3795 ............... 4137 Total Plays ......................................... 746 .................770 Average Per Play ...............................5.1 .................. 5.4 Average Per Game ......................... 345.0 ..............376.1 KICK RETURNS: #-Yards .....................55-811 ............54-972 PUNT RETURNS: #-Yards ...................18-345 ............20-230 INT RETURNS: #-Yards .......................14-281 .............13-160 KICK RETURN AVERAGE .......................14.7 .................18.0 PUNT RETURN AVERAGE ......................19.2 .................11.5 INT RETURN AVERAGE ..........................20.1 .................12.3 FUMBLES-LOST ....................................15-10 ...............31-17 PENALTIES-Yards ...............................94-845 ...........83-824 Average Per Game ...........................76.8 ................ 74.9 PUNTS-Yards .....................................61-2276 ..........60-2196 Average Per Punt .............................37.3 ................ 36.6 Net punt average .............................32.9 ................ 28.9 TIME OF POSSESSION/Game .............. 28:58 ............. 30:35 3RD-DOWN Conversions ...................58/163 .............57/161 3rd-Down Pct .................................. 36% ................ 35% 4TH-DOWN Conversions ....................8/20 ...............9/23 4th-Down Pct .................................. 40% ............... 39% SACKS BY-Yards ..................................28-178 ............ 28-150 MISC YARDS ..........................................-50 .................. 17 TOUCHDOWNS SCORED .........................45 ...................42 FIELD GOALS-ATTEMPTS .......................5-13 ................10-11 ON-SIDE KICKS ......................................1-1 ..................0-0 RED-ZONE SCORES ......................... 29-39 74% ..... 37-45 82% RED-ZONE TOUCHDOWNS .............. 25-39 64% .....29-45 64% PAT-ATTEMPTS ................................39-44 89% ..... 33-38 87% ATTENDANCE ......................................35659 .............64812 Games/Avg Per Game ...................5/7132 ........... 4/16203 Neutral Site Games ............................. ................2/16400 SCORE BY QUARTERS.................1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT Total Alcorn St.................................... 83 95 105 43 0 326 Opponent.................................. 78 95 50 96 0 319 MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 53

>>> MSM | 2011 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW

MS VALLEY STATE

BY MS VALLEY STATE SPORTS INFORMATION

DELTA DEVILS

2011 Schedule Sep. 3 ALABAMA STATE Sep. 10 MURRAY STATE Sep. 17 at Alcron State Sep. 24 at Priaire View Oct. 1 SOUTHERN UNIV. Oct. 8

at Alabama A&M

Oct. 15 JACKSON STATE Oct. 22 at Grambling Oct. 29 TEXAS SOUTHERN Nov. 3 at South Alabama Nov. 12 ark. pine-bluff Photos courtesy Mississippi Valley State University

T

he 2011 campaign of Mississippi Valley State football will operate under one motto: “One Team, One Valley”. That has been the mindset since spring camp opened in March. One Team – not a group of separate units under one jersey, but one collective unit of individuals brought together for one common purpose. One Valley – a team looking to represent MVSU and reunite the spirit of the Valley faithful.

With the memory of a 0-10 season in the not-so-distant past, this year’s team will look to revive the spirit and tradition of MVSU football. However, with a fresh cast of characters and a renewed vision and plan, MVSU Football 2011 looks to be a season of optimism, athleticism, and determination – a campaign in which “a special team with special players will look to make special plays.”

OFFENSE The MVSU offense will be looking to get on track this season after struggling in 2010.

Sophomore quarterback Carl Davis (6-1, 175) will likely be the starter when the season begins. Davis injured his ankle during the South Carolina State contest and missed the remainder of the season. Then-junior QB Oliver Hughes (6-0, 195) was given the reins.

54 | MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE

PAUL COX, JR.

2010 TEAM STATS

ARMON WILLIAMS

Hughes was injured late during spring practice and will likely miss the 2011 campaign.

Davis performed well during the spring scrimmage and should be in line for the start again this season. Michael Shaw (6-1, 190) will also compete for playing time during the season.

In the skill positions, the MVSU wide receivers should return to form with experience, youth and speed. Senior Paul Cox (6-5, 205) and junior Chris Williams (6-0, 176) return to lead this group of athletes. Cox led the team in receiving yards and touchdowns, finishing with 520 yards and five touchdowns on 21 receptions. Williams averaged nearly ten yards per catch while finishing with 32 receptions and 315 yards. Joining them will be senior Malcolm Sam (5-6, 172) and junior Donta Reed (5-10, 175) along with sophomores Kenneth Dabney (5-7, 151), Rafus Davis (6-1, 175), Keir McLemore (6-1, 185) and Tevin Nelson (6-1, 170).

The offensive backfield should be exciting with newcomers leading the charge. With the top four rushers gone from last season, the competition for the feature back spot is wide open. Junior college transfers Rathael Bateaste (5-9, 232), Brandon Stansell (5-7, 185), and Dytanyl Greer (6-1, 240) along with freshman Cedric Blue (6-1, 195) and returnees Torian

Nickleberry (5-9, 175) and Joshua Nelson (5-7, 170) will all compete to be the frontrunners in establishing a ground attack to complement the speed on the outside. Jonathan Henderson (6-1, 226) looks to be the starter at tight end with Greer as a capable backup.

A concern during spring drills was the offensive line. With only five active performers in camp, the work in the trenches was limited.

However, with the signing of five freshmen to the group should be ready to compete in the fall. Players to watch include junior Antonio Griggs (6-1, 279), sophomore Wesley Steele (6-2, 283) and senior Bryant Taylor (6-3, 305).

DEFENSE The defensive unit for the Delta Devils will be playing for more than just defensive stops.

Pride and respect will be on the line as the unit takes the field.

On the defensive line, seniors Javaris Fritz and Leployer Franklin along with sophomore tackle Robert Simpson will have to play big and strong if the second line of defense is to be effective. Fritz (6-1, 220) registered 32 tackles, three tackles for loss and two sacks.

Franklin (6-3, 250) is the teamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top returning defensive lineman with 33 tackles, seven tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks while Simpson had 26 stops, three quarterback hurries and a

........................................................................MVSU....................OPP SCORING ............................................... 103 .................363 Points Per Game ..............................10.3 ................ 36.3 FIRST DOWNS ....................................... 123 .................228 Rushing ..............................................56 .................. 103 Passing ............................................... 51 ..................106 Penalty ............................................... 16 ...................19 RUSHING YARDAGE ..............................928 ................1989 Yards gained rushing ...................... 1388 ...............2258 Yards lost rushing ............................460 .................269 Rushing Attempts ............................ 337 .................383 Average Per Rush ............................. 2.8 .................. 5.2 Average Per Game .......................... 92.8 ...............198.9 TDs Rushing ........................................5 .................... 21 PASSING YARDAGE .............................. 1245 ...............2692 Comp-Att-Int ................................97-234-9 ........197-306-7 Average Per Pass ..............................5.3 .................. 8.8 Average Per Catch ............................12.8 .................13.7 Average Per Game ..........................124.5 .............. 269.2 TDs Passing .........................................8 ....................25 TOTAL OFFENSE ....................................2173 ................4681 Total Plays ..........................................571 ..................689 Average Per Play ...............................3.8 .................. 6.8 Average Per Game .......................... 217.3 ...............468.1 KICK RETURNS: #-Yards ....................58-1063 ...........24-434 PUNT RETURNS: #-Yards .................... 9-35 ............. 41-463 INT RETURNS: #-Yards .........................7-61 ................ 9-75 KICK RETURN AVERAGE .......................18.3 .................18.1 PUNT RETURN AVERAGE .......................3.9 ..................11.3 INT RETURN AVERAGE ...........................8.7 .................. 8.3 FUMBLES-LOST .....................................12-5 ................23-16 PENALTIES-Yards ............................... 86-769 ...........93-879 Average Per Game ...........................76.9 .................87.9 PUNTS-Yards .................................... 78-2860 ..........33-1183 Average Per Punt .............................36.7 ................ 35.8 Net punt average .............................29.7 ................ 33.6 TIME OF POSSESSION/Game .............. 28:19 ............. 31:23 3RD-DOWN Conversions ...................28/132 .............56/131 3rd-Down Pct ...................................21% ................ 43% 4TH-DOWN Conversions .....................2/18 .................7/17 4th-Down Pct ................................... 11% .................41% SACKS BY-Yards ..................................20-131 ............25-200 MISC YARDS ........................................... 77 ..................-45 TOUCHDOWNS SCORED ......................... 14 ...................49 FIELD GOALS-ATTEMPTS ....................... 3-4 .................8-13 ON-SIDE KICKS .....................................0-0 ..................1-1 RED-ZONE SCORES ...........................8-13 62% .......33-44 75% RED-ZONE TOUCHDOWNS ................6-13 46% .......26-44 59% PAT-ATTEMPTS ................................. 10-14 71% ......45-49 92% ATTENDANCE .......................................7805 ............... 81111 Games/Avg Per Game .................. 3/2602 ...........6/13518 Neutral Site Games ............................. .................... 1/0 SCORE BY QUARTERS.................1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT Total MS Valley St. ..............................21 17 33 32 0 103 Opponent.................................. 111 92 63 97 0 363 MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 55

sissippi Community College who capped a productive spring with an excellent showing during the final scrimmage.

SPECIAL TEAMS The kicking game for the Delta Devils looks to be solid again this season. Handling the kicking duties will primarily fall on the right foot of senior kicker/punter Carlos Sanchez (6-1, 170). Sanchez has been the primary kicker for the team for the past two seasons.

Newcomer Shelby Waddell (6-2, 230), a transfer from Itawamba Community College should provide some competition and needed support in this area.

In the return game, freshman upstart Kenneth Dabney should see a lot of touches. The short speedy receiver proved last season that he can provide substantial plays as a returner. Returning receivers Paul Cox and Chris Williams along with defensive back Gerard Hall will also see time returning kickoffs and punts.

tackle for loss.

At linebacker, a fast and agile group of players look to become solid performers and anchor the MVSU defense. Leading the charge will be two of the team’s top five tacklers from last season. Terrell Johnson (6-2, 210) will look to better his 58-tackle, 4.5-tackle for loss performance from last season. Marcus Thompson (5-10, 225) will make the move from defensive end to linebacker. He finished his freshman campaign with 41 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. Joshua Rounds (5-11, 220) will look to become even better at middle linebacker. He finished 2010 with 28 tackles, four tackles for loss and two sacks. A newcomer who showed a lot of promise during the spring, Rico Mazique (6-0, 200) brings two years of experience from Holmes Community College and a lot of fire and passion to the position.

In the defensive backfield, a host of experience athletes will find themselves playing major minutes. While they fly under the radar, they hope to keep opponents from flying into the end zone. At cornerback, Marquis McFadden and Michael Boykins are expected to start. McFadden (5-9, 171) registered 34 tackles and six passes defended while Boykins tallied 41 tackles, 1.5 sacks and four passes defended. Gerard Hall and Alex Brown look to be also in the mix to produce on the outside. Hall (5-9, 190) had 16 tackles in limited action last season while Brown (5-10, 175), a junior college transfer from Pasadena Community College, proved that he could be effective during spring drills. At safety, Carlos 56 | MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE

COACH CARL MORGAN

Hollis and Jeremy Langston look to be in the starting role. Hollis (6-0, 183) had 52 tackles last season (3rd on the team) and two interceptions while Langston (5-11, 185) finished with 29 tackles and five passes defended. Armon Williams (5-11, 195) will move back to the secondary after playing 2010 as an outside linebacker. His 51 tackles and four forced fumbles tallied last season proved his ability to be a competitor on the field. Lakendrick Carter (6-1, 200) is a transfer from East Mis-

SCHEDULE The season opener for the Delta Devils will be on September 3 when MVSU hosts the Hornets of Alabama State. Following that contest, the Devils will invite the Murray State Racers to the confines of Rice-Totten Stadium. The Racers went 6-5 last season, opening the season losing their first three games before closing out the season winning their last three contests. A member of the Ohio Valley Conference, this will be the first meeting between the Racers and the Delta Devils. MVSU will take on in-state rival Alcorn State (Sept.

17) followed by 2009 conference champion Prairie View A&M (Sept. 24).

The month of October will see MVSU host Southern (Oct. 1), travel to Alabama A&M (Oct. 8), host Jackson State (Oct. 15), travel to Grambling State (Oct. 22) and host 2010 SWAC champion Texas Southern (Oct. 29).

The game against the TSU Tigers will be the highlight of Homecoming 2011.

The month of November will see MVSU travel to Mobile, Alabama to face the Jaguars of South Alabama on a Thursday night contest on November 3. The game will be the first time the Jaguars will take on a member of the SWAC in football. The regular season concludes as the Delta Devils host conference rival Arkansas-Pine Bluff on November 12.

KEY TO SUCCESS For the Delta Devils, success can be measured in a couple of different methods. On the surface, getting Karl Morgan’s initial victory on the field will be a milestone. However, for this program, the idea of a singular win is not enough to measure success. This program looks to get out of the statistical cellar and will look to become a major player in the SWAC’s Eastern Division. - MSM

>>> MSM | 2011 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW

DELTA STATE

BY DONELL MAXIE,

STATESMEN

Bolivar Commercial

2011 Schedule Sep. 1

at NW LA State

Sep. 10 at Fort Valley State Sep. 17 at Arkansas Tech Sep. 24 at Henderson State Oct. 1 OUACHITA BAPTIST Oct. 6 ARK.-MONTICELLO Oct. 15 at North Alabama Oct. 22 VALDOSTA STATE Oct. 29 OPEN Nov. 5 WEST ALABAMA Nov. 12 at West Georgia Photos courtesy Bolivar Commercial

F

or the Delta State University Statesmen Football team it is understood that close only counts when you’re playing horseshoes.

Last season the Green and White had an incredible season that resulted in an 11-4 record and a trip to the NCAA Division II National Championship game in Florence, Alabama.

Despite a strong performance the Statesmen came up short 20-17 to Minnesota-Duluth.

In making it to the title game Delta State became the first unranked team to ever play for the NCAA Division II National Championship.

As the 2011 season approaches the Statesmen are geared up with a solid returning cast of players who contributed heavily to last season’s success.

Head coach Ron Roberts has high expectations for his squad and believes in the team’s ability to start the season on a high note and finish on a higher one.

Last season the Statesmen finished third in scoring offense with 31.9 points per game.

The rushing offense was third in the GSC as well with 175.4 yards per game while the passing game ranked the same with 277.5 yards per game.

BRANDON LUCAS

OFFENSE In the game of football the offense is only MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 57

as good as its offensive line and of course the quarterback. With much of last season success coming off the arm of signal caller Micah Davis, the Statesmen should be in good hands for this season as the senior gun slinger returns for an encore performance.

Davis enters this season as an honorable mention preseason All-American by Consensus Draft Services. Davis led the Statesmen to a share of the school’s fifth Gulf South Conference title last season after throwing for over 4,000 yards and 33 touchdowns.

The Wesson native completed 336 of 517 passes for 4,097 with 33 touchdowns and 19 interceptions. He established single season records for completions, completion percentage (65.0), attempts, total offense yardage (4,289) and passing yardage. In fact, his 4,097 passing yards marked the first time a Statesmen quarterback topped the 4,000 yard plateau.

The Statesmen offensive line will be anchored by senior tackle Kendall Hunter (6-6, 338-pounds), and senior center Darrell Leopold (6-2, 305-pounds).

With two of the Statesmen’s top weapons, Trevar Deed and L.J. Castille, no longer with the team, Davis will have to rely on some new faces and as well as some solid performers from a season ago.

Running Back Brandon Lucas proved last season, especially in the playoffs that he had big play ability along with exceptional speed and open field allusiveness. During what was his debut season in 2010, the Covington, Ga. native finished with 843 yards on 116 carries and 11 touchdowns. He had his career high 12 carries for 139 yards versus West Georgia.

Lucas returned 30 punts for 332 yards with his longest return being a 52 yard one in the NCAA Playoff win over North Alabama. Lucas was named Second Team All-Gulf South Conference All-purpose player finishing the season with 1394 all-purpose yards.

Senior receiver Rafael Mitchell should also add a spark to the Statesmen offense with his dynamic speed. The 5’8”, 170-pound Mitchell finished last season with 21 carries for 117 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught 40 passes for 460 yards and four touchdowns.

Another playmaker who should be an impact player for the Statesmen is receiver Chance Dennis (6’3”, 200-pounds). Dennis was vital to the success the Statesmen gained in the passing game last season. On the year Dennis caught 52 balls for 807 yards and four touchdowns. He also recorded the team’s longest gain of the year versus Valdosta State with a 72-yard touchdown reception. Other offensive threats will include: Receiver Bill Franks (5-8, 175-pounds), receiver Darius Johnson (6-5, 210).

DEFENSE Last season the Delta State defense got off to a rough start. The Statesmen finished the 58 | MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE

MICAH DAVIS

season ranked sixth in total defense giving up 372.7 yards per game. Eventhough the season started rough for the Statesmen, the team managed to get the ship going in the right direction as they played their best defensive ball at the right time to propel the team into the National Championship game.

Delta State will be led on the field by senior cornerback Dominique Davenport. The Baldwyn native was named to the pre-season AllGulf South Conference team at his position.

Last season the ball hawk had a career high 53 tackles and five interceptions. He finished second on the team with 10 pass breakups and led the team with 15 passes defended. His efforts last season earned him Second Team All-Gulf South Conference. Cornerback Jerry Barnes (5-9, 189-pounds) will be a factor in the defensive backfield this season. Last season he came on strong and finished with 59 tackles and two interceptions. Other defensive backs include: Dwight Tillman (5-11, 188-pounds) and Brett Butler (6-0, 188-pounds).

Redshirt Freshman Xavier Triplett (6-1, 225-pounds) will be a force on the defense from his linebacker position this season. In 2010 the Redshirt freshman from Scott Central High School was named Defensive Freshman of the Year in the GSC. He was named to

the third team of the Don Hansen All-Super Region Two Team. He was second on the team 100 tackles and second with 12 tacklesfor-loss. Triplett recorded two sacks and added an interception and four forced fumbles.

Linebacker Robert Hogan (6-1, 215-pounds) was third on the team with 66 tackles and added 8.5 tackles-for-loss with 3.5 sacks. Linebacker Melvin Griffin (5-11, 215-pounds) recorded 47 tackles with two sacks and 4.5 tackles-for-loss.

Joe Marshall (6-3, 305-pounds) will be looked to lead the defensive line. Last season he led the defensive line with 55 tackles. His 13 tackles for loss paced the team as well as his 6 sacks. Mark Hoskins (6-2, 280-pounds) will also be a force on the D-line. In 2010 Hoskins was productive on the defensive line playing in every game and recording 52 tackles with 7 tackles for loss.

SPECIAL TEAMS The kicking game left a lot to be desired last season. Matt Dean and Matt Snyder split time at place kicker last season.

Dean connected on 6-of-10 field goal attempts, including a career high 48 yarder, which proved to be the game-winner over Arkansas Tech. Now 13-of-24 for his career,

2010 TEAM STATS

DOMINIQUE DAVENPORT

and 57-of-67 on extra point attempts. Snyder also connected on 6-of-10 field goals and was 23-of-29 on extra points.

Last season Lucas was the primary return man and could see some time there in 2011.

Lucas had 30 punt returns for 332 yards and he had seven kickoff returns for 131 yards.

It is unclear who will handle the punting duties, but the Statesmen do return Andrew Jones who was a member of the team, but did not see any action.

live on the tube for their next two ball games against Arkansas-Monticello on Oct. 6 and North Alabama on Oct. 13. Both games will be on GSC-TV Live.

Two of the Statesmen’s last three games will be at home as they take on rival Valdosta State on Oct. 22 and for homecoming Delta State will host West Alabama on Nov. 5. The season will conclude with a road trip to West Georgia in Carrolton, Ga. on Nov. 12.

THE SCHEDULE The 2011 season will kick off for the Statesman at Parker Field-McCool Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 27 against Elizabeth City State University. Kickoff is tentatively slated for 6 p.m. DSU was originally schedule to open the year at Northwestern Louisiana State on Sept. 1 in Natchitoches, La. The Statesmen will travel to Fort Valley, Ga to play Fort Valley State on Sept. 10.

Delta State will be in action on the road against Arkansas Tech on Sept. 17 and back in Arkansas again on Sept. 24 to play Henderson State Oct. 1 will be the Statesmen’s return home after a four game road trip as they celebrate the annual pig pickin’ event and take on Ouachita Baptist University. Delta will be

THE SEASON WILL BE A SUCCESS IF...

The success of this years season depends heavily on the Statesmen’s ability to protect Micah Davis. Davis can lead the Statesmen back to Florence, Ala. if he has the time to dissect the defense and get the ball in the hands of his playmakers. Delta State will have to find a way to filled the shoes of Trevar Deed who led the team in rushing and heart last season.

Defensively they cannot afford to get off to a rocky start. The defensive secondary has to play better and play assignment football.

Penalties have to be eliminated. There will be some, but the countless personal fouls and untimely penalties that helped the opponents drives and many times hurt their own just can’t happen. - MSM

.........................................................................DSU.....................OPP SCORING ...............................................478 .................389 Points Per Game ..............................31.9 ................ 25.9 FIRST DOWNS .......................................336 ................. 319 Rushing ..............................................127 .................. 134 Passing .............................................. 189 ................. 143 Penalty ...............................................20 ...................42 RUSHING YARDAGE .............................2628 ...............2422 Yards gained rushing ......................3003 ...............2877 Yards lost rushing ............................ 375 .................455 Rushing Attempts ............................ 527 .................602 Average Per Rush ............................. 5.0 .................4.0 Average Per Game ..........................175.2 ...............161.5 TDs Rushing .......................................30 ................... 21 PASSING YARDAGE .............................. 4166 ............... 3168 Comp-Att-Int ..............................343-527-19 .... 249-478-22 Average Per Pass ..............................7.9 .................. 6.6 Average Per Catch ............................ 12.1 .................12.7 Average Per Game ..........................277.7 ...............211.2 TDs Passing ........................................34 ...................25 TOTAL OFFENSE ...................................6794 ...............5590 Total Plays ........................................ 1054 ...............1080 Average Per Play .............................. 6.4 ................. 5.2 Average Per Game ......................... 452.9 ..............372.7 KICK RETURNS: #-Yards ....................68-1332 ...........81-1574 PUNT RETURNS: #-Yards ...................31-386 .............21-136 INT RETURNS: #-Yards ...................... 22-205 ............19-337 KICK RETURN AVERAGE .......................19.6 .................19.4 PUNT RETURN AVERAGE ......................12.5 ................. 6.5 INT RETURN AVERAGE .......................... 9.3 .................17.7 FUMBLES-LOST ....................................26-18 ...............27-16 PENALTIES-Yards ..............................165-1472 .......... 87-704 Average Per Game ...........................98.1 ................ 46.9 PUNTS-Yards .................................... 45-1900 ......... 67-2378 Average Per Punt ............................ 42.2 ............... 35.5 Net punt average .............................37.4 .................27.6 TIME OF POSSESSION/Game .............. 30:05 ............. 30:10 3RD-DOWN Conversions ...................81/194 .............76/215 3rd-Down Pct .................................. 42% ............... 35% 4TH-DOWN Conversions ....................15/37 ...............17/31 4th-Down Pct ...................................41% ................ 55% SACKS BY-Yards ..................................26-188 .............18-137 MISC YARDS ........................................... -2 ...................26 TOUCHDOWNS SCORED .........................65 ...................49 FIELD GOALS-ATTEMPTS ......................12-20 ...............17-24 ON-SIDE KICKS ......................................1-1 ...................1-3 RED-ZONE SCORES ........................(48-65) 74% ...(43-55) 78% RED-ZONE TOUCHDOWNS ............ (39-65) 60% ..(28-55) 51% PAT-ATTEMPTS ...............................(46-59) 78% ...(42-47) 89% ATTENDANCE ......................................36493 ............. 32145 Games/Avg Per Game ...................7/5213 ............ 7/4592 Neutral Site Games ............................. ..................1/4027 SCORE BY QUARTERS.................1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT Total Delta State ................................99 126 114 139 0 478 Opponent..................................84 138 74 93 0 389 MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 59

>>> MSM | 2011 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW

MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE

BY DAVID NICHOLS, MISS. COLLEGE SPORTS INFORMATION

CHOCTAWS

2011 Schedule Sep. 3 MILLSAPS Sep. 10 at Belhaven Univ.

Sep. 17 HARDIN-SIMMONS Sep. 24 at Louisiana College Oct. 1 OPEN Oct. 8 MARY HARDIN-BAYLOR Oct. 15 at East Texas Baptist Oct. 22 HOWARD PAYNE Oct. 29 at Sul Ross State Nov. 5 TEXAS LUTHERAN Nov. 12 at McMurry Photos courtesy Millsaps College

T

he Mississippi College football program returned to prominence in 2009 with their first American Southwest Conference Championship since 1998 and their first-ever trip to the NCAA Division III playoffs in school history.

The Choctaws had holes to fill with the loss of ASC Offensive Player of the Year Adam Shaffer and Defensive Player of the Year Quartez Ashmore, but with the return of preseason All-American Steven Knight (5-9, 195), 2010 appeared to be another special season in Clinton.

After season-opening wins against crosstown rivals Millsaps and Belhaven, MC looked to be headed in the right direction after staking claim to a 2-0 record and a #19 ranking

by D3football.com. Knight was injured and lost for the season in the fourth quarter of the victory over the Blazers, and the Choctaws proceeded to lose their next four games and all hopes of getting back on top of the ASC. Head Coach Norman Joseph (7th year, 3329) took over the MC football program after a 1-9 season in 2004 and suffered only his second losing season in six tries at the helm.

You can rest assured that Coach Joseph and the Choctaws will do everything they can to return to the pinnacle of the American Southwest Conference and the Division III Playoffs.

60 | MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE

Luke Petitto

2010 TEAM STATS

Tommy Reyer

Offense When a team has to replace the schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading passer of all-time, it is a tough task for anyone to take over. The Choctaws had the luxury of starting junior Tommy Reyer (6-0, 190) who was named ASC Offensive Freshman of the Year in his rookie season. The Athens, AL native put his own name in the MC record books, finishing third in school history for single-season pass completions (211) and attempts (356). Reyer also threw for 2,224 yards, which ranks sixth for a single season. For his career, Tommy has the opportunity to finish in the top three in all major career passing categories.

The senior is a dual-threat quarterback that was leaned upon to throw more than run last season after the season-ending injury to Knight. With a full complement of weapons heading into 2011, Tommy and the offense could be one of the more prolific units in the conference.

Sophomore Austin Gray (5-11, 185) saw extended minutes in the final game of the season against McMurry, completing six of 14 passes for 89 yards and a touchdown. The coaching staff raves about his intelligence behind center, and he gives the Choctaws another viable option at the quarterback position.

A big part of the MC offense will be the return of Knight in the backfield after earn-

ing one more season due to the injury in the second game of 2010. Steven rushed for 1,333 yards and 11 touchdowns in helping lead the Choctaws to the NCAA playoffs in 2009. For his career, Knight has an opportunity to finish in the top five in career rushing categories if he can return to the form of his junior season.

The Choctaws also return two of their top four rushers from a year ago in Reyer and senior Qin Mobley (5-10, 215). Reyer rushed for 263 yards and a team-high five scores, while Mobley rushed for 169 yards and a touchdown on 37 carries.

The backfield will have the luxury of running behind three returning starters on the offensive line in seniors Cory York (5-10, 275) and Justin Cardwell (6-2, 265) and sophomore Sylvain Alarcon (6-0, 250). The Choctaws will have to replace the services of three-year starter Jonathan Shaw and Terrence Taylor, who were the only two linemen to start all 10 games for MC last season. The line will get a boost with the return of sophomore Brennan Herrmann (6-3, 275), who missed all of last season due to a preseason injury.

The big offensive surprise last season was the emergence of a young receiving corps, led by junior Randal Pharr (6-1, 185), who caught a team-high 47 passes for 660 yards and seven touchdowns. Senior Brian Richardson (5-10, 175) had another stellar season on the out-

..........................................................................MC......................OPP SCORING ................................................271 .................. 314 Points Per Game .............................. 27.1 .................31.4 FIRST DOWNS ....................................... 218 ................. 195 Rushing .............................................100 ..................78 Passing ...............................................99 ..................102 Penalty ............................................... 19 ................... 15 RUSHING YARDAGE ..............................1651 .................1341 Yards gained rushing ...................... 1998 ............... 1637 Yards lost rushing ............................347 .................296 Rushing Attempts ............................420 .................336 Average Per Rush ..............................3.9 ..................4.0 Average Per Game .......................... 165.1 ...............134.1 TDs Rushing ....................................... 18 ................... 18 PASSING YARDAGE ...............................2313 ................2427 Comp-Att-Int ...............................217-370-14 ......208-346-15 Average Per Pass ............................. 6.3 ..................7.0 Average Per Catch ............................10.7 .................11.7 Average Per Game ..........................231.3 .............. 242.7 TDs Passing ........................................ 18 ...................20 TOTAL OFFENSE ...................................3964 ...............3768 Total Plays .........................................790 .................682 Average Per Play .............................. 5.0 ................. 5.5 Average Per Game ......................... 396.4 ..............376.8 KICK RETURNS: #-Yards .................... 52-968 ...........45-1143 PUNT RETURNS: #-Yards ................... 17-154 .............14-164 INT RETURNS: #-Yards .......................15-139 .............14-184 KICK RETURN AVERAGE .......................18.6 ................ 25.4 PUNT RETURN AVERAGE .......................9.1 ..................11.7 INT RETURN AVERAGE .......................... 9.3 ................. 13.1 FUMBLES-LOST ....................................18-12 ............... 16-8 PENALTIES-Yards ................................69-617 ............84-766 Average Per Game ...........................61.7 ................ 76.6 PUNTS-Yards .................................... 46-1496 ..........47-1847 Average Per Punt .............................32.5 ................ 39.3 Net punt average .............................28.1 ................ 34.7 TIME OF POSSESSION/Game .............. 30:03 ............. 29:49 3RD-DOWN Conversions ...................72/173 ............ 56/142 3rd-Down Pct .................................. 42% ............... 39% 4TH-DOWN Conversions ................... 16/30 ...............7/18 4th-Down Pct ...................................53% ................ 39% SACKS BY-Yards ..................................21-163 .............32-217 MISC YARDS ............................................5 .....................0 TOUCHDOWNS SCORED .........................36 ...................42 FIELD GOALS-ATTEMPTS .......................8-11 .................7-12 ON-SIDE KICKS .....................................0-4 ..................1-1 RED-ZONE SCORES ........................(33-38) 87% ...(29-43) 67% RED-ZONE TOUCHDOWNS ............. (27-38) 71% ...(23-43) 53% PAT-ATTEMPTS ............................... (31-35) 89% ...(37-39) 95% ATTENDANCE ......................................22559 ............. 10567 Games/Avg Per Game ...................5/4512 .............5/2113 Neutral Site Games ............................. ....................0/0 SCORE BY QUARTERS.................1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT Total Miss. College .............................44 53 59 115 0 271 Opponent..................................56 102 68 88 0 314 MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 61

side, starting for the third straight year. The Fairhope, AL native caught 27 passes for 296 yards and three scores, and for his career, Brian has hauled in 91 passes for 1,250 yards and nine touchdowns. Brian is on pace to jump into the receiving record books with another solid campaign. Junior Fred Williams (6-0, 180) gives MC another option on the outside after catching 19 passes for 112 yards coming off the bench.

The Choctaws had a hole to fill last season at tight end with the departure of Renard Ellis after his All-American senior season. Cody Goss looked to be the option as a senior last season, but injuries held him to only six games played in which he caught six passes for 38 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner at Millsaps. Coming into 2011, senior Bobby Martin (6-4, 205) looks to be the top choice after catching one pass for 22 yards in 2010.

Defense The Choctaw defense was the key to the 2010 season as MC went 4-0 in games when allowing 27 points or less and 0-6 when allowing more than 27 points. In the seasonopening wins over Millsaps and Belhaven, the defense only allowed 37 total points and had two game-closing stops to finish the victories.

The Choctaws proceeded to allow almost 40 points per game in the four-game losing streak.

MC’s defense ranked fifth out of nine teams in the ASC in scoring defense (31.4 ppg) and total defense (376.8 ypg). A bright spot for the MC defense was their rush stoppers, as they only allowed 134.1 yards per game, which ranked third in the league. The Choctaws held four opponents under 100 yards rushing and six opponents under 150 yards.

The Choctaws will enter the 2011 season with their third defensive coordinator in three years as Chad Walker takes over the position after spending three seasons as the defensive backs coach at Bryant University in Rhode Island. The Louisiana native has experience in the National Football League as he spent three seasons with the Miami Dolphins. Walker has also had experience in Division I with LSU, West Virginia, and Louisiana-Monroe.

The Choctaws will have some questions to answer along the defensive line with the departure of defensive ends Nolan Willisson and Brad Holt. Willisson finished his fouryear career with 124 tackles, 29.5 tackles for loss, and 16 sacks. The Fairhope native started every game over his last three seasons at different positions along the line and will force the Choctaws to find a replacement on the outside.

Senior Jarryn Bingham (6-1, 245) looks to be the most likely replacement after earning starts in the final four games of the season and seeing extended minutes over all 10 games.

62 | MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE

Bingham tallied 29 tackles and a team-high 9.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks. Bingham’s combination of size and speed gives MC an exceptional rushing attack on the defensive side of the ball. Senior Sam Maze (6-2, 235) and sophomore Ahmad Clofer (6-2, 215) give the Choctaws other experienced options on the outside.

The middle of the defense has little questions as the Choctaws bring back three players who have made significant contributions over the past two years. Senior Jonotario Woodcox (6-1, 270) leads the group finished last season with 23 tackles, six tackles for loss, and 3.5 sacks in eight games. Seniors Larry Walker (5-11, 285) and Jeremy Horton (6-1, 310) give the Choctaws another pair of dynamic defen-

NORMAN JOSEPH

sive tackles. Walker returned a fumble for a touchdown in the playoff win over Huntingdon in 2009 and finished last season with 15 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss.

The linebackers were young but talented last season with three freshman earning starts at the position throughout the year. The Choctaws get their leading tackler back from last year in senior Jeremy Bertrand (6-2, 190) who will be charged with leading this young group. Bertrand led MC with 71 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and three interceptions. Sophomore Landen Moore (5-10, 190) started six games last season, finishing with 20 tackles and a fumble recovery. Sophomores Dallas Bogle (5-10, 205) and Baylor Blanchard (6-0, 230) give the Choctaws a bright future at the position.

Four of the top five returning tacklers from a year ago are returners in the secondary for the Choctaws. Senior Luke Petitto (5-11, 200) led MC with five interceptions last season and finished second on the team with 64 tackles and 9.0 TFL from the safety position. Senior Dustin Retherford (5-11, 175) and junior

Horace Allen (5-9, 195) round out the safety position for the Choctaws. Retherford tied an MC record with three interceptions against Howard Payne and finished third on the team with 48 tackles. Allen was fourth on the team with 39 tackles last season. The Choctaws also return their top cornerback from last season in senior Jarrad Craine. Craine did not have many opportunities last season as most offenses threw to the other side of the field, but the Brandon native finished the year with 37 tackles and one interception.

SPECIAL TEAMS In the kicking game, MC will bring back Chris Campbell who secured the spot as the primary kickoff specialist in 2010 after coming over from the soccer team prior to the Mary Hardin-Baylor game. Campbell averaged 63.8 yards per kickoff and tallied two touchbacks on the year. The junior made 3-4 field goals with a long of 47 last season. The punting game saw seven different players try the position last season. Sophomore Brandt Moore opened the year as the starter, but was lost for the season due to an injury in the opener against Millsaps. Moore returns this season ready to take the reins. The biggest hole the Choctaws may have to fill this season on special teams will be that of four-year starting long-snapper Jared Cummins. The Madison native participated in the D3 Football Classic at the end of the season as one of the top long snappers in the country.

THE SCHEDULE The Choctaws again open up with games in the area as they host Millsaps in the seasonopening “Backyard Brawl” on September 3rd, followed by a re-match against Belhaven in Jackson on September 10th. MC will open conference play on September 17th when they host Hardin-Simmons followed by a road game against Louisiana College before the bye week on September 24th. The Choctaws will face Mary Hardin-Baylor at home for the first time since shocking the #3 Cru in 2009 on their way to the ASC Championship. The Choctaws finish the season with road games at East Texas Baptist, Sul Ross State, and McMurry and home games against Howard Payne and Texas Lutheran.

THE SEASON WILL BE A SUCCESS IF...

If the Choctaws can stay healthy this year, they could have a special season with the return of All-American tailback Steven Knight.

The schedule shakes out well as Hardin-Simmons and Mary Hardin-Baylor come to Clinton with the first three road trips of the season being less than four hours against Belhaven, Louisiana College, and East Texas Baptist. MSM

>>> MSM | 2011 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW

millsaps college

BY MILLSAPS SPORTS INFORMATION

MAJORS

2011 Schedule Sep. 3

at Miss. College

Sep. 10 lagrange college Sep. 17 at Louisiana College Sep. 24 TRINITY UNIV. Oct. 1

at Sewanee

Oct. 8

at Austin College

Oct. 15 rhodes college Oct. 22 open Oct. 29 centre college Nov. 5

at Tarleton State Univ.

Nov. 12 at Birmingham Southern Photos courtesy Millsaps College

I

n 2006, no one thought of Millsaps College as a powerhouse in football. Then came Mike Dubose, who turned the Majors around to a perennial powerhouse which included a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference championship all four years he was head coach and a 24-2 conference record. When Dubose left after the 2009 season, no one knew where the program would go from here. In stepped Aaron Pelch, a former assistant under Dubose. Though the Majors fell just short of their fifth consecutive SCAC title, Pelch guided a young Major team to a 7-3 record (5-1 SCAC) including five straight wins to finish the season. This year the Majors will be young again but do welcome huge playmakers back as they look to show the SCAC that one year not on top was a fluke in their eyes.

OFFENSE Millsaps returns one of the most prolific offenses in the SCAC from a year ago. The Major offense was in the top three in almost every major category. It all starts with junior quarterback Garrett Pinciotti. Coach Pelch named Pinciotti the starter last season as he became the first second year starter since Juan Joseph. Pinciotti did not disappoint. Despite an injury causing him to miss one game, he

JASON Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;REAR

MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 63

threw for 2,206 yards and 23 touchdowns.

Even more impressive, the young quarterback only threw seven interceptions all season.

Pinciotti showed he was a star in the making at the midway point last season against Huntingdon and Rhodes. He threw for nine total touchdown and 547 passing yards in two key victories. His efforts earned him Second Team All-SCAC. Pinciotti also brings along one of his favorite targets in junior wide receiver Jason O’Rear. Originally recruited to play basketball, O’Rear has been stellar in two seasons catching 15 touchdown passes (fifth in school history) and accumulating over 1,200 receiving yards. O’Rear led the SCAC as he averaged 17.1 yards per catch and was named Second Team All-SCAC the last two seasons. Millsaps also welcomes back junior Dustin Fawcett, who hauled in three touchdowns last season and junior Kegan Joplin who averaged 14.2 yards a catch. Senior Tony Bellan is set to be the starter at tight end this season.

Millsaps was blindsided unexpectedly this upcoming season as their All-Purpose back and leading rusher Shane Bowser was not returning this season for undisclosed reasons.

Bowser, who would have been a senior, was the first 1,000 yard rusher since 2004 and scored 16 touchdowns on the season. Youth will be a factor at running back as sophomore Jett Williams is penciled in as the starter.

Williams saw limited action at running back last season, but did play a majority of special teams. Sophomore Thomas Theriot is moving to running back this season after catching four touchdowns as a receiver as a true freshman.

What will be key for the Majors is the play of a young offensive line and who better to lead them then junior Nathan Quick, a First Team All-SCAC selection last season. Quick has been dominant in the SCAC standing at 6’5” and 295 pounds. He will be the anchor as an entire new line surrounds him in junior Kyle MacDonald, junior Ryan Schultz, junior J.T. Patterson, and sophomore Kyle Skeen. The Majors could get some help from sophomore Charlie Sagan. Sagan who originally began his career in 2007, was a starter as a true freshman on a SCAC Championship team. After missing three seasons for various reasons, the Majors wonder if Sagan can be a force on the line as he used to be.

DEFENSE Defensively, the Majors lose some big time players, but still return six starters in the process. On the defensive line, a key loss for Millsaps was Ward Coker, a First Team All-SCAC selection who led the team with 14 Tackles for Loss (TFL). Millsaps does welcome back senior Will Derrick. Derrick finished the season third on the team in TFL along with three sacks earning All-SCAC Honorable Mention.

Millsaps also returns junior defensive tackle 64 | MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE

GARY PINCIOTTO

Randy Thackery, who picked up two sacks last season. Ready to fill out the defensive line will be the Stewart brothers, Alex and Joiner. The twins did not start, but did see ample playing time last season as true freshman. Alex finished the season with four TFL and one sack as Joiner had two sacks.

At linebacker, Millsaps loses two time AllAmerican and SCAC Defensive Player of the Year Will Hawkins to graduation. Hawkins led the team in tackles the last two seasons for the Majors and was a force at his position.

Millsaps does welcome back junior Marvis O’Sirio. A Second Team All-SCAC selection, O’Sirio led the team in interceptions and forced fumbles. He was also fourth on the team in tackles and TFL. Jeb White will be on the other side of O’Sirio at linebacker.

He played every special team for the Majors this past season and showed he can deliver a huge hit. White and linebacker seems to have

become a family tradition as he takes over the same position his brother Cap played from 2005-08. His younger brother, Semmes, also joins the Majors this season at defensive back.

In the secondary, Millsaps loses safety Kevin Peters, a First Team All-SCAC selection two years in a row. The Majors do welcome back Kenny Reeves, a senior cornerback. Reeves had a down year in stats, but was part of a Major team that was number one in the SCAC in pass defense. Millsaps also welcomes back sophomore Jonathan Moore. As a true freshman, Moore was third on the team in tackles and was named Second Team All-SCAC. Moore played cornerback for most of the year, but will move to safety this upcoming season.

Millsaps looks to round out the secondary with junior cornerback James McAuley, junior safety Russell Pellichino, and sophomore safety Nick Arnold. Senior Jordan Nolan and junior Greg Blaisiar are also expected to see

2010 TEAM STATS

NATHAN QUICK & ANDERSON WAXLER

lots of playing time.

SPECIAL TEAMS Millsaps loses one of the best kickers in Millsaps history in Taylor Russolino who holds almost every place kicking record. The Majors do bring back junior punter Stephen Gates. Last season, Gates averaged 31.4 yards per punt in limited action. No one else kicked last season as the position remains wide open for returners and incoming freshman. recruiting Millsaps is excited to welcome in one of the best recruiting classes the school has seen with 50 incoming freshman. With so much youth on the team, some freshman may come in and be able to start this season. A big key for the Majors was adding depth to their line and they did in a big way adding 12 offensive linemen and eight defensive linemen making up forty percent of the class. For more information on specific players, go over to goma-

jors.com and check out the Football Recruiting Class.

SCHEDULE The Majors open things up at Mississippi College on September 3rd for Backyard Brawl XII, a game that has been decided by a combined seven points the last two seasons. Millsaps then returns for their home opener at Harper Davis Field against the LaGrange Panthers on September 10th. The Majors then go back on the road to take on Louisiana College on September 17th in Pineville.

Millsaps then opens conference play against Trinity at home on September 24th followed by two road conference games against Sewanee and Austin College. The Majors face Rhodes on October 15th before their bye week and return to action on Homecoming against Centre. Millsaps finishes the year on the road against Division II Tarleton State and conference foe Birmingham-Southern. MSM

.........................................................................MILL.....................OPP SCORING ............................................... 323 ................. 221 Points Per Game ..............................32.3 .................22.1 FIRST DOWNS ....................................... 180 ................. 174 Rushing ..............................................63 ...................73 Passing .............................................. 104 ..................75 Penalty ............................................... 13 ...................26 RUSHING YARDAGE ............................. 1388 ................1516 Yards gained rushing ......................1604 ............... 1768 Yards lost rushing ............................ 216 .................252 Rushing Attempts ............................326 .................382 Average Per Rush ............................. 4.3 .................4.0 Average Per Game ..........................138.8 ...............151.6 TDs Rushing ....................................... 17 ...................19 PASSING YARDAGE ..............................2688 ............... 1794 Att-Comp-Int ..............................337-200-12 .....286-152-16 Average Per Pass ............................. 8.0 ................. 6.3 Average Per Catch ............................13.4 .................11.8 Average Per Game ......................... 268.8 ...............179.4 TDs Passing ........................................26 ....................9 TOTAL OFFENSE ...................................4076 ............... 3310 Total Plays .........................................663 .................668 Average Per Play ...............................6.1 .................. 5.0 Average Per Game ..........................407.6 ...............331.0 KICK RETURNS: #-Yards .....................31-545 ............51-1093 PUNT RETURNS: #-Yards .................. 24-295 ........... 20-108 INT RETURNS: #-Yards .......................16-165 ............. 12-121 KICK RETURN AVERAGE .......................17.6 .................21.4 PUNT RETURN AVERAGE ......................12.3 ................. 5.4 INT RETURN AVERAGE ..........................10.3 .................10.1 FUMBLES-LOST .................................... 22-9 ............... 17-9 PENALTIES-Yards ............................... 72-865 ...........59-459 Average Per Game .......................... 86.5 ............... 45.9 PUNTS-Yards .....................................48-1715 .......... 50-1859 Average Per Punt .............................35.7 .................37.2 Net punt average .............................33.1 ................ 30.9 TIME OF POSSESSION/Game .............. 29:26 ............. 30:07 3RD-DOWN Conversions ...................56/141 .............44/141 3rd-Down Pct .................................. 40% ................31% 4TH-DOWN Conversions ....................13/20 ...............9/20 4th-Down Pct .................................. 65% ............... 45% SACKS BY-Yards ..................................20-125 ............. 15-92 MISC YARDS ............................................0 ....................35 TOUCHDOWNS SCORED .........................44 ...................29 FIELD GOALS-ATTEMPTS .......................6-11 .................8-13 ON-SIDE KICKS .....................................0-0 .................0-2 RED-ZONE SCORES ..........................31-43 72% ...... 26-35 74% RED-ZONE TOUCHDOWNS .............. 25-43 58% ..... 20-35 57% PAT-ATTEMPTS ................................ 41-43 95% ..... 21-24 88% ATTENDANCE .......................................6043 ............... 8381 Games/Avg Per Game .................. 5/1209 ........... 5/1676 Neutral Site Games ............................. ....................0/0 SCORE BY QUARTERS.................1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT Total Millsaps ..................................... 79 100 56 88 0 323 Opponent.................................. 39 71 39 66 6 221 MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 65

>>> MSM | 2011 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW

BELHAVEN UNIVERSITY

BY BELHAVEN UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

BLAZERS

2011 Schedule Aug. 27 TEXAS COLLEGE Sep. 3

at Louisiana College

Sep. 10 miss. college Sep. 17 at Lindsey Wilson Col. Oct. 1

at Bethel Univ.

Oct. 8 FAULKNER UNIV. Oct. 15 at Shorter Univ.

Oct. 22 UNION COLLEGE Oct. 29

at Univ. of the Cumberlands

Nov. 5 CUMBERLAND U. (Tenn.)

Nov. 12 GEORGETOWN COL. Photos courtesy Belhaven University

T

he Belhaven football program hopes that 2011 will be a bounce back season for the team after finishing 4-7 a year ago. The Blazers recorded a 6-5 record in 2009 which was the first winning season since 2006. Head Coach Joe Thrasher is entering his third year at the helm of the program and hopes that all the pieces will fall into place this fall to make a run at a Mid-South Conference West Division championship. Belhaven struggled in league play last season going 1-5 and that is certainly something they want to avoid when the schedule is played out in 2011.

“I don’t think our record was indicative of our capabilities in 2010,” said Head Coach Joe Thrasher. “We had some great individual performances and battled injuries all season long and that was tough for us. I felt like it was a year of almost in a number of games in which a few plays change the outcome of some of our games which doesn’t help and we are definitely not satisfied with just being close,” adds Thrasher. “We grew a lot and due to the injuries a lot of young players saw extended playing time and gained a lot of experience which will hopefully be a positive for us down the road. In spite of the record I do believe we got better as a program and we know we are going to bounce back.”

66 | MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE

ALEX WILLIAMS

2010 TEAM STATS

JAMES BRYAN

OFFENSE The offense took some steps in the right direction in 2010, most notably in the running game. The Blazers rushed for 17 touchdowns last season compared to only three in 2009.

Belhaven averaged 117.3 yards per game and 4.1 yards per carry and amassed 1,290 total rushing yards. “We are going to continue to place a big emphasis on our running game again this season,” says Coach Thrasher. “We are hoping to increase our yards per game and I think we have some guys that will be able to carry the ball effectively for us. Plus with the strength of our offensive line, those numbers should rise in 2011.”

One of Belhaven’s biggest offensive weapons this season will be junior quarterback Alex Williams. Williams, who hails from Covington, LA, was an MSC West Division All-Conference Honorable mention for the numbers he put up in 2010. Williams completed 57.5 percent of his passes for 21 touchdowns and 2,830 yards. Williams averaged 257.3 yards per game through the air and had an efficiency rating of 124.4. Williams led the MSC in passing yards and total offense (3,004 yards) and was third in total offense per game at 273.1 yards.

Williams passing yards were fourth most in a single season in Belhaven history and

the total offense ranked him third for a single season in the school record books. His prolific numbers also made him one of 10 finalists for the 2010 Cellular South Conerly Trophy given each year to the top college football player in the state of Mississippi. “Alex (Williams) is a leader and knows the offense and proved it once again this spring,” says Thrasher. “I expect him to easily be a 3,000 yard and 30 touchdown passer or more this season.”

In the backfield with Williams will be returning running backs Michael Pettus and D’Ambro Chatman. Pettus and Chatman are entering their sophomore years and saw quite a bit of action last season especially towards the end of the year when Barry Johnson was hobbled by an injury. Johnson led the Blazers on the ground in 2010 with 597 yards and six touchdowns. Pettus rushed for 261 yards and three scores followed by Chatman who had 208 yards and two touchdowns. Newcomers to the backfield will be junior transfer Justin Gaines from Jones Community College and junior transfer Josh Hawkins from Southwest Mississippi Community College. Both players are extremely quick and have great vision and are expected to make big contributions this season.

Opening the holes for the running backs will be returning offensive linemen Taylor

..........................................................................BU......................OPP SCORING ............................................... 310 ................. 312 Points Per Game ..............................28.2 ................ 28.4 FIRST DOWNS ....................................... 215 ................. 212 Rushing ..............................................68 ..................105 Passing ...............................................131 ...................88 Penalty ............................................... 16 ...................19 RUSHING YARDAGE ............................. 1290 ...............2006 Yards gained rushing ...................... 1567 ...............2328 Yards lost rushing ............................ 277 .................322 Rushing Attempts .............................313 ..................455 Average Per Rush ..............................4.1 .................. 4.4 Average Per Game ...........................117.3 ................182.4 TDs Rushing ....................................... 17 ...................20 PASSING YARDAGE ..............................2960 ............... 1953 Comp-Att-Int ..............................256-449-11 ..... 166-305-11 Average Per Pass ............................. 6.6 ................. 6.4 Average Per Catch ............................11.6 .................11.8 Average Per Game ..........................269.1 ...............177.5 TDs Passing ........................................22 ...................19 TOTAL OFFENSE ...................................4250 ...............3959 Total Plays ......................................... 762 .................760 Average Per Play .............................. 5.6 .................. 5.2 Average Per Game ......................... 386.4 ............. 359.9 KICK RETURNS: #-Yards ....................55-1049 ...........52-1224 PUNT RETURNS: #-Yards ...................22-134 .............16-191 INT RETURNS: #-Yards ........................11-110 ...............11-131 KICK RETURN AVERAGE ....................... 19.1 ................ 23.5 PUNT RETURN AVERAGE .......................6.1 ..................11.9 INT RETURN AVERAGE ..........................10.0 .................11.9 FUMBLES-LOST ....................................22-12 ...............22-9 PENALTIES-Yards ............................... 84-749 ........... 70-610 Average Per Game ...........................68.1 ................ 55.5 PUNTS-Yards .................................... 52-2058 ......... 55-2100 Average Per Punt ............................ 39.6 ................ 38.2 Net punt average ............................ 34.0 ............... 33.6 TIME OF POSSESSION/Game .............. 29:19 ............. 30:41 3RD-DOWN Conversions ...................53/155 ............ 55/159 3rd-Down Pct ...................................34% ................ 35% 4TH-DOWN Conversions ....................13/30 .............. 14/32 4th-Down Pct ...................................43% ................ 44% SACKS BY-Yards ..................................20-139 .............19-137 MISC YARDS ............................................2 ....................62 TOUCHDOWNS SCORED ......................... 41 ...................42 FIELD GOALS-ATTEMPTS .......................7-16 .................7-10 ON-SIDE KICKS ..................................... 0-3 ..................1-1 RED-ZONE SCORES ........................(31-46) 67% .. (30-40) 75% RED-ZONE TOUCHDOWNS .............(24-46) 52% .. (24-40) 60% PAT-ATTEMPTS ...............................(35-36) 97% ...(31-37) 84% ATTENDANCE .......................................7500 .............. 12782 Games/Avg Per Game .................. 5/1500 ........... 6/2130 Neutral Site Games ............................. ....................0/0 SCORE BY QUARTERS.................1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT Total Belhaven....................................88 95 47 80 0 310 Opponent..................................90 63 71 88 0 312 MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 67

Quick and Alex Kibby. Quick is a 6’6 315 pound senior and was an MSC West Division Honorable Mention selection in 2010. Kibby is a junior and also has great size checking in at 6’4 300 pounds. Senior A.J. Freeman, who is 6’3 and 300 pounds, will join Quick and Kibby in the trenches along with newcomers Caleb McGruder a 6’5 300 pound center transferring in from Jones Community College.

Belhaven fans will have some new names to learn at the wide receiver position in 2011.

There are some big shoes to fill as seniors Cordario Calvin and Kevin Dizer were the main go to players in the passing game. Dizer led Belhaven in 2010 with 840 total yards while Calvin paced the team in yards per game at 80.5 and touchdowns with 10. Belhaven’s third leading receiver was running back Barry Johnson. Returners who may see increased playing time include Lamar Truman and Justin Kenyon, but both were hampered by injury last season. Newcomers Rashad Wynes and Clinton Smith will both have opportunities to make an impact right away. Wynes is a sophomore from Jones Community College and Smith makes his way to Belhaven as a sophomore transfer from NCAA Division I Samford University.

DEFENSE The Blazers are hoping that 2011 will be the year that the defense can rise up and be a dominant force week in and week out. Belhaven has struggled to stop the run in each of the last two seasons and that’s an area they will have to improve in considering that the MSC features some very good running teams.

The Blazers gave up 182.4 rushing yards per game last year and opponents were able to reel off 4.4 yards on each attempt. However, Belhaven was tough against the pass limiting opposing offenses to 177.5 yards per contest.

“I want the defense to be the strength of our team and I feel like it is coming into the season,” says Coach Thrasher. “I want to be able to hang our hat on defense and that has been a goal of mine since taking over the program.

I want Belhaven to be known for its tough, strong, and hard hitting defense.”

The leader of the defense is without a doubt linebacker Ricky Wadlington who put up some impressive numbers last season. Wadlington, a senior from Oxford, MS, led Belhaven with 104 tackles in 2010 and averaged 9.5 tackles per game to lead the entire MidSouth Conference. Wadlington had nine tackles for a loss, one interception, and one forced fumble in addition to his team leading tackle total. The 104 tackles places him third for the most tackles in school history for a single season. In addition, Wadlington was selected to the MSC West Division All-Conference Team and was the Defensive Player of the Year.

Other returners for Blazer fans to keep an 68 | MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE

eye on are defensive back Craig McDonald and defensive lineman Dirkyle Hall. McDonald, a junior from Collins, MS, was second on the team with 73 total tackles, had eight tackles for a loss, two interceptions, two fumble recovery’s and a pair of blocked kicks.

McDonald was an MSC Honorable Mention selection in 2010. Hall, a sophomore West Palm Beach, FL, saw action in three games as a freshman last year and made the most of his opportunities. Hall recorded eight tackles with four of them being tackles for a loss while registering 2.5 sacks. Hall will be a big asset especially in third down pass rush situations due to his speed and ability to put pressure on the quarterback.

New additions to the defense this season will be lineman Reese Unger and defensive back Kruz Long who both were with the team

#50 RICKY WADLINGTON

last year, but redshirted. Unger is a junior from Tenino, WA and Long is a local player from Jackson, MS. Long played his first two seasons at Hinds Community College. Aaron Cood, a transfer safety from New Mexico Military Academy, caught the attention of the coaching staff and should see some playing time this season. D’Andre Wood, who is transferring in from Delta State University, had a great spring practice playing cornerback.

Special teams James “Bo” Bryan will be back to anchor the kicking game as both the placekicker and punter for the 2011 season. Bryan was named the All-Conference kicker for the MSC West Division in 2010. Bryan tied for fourth in the league with seven field goals made. He averaged 62.2 yards per kickoff and had six touchbacks on kickoffs with 57 kick attempts.

Bryan did not handle punting duties a season

ago, but has some experience in the punting game from his playing days at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.

Belhaven will have a number of options in the return game for 2011. Truman handled the majority of the punt return duties last season prior to suffering an injury late in the year. Truman brought back 12 kicks for 76 yards with a long return of 26 yards. For kickoff returns, sophomores Michael Pettus and D’Ambro Chatman were very productive in those roles as freshman in 2010. Pettus returned 19 kicks and averaged 22.8 yards per return with a touchdown and long return of 83 yards. Chatman returned 16 kicks and averaged 17.9 yards per return. Incoming players Wynes, Gaines, and Hawkins will also battle for some of the return duties this season thanks to their speed and athleticism that gives them the potential to make some big plays.

THE SCHEDULE Belhaven will meet up with some very familiar opponents in 2011. In fact, all 11 teams were on the schedule in 2010. The Blazers will once again open the year against Texas College, but this time the game will be at home on Saturday August 27th at 6:00 PM. Belhaven will hit the road for the first time the following week when they head to Louisiana College for a 7:00 PM matchup on September 3rd. The Blazers will try and avenge a loss last season to Mississippi College when they host the Choctaws at H.T. Newell Field on September 10th at 7:00 PM. Belhaven’s final contest before the bye week will be at Lindsey Wilson College on September 17th at 12:30 PM. After the bye week, the Blazers kickoff the Mid-South Conference Western Division schedule with a trip to Bethel University (TN) on October 1st. Five of Belhaven’s MSC opponents were either ranked or received votes in the NAIA Spring Top 25 Poll. One of those opponents is Faulkner University (AL) on October 8th at H.T. Newell Field. Belhaven will then lock horns at Shorter University October 15th prior to a home matchup on October 22nd with Union College (KY) who is receiving votes. Belhaven is back on the road on the 29th for a showdown with 16th ranked University of the Cumberlands and returns home for their final two games against 19th ranked Cumberland and 12th ranked Georgetown College (KY).

KEY TO SUCCESS “The key going into camp will be how we gel as a team,” commented Thrasher. “There are a lot of new guys and new faces and talent will not be the issue. It will be whether or not we can come together and make it happen.

We can have a great season if the pieces fall into place and I’m looking forward to August 27th when we kickoff the year.” - MSM

MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 69

>>> MSM | SPOTLIGHT

THE BACKYARD BRAWL The annual match-up between Mississippi College and Millsaps College is one of Mississippi’s most intense rivalries Special to Mississippi Sports Magazine

70 | MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE

E

very high school in the State of Mississippi has a rival that they hate. The entire season hinges upon a WIN. Towns literally shut down and folks abandon their home just to attend the cross-town rival football game during the Fall. Players, students, and residents unite when 365 days of bragging rights and what often seems like a life or death situation confronts their community. As rival situations are common among Mississippi high schools rarely does such cross-town intensity exist at the collegiate level. Millsaps College and Mississippi College are situated less than 15 miles from one another, but they have a fierce football rivalry that goes back generations which brews the ultimate college rivalry.

Mississippians overlook the fact one of the bloodiest, nastiest, most ferocious hard hitting Gridiron battle in our States history doesn’t take place in late November between the larger universities, rather the highly respected small colleges of Millsaps and Mississippi College. In 1920, the two schools played their first football game against each other, marking the beginning of a long standing unique rivalry.

However, for 39 years, what was then referred to as “The Holy Wars” became so violent off the field that college officials threatened to stop the game altogether.

After frequent fistfights, campus raids and cross town trash talking, the competition reached its tipping point during a 1959 Mississippi College v. Millsaps basketball game ended in a life threatening riot. It was unanimous, the Holy Wars had to end and competition between the two schools went on ice.

Fast-forward 40 years and dynamics obviously changes. Both schools have transformed considerably, campuses look more like Ivy League Institutions and the Holy War memories have faded with each new crop of students. However the need for a rivalry still burns. In the late 1990’s, The Mississippi Sports Council, the organization responsible for showcasing two NFL exhibition games in Jackson, Ms, took an interest in the Millsaps v. Mississippi College story and decided that the football game should be brought back to the state. The rivalry was clearly rooted in passion, pride and history, and they knew that if they could renew the game, it would mean a lot to

Mississippians, as well as draw tourist to Jackson from other parts of the United States.

Over the course of two years, the Mississippi Sports Council laid the groundwork for reestablishing the rivalry, now referred to as “The Backyard Brawl.” The organization met with both colleges, listening to their concerns and helping them become comfortable with the idea of renewing the game after a 40-year hiatus. After years of strategic planning, the Backyard Brawl fuse was lit for year 2000.

The much anticipated 2000 game was actually played at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium because pre-sale tickets went so quickly that both schools feared they couldn’t meet the seating capacity at their respected stadiums. The inaugural game broke the Division III attendance record, drawing over 14,000 fans, alumni and visitors to the city and making national news. Tailgating was so outrageous that it mirrored scenes in The Grove at Ole Miss. Millsaps won the 2000 game over a heavily favored Mississippi College with a last second field goal in 2000; but the game has been a rubber match ever since.

This year marks the 11th Backyard Brawl and although the game is no longer played at Jackson’s Memorial Stadium, the event is still unique as ever. Game tickets and posters have become a one of kind collectors item, looking more like a Super Bowl ad instead of Division III regular season game memorabilia. In the past, program and poster designs have featured artwork from well know Mississippi artist Mark Millet. Creativity hasn’t stopped with game day print media. A 100lb. bronze sculpture created by Dr. Kim Sessums of Brookhaven, looks more like a piece of art than a game trophy. The rivalry also at-

tracking online sales from Utah to Delaware.

The Backyard Brawl isn’t just about football as the event has partnered with C.A.R.A., Mississippi’s no kill animal shelter, which has created a interesting game day element. Seeing dogs roam the stadium (with handlers) has become a game favorite. All dogs are available for adoption at the game.

Come fall, many Mississippians focus on the larger universities but the Backyard Brawl isn’t something to take lightly. Often discredited as D3 football, the viewpoint is downright wrong. The players become doctors and attorneys in their communities, and several players on both sides of the ball have gone on to have NFL careers. Simply put, these two academic powers know how to battle it out. The campus pageantry is vibrant, students enthusiastic, and the players intense. Come enjoy the rivalry and see the best athletes compete simply for the love of the game. - MSM tracted local author Jim Frasier to write: “For The Love Of The Game – The Holy Wars of Millsaps College and Mississippi College Football” sold locally at Lemuria Books but

When: September 3rd 2011 (7:00pm kickoff) Where: Mississippi College – Robinson-Hale Stadium Tickets: $10 advance through the schools OR $15 Gameday MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 71

>>> MSM | 2011 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW

COLLEGE SCHEDULES SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE - WEST

SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE - EAST

ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE

ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS

FLORIDA GATORS

GEORGIA BULLDOGS

Sep. 3 KENT STATE

Sep. 3 MISSOURI STATE

Sep. 3 FLORIDA ATLANTIC

Sep. 3 BOISE STATE

Sep. 10 at Penn State

Sep. 10 NEW MEXICO

Sep. 10 UAB

Sep. 10 SOUTH CAROLINA

Sep. 17 NORTH TEXAS

Sep. 17 TROY

Sep. 17 TENNESSEE

Sep. 17 COASTAL CAROLINA

Sep. 24 ARKANSAS

Sep. 24 at Alabama

Sep. 24 at Kentucky

Sep. 24 at Ole Miss

Oct. 1

Oct. 1 texas a&m

Oct. 1 ALABAMA

Oct. 1 miss. state

Oct. 8 VANDERBILT

Oct. 8 AUBURN

Oct. 8

Oct. 8

Oct. 15 at Ole Miss

Oct. 15 OPEN

Oct. 15 at Auburn

Oct. 15 at Vanderbilt

at Florida

at LSU

at Tennesse

Oct. 22 TENNESSEE

Oct. 22 at Ole Miss

Oct. 22 OPEN

Oct. 22 OPEN

Oct. 29 OPEN

Oct. 29 at Vanderbilt

Oct. 29 GEORGIA

Oct. 29 FLORIDA

Nov. 5 LSU

Nov. 5 SOUTH CAROLINA

Nov. 5 VANDERBILT

Nov. 5 NEW MEXICO ST.

Nov. 12 at Miss. State

Nov. 12 TENNESSEE

Nov. 12 at South Carolina

Nov. 12 AUBURN

Nov. 19 GEORGIA SOUTHERN

Nov. 19 MISS. STATE

Nov. 19 FURMAN

Nov. 19 KENTUCKY

Nov. 26 at Auburn

Nov. 25 at LSU

Nov. 26 FLORIDA STATE

Nov. 26 at Georgia Tech

AUBURN TIGERS

LSU TIGERS

KENTUCKY WILDCATS

south carolina gamecocks

Sep. 3 UTAH STATE

Sep. 3 OREGON

Sep. 3 WESTERN KENTUCKY

Sep. 3 east carolina

Sep. 10 MISS. STATE

Sep. 10 NORTHWESTERN ST.

Sep. 10 CENTRAL MICHIGAN

Sep. 10 at Georgia

Sep. 17 at Clemson

Sep. 15 at Miss State

Sep. 17 LOUISVILLE

Sep. 17 navy

Sep. 24 florida atlantic

Sep. 24 at West Virgina

Sep. 24 FLORIDA

Sep. 24 vanderbilt

Oct. 1

at South Carolina

Oct. 1 kentucky

Oct. 1

at LSU

Oct. 1 AUBURN

Oct. 8

at Arkansas

Oct. 8 FLORIDA

Oct. 8

at South Carolina

Oct. 8 kentucky

Oct. 15 FLORIDA

Oct. 15 at Tennessee

Oct. 15 OPEN DATE

Oct. 15 at Miss. State

Oct. 22 at LSU

Oct. 22 AUBURN

Oct. 22 JACKSONVILLE ST.

Oct. 22 OPEN DATE

Oct. 29 OLE MISS

Oct. 29 open

Oct. 29 MISS. STATE

Oct. 29 at Tennessee

Nov. 5 open

Nov. 5 at Alabama

Nov. 5 OLE MISS

Nov. 5 at Arkansas

Nov. 12 at Georgia

Nov. 12 WESTERN KENTUCKY

Nov. 12 at Vanderbilt

Nov. 12 FLORIDA

Nov. 19 SAMFORD

Nov. 19 at Ole Miss

Nov. 19 at Georgia

Nov. 19 THE CITADEL

Nov. 26 ALABAMA

Nov. 25 arkansas

Nov. 26 TENNESSEE

Nov. 26 CLEMSON

OLE MISS REBELS

MISS. STATE BULLDOGS

TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS

VANDERBILT COMMODORES

Sep. 3 BYU (W)

Sep. 3

Sep. 3 MONTANA

Sep. 3 ELON

Sep. 10 So. Illinois (W)

Sep. 10 at Auburn (L)

Sep. 10 CINNCINNATI

Sep. 10 CONNECTICUT

Sep. 17 at Vanderbilt (W)

Sep. 15 LSU (L)

Sep. 17 at Florida

Sep. 17 OLE MISS

Sep. 24 Georgia (W)

Sep. 24 Louisiana Tech (W)

Sep. 24 OPEN

Sep. 24 at South Carolina

Oct. 1

at Fresno State (W)

Oct. 1

at Georgia (W)

Oct. 1 BUFFALO

Oct. 1 OPEN

Oct. 8

OPEN DATE

Oct. 8

at UAB (W)

Oct. 8 GEORGIA

Oct. 8

at Memphis (W)

at Alabama

Oct. 15 Alabama (L)

Oct. 15 South Carolina (W)

Oct. 15 LSU

Oct. 15 GEORGIA

Oct. 22 Arkansas (W)

Oct. 22 OPEN DATE

Oct. 22 at Alabama

Oct. 22 ARMY

Oct. 29 at Auburn (L)

Oct. 29 at Kentucky (W)

Oct. 29 SOUTH CAROLINA

Oct. 29 ARKANSAS

Nov. 5 at Kentucky (W)

Nov. 5 UT Martin (W)

Nov. 5 midle tennessee

Nov. 5 at Florida

Nov. 12 Louisiana Tech (W)

Nov. 12 AlabamA (L)

Nov. 12 at Arkansas

NOV. 12 KENTUCKY)

Nov. 19 LSU (L)

Nov. 19 at Arkansas (W)

NOV. 19 VANDERBILT

Nov. 19 at Tennessee

Nov. 26 at Miss. State (L)

Nov. 26 Ole Miss (W)

Nov. 26 at Kentucky

Nov. 26 at Wake Forest

72 | MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE

>>> MSM | 2011 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW

COLLEGE SCHEDULES CONFERENCE USA - WEST

CONFERENCE USA - EAST

HOUSTON COUGARS

RICE OWLS

Sep. 3 UCLA

Sep. 3

Sep. 10 at North Texas

Sep. 10 PURDUE

Sep. 17 Louisina Tech Sep. 24 GEORGIA STATE Oct. 1

at UTEP

EAST CAROLINA PIRATES

MARSHALL THUNDERING HERD

Sep. 3 SOUTH CAROLINA

Sep. 3

Sep. 10 VIRGINIA TECH

Sep. 10 SOUTHERN MISS

Sep. 17 OPEN

Sep. 17 OPEN

Sep. 17 at Ohio

Sep. 24 at Baylor

Sep. 24 UAB

Sep. 24 VIRGINIA TECH

Oct. 1

Oct. 1 NORTH CAROLINA

Oct. 1

at Louisville

Oct. 8

at Central Flroida

at Texas

at Southern Miss

at West Virgina

Oct. 8 EAST CAROLINA

Oct. 8 MEMPHIS

Oct. 8

Oct. 15 OPEN

Oct. 15 at Marshall

Oct. 15 at Memphis

Oct. 15 rice

Oct. 22 MARSHALL

Oct. 22 TULSA

Oct. 22 at Navy

Oct. 22 at Houston

Oct. 29 RICE

Oct. 29 at Houston

Oct. 29 TULANE

Oct. 29 UAB

Nov. 5 at UAB

Nov. 5 UTEP

Nov. 5 SOUTHERN MISS

Nov. 5 OPEN

Nov. 12 at Tulane

Nov. 12 at Northwestern

Nov. 12 at UTEP

Nov. 12 at Tulsa

Nov. 19 SMU

Nov. 19 TULANE

Nov. 19 CENTRAL FLORIDA

Nov. 19 at Memphis

Nov. 26 at Tulsa

Nov. 25 at SMU

Nov. 26 at Marshall

Nov. 26 EAST CAROLINA

SMU MUSTANGS

TULANE GREEN WAVE

MEMPHIS TIGERS

southERN MISS GOLDEN EAGLES

Sep. 3

at Houston

Sep. 3 SE LOUISIANA

Sep. 3 MISS. STATE

Sep. 3 LOUISIANA TECH

Sep. 10 UTEP

Sep. 10 TULSA

Sep. 10 at Arkansas State

Sep. 10 at Marshall

Sep. 17 Northwestern ST.

Sep. 15 at UAB

Sep. 17 AUSTIN PEAY

Sep. 17 SE LOUISIANA

Sep. 24 at Memphis

Sep. 24 at Duke

Sep. 24 SMU

Sep. 24 at Virgina

Oct. 1

Oct. 1

Oct. 1

at Middle Tennessee

Oct. 1 RICE

at Rice

Oct. 8

Texas A&M

at TCU

at Army

Oct. 8 OPEN

Oct. 8 SYRACUSE

Oct. 8

Oct. 15 CENTRAL FLORIDA

Oct. 15 UTEP

Oct. 15 EAST CAROLINA

Oct. 15 OPEN

Oct. 22 at Southern Miss

Oct. 22 MEMPHIS

Oct. 22 at Tulane

Oct. 22 SMU

Oct. 29 at Tulsa

Oct. 29 at East Carolina

Oct. 29 at Central Florida

Oct. 29 at UTEP

Nov. 5 TULANE

Nov. 5 at SMU

Nov. 5 OPEN

Nov. 5 at East Carolina

Nov. 12 navy

Nov. 12 HOUSTON

Nov. 12 uab

Nov. 12 CENTRAL FLORIDA

Nov. 19 at Houston

Nov. 19 at Rice

Nov. 19 marshall

Nov. 19 at UAB

Nov. 26 RICE

Nov. 25 at Hawaii

Nov. 26 at Southern Miss

Nov. 26 MEMPHIS

TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE

TEXAS-EL PASO MINERS

ALABAMA-BIRMINGHAM BLAZERS

central florida knights

Sep. 3

at Navy

Sep. 3 STONY BROOK

Sep. 3 open

Sep. 3 charleston-so.

Sep. 10 at Tulane

Sep. 10 at SMU

Sep. 10 at Florida

Sep. 10 boston college

Sep. 17 OKLAHOMA STATE

Sep. 15 at New Mexico St.

Sep. 17 tulane

Sep. 17 at Florida Int’l

Sep. 24 at Boise State

Sep. 24 at South Florida

Sep. 24 at East Carolina

Sep. 24 at BYU

Oct. 1 north texas

Oct. 1 houston

Oct. 1

Oct. 1 OPEN

Oct. 8 OPEN DATE

Oct. 8 open

Oct. 8 MISS. STATE

Oct. 8 marshall

Oct. 15 UAB

Oct. 15 at Tulane

Oct. 15 at Tulsa

Oct. 15 at SMU

Oct. 22 at Rice

Oct. 22 COLORADO STATE

Oct. 22 central florida

Oct. 22 at UAB

at Oklahoma

at Troy

Oct. 29 SMU

OCT. 29 SOUTHERN MISS

Oct. 29 at Marshall

Oct. 29 MEMPHIS

Nov. 5 at Central Florida

Nov. 5 at Rice

Nov. 5 HOUSTON

Nov. 5 tulsa

Nov. 12 marshall

Nov. 12 EAST CAROLINA

Nov. 12 at Memphis

Nov. 12 at Southern Miss

Nov. 19 at UTEP

Nov. 19 TULSA

NOV. 19 SOUTHERN MISS

Nov. 19 at East Carolina

Nov. 26 houston

Nov. 26 at UCF

Nov. 26 at Florida Atlantic

Nov. 26 utep

MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 73

>>> MSM | 2011 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW

2011-12 BOWL SCHEDULE New Mexico BOWL WAC vs. MWC No. 4/5 Albuquerque, NM University Stadium Drc. 17, Time TBA, ESPN

Belk BOWL ACC No. 5 vs. Big East No. 3 Charlotte, NC Bank of America Stadium Dec. 27, 8:00 p.m. ET, ESPN

uDrove Humanitarian WAC vs. MAC No. 3 Boise, ID, Bronco Stadium Dec. 17, Time TBA, ESPN

Bridgepoint Education Holiday Pac-12 No. 3 vs. Big 12 No. 5 San Diego, CA Qualcomm Stadium, Dec. 28, 9:00 p.m. ET, ESPN

R+L Carriers New Orleans CUSA No. 2-6 vs. Sun Belt No. 1 New Orleans, LA, Louisiana Superdome Dec. 17, 9:00 p.m. ET, ESPN

Valero Alamo Pac-12 No. 2 vs. Big 12 No. 3 San Antonio, TX, Alamodome, Dec. 29, 9:00 p.m. ET, ESPN

Beef O’ Brady’s St. Petersburg CUSA No. 2-6 vs. Big East No. 6 St. Petersburg, FL, Tropicana Field Dec. 20, 8:00 p.m. ET, ESPN

New Era Pinstripe Big 12 No. 7 vs. Big East No. 4 Bronx, NY, Yankee Stadium, Dec. 30, Time TBA, ESPN

San Diego County CU Poinsettia WAC vs. MWC No. 2 San Diego, CA, Qualcomm Stadium Dec. 21, 8:00 p.m. ET, ESPN

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces BYU vs. C-USA No. 2-6 Dallas, TX, Gerald J. Ford Stadium Dec. 30, 12:00 p.m. ET, ESPN

MAACO Las Vegas Pac-12 No. 5 vs. MWC No. 1 Las Vegas, NV, Sam Boyd Stadium Dec. 22, 8:00 p.m. ET, ESPN

Franklin Amer. Mort. Music City SEC No. 7 vs. ACC No. 6 Nashville, TN, LP Field Dec. 30, 6:40 p.m. ET, ESPN

Sheraton Hawaii WAC vs. C-USA No. 2-6 Honolulu, HI, Aloha Stadium Dec. 24, 8:00 p.m. ET, ESPN

Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas Big 12 No. 6 vs. Big Ten No. 6 Houston, TX, Reliant Stadium Dec. 31, 12:00 p.m. ET, ESPN

Little Caesars Pizza Big Ten No. 8 vs. MAC No. 2 Detroit, MI, Ford Field, Time/Date TBA, ESPN

Hyundai Sun ACC No. 4 vs. Pac-12 No. 4 El Paso, TX, Sun Bowl Dec. 31, 2:00 p.m. ET, CBS

AdvoCare V100 Independence ACC No. 7 vs. MWC No. 3 Shreveport, LA, Independence Stadium Dec. 26, 5:00 p.m. ET, ESPN

AutoZone Liberty C-USA No. 1 vs. Big East 5/SEC 8-9 Memphis, TN Liberty Bowl, Dec. 31, 3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN

Champs Sports Big East No. 2/ND vs. ACC No. 3 Orlando, FL, Florida Citrus Bowl Dec. 29, 5:30 p.m. ET, ESPN Insight Big 12 No. 4 vs. Big Ten No. 4-5 Tempe, AZ, Sun Devil Stadium, Time/Date TBA, ESPN Military ACC No. 8 vs. Navy Washington, DC RFK Stadium, Time/Date TBA, ESPN

74 | MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE

Chick-fil-A ACC No. 2 vs. SEC No. 5 Atlanta, GA, Georgia Dome Dec. 31, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN Capital One SEC No. 2 vs. Big Ten No. 2 Orlando, FL, Florida Citrus Bowl, Jan. 2, 1:00 p.m. ET, ESPN Outback Big Ten No. 3 vs. SEC No. 3 Tampa, FL, Raymond James Stadium Jan. 2, 1:00 p.m. ET, ABC

Progressive Gator Big Ten No. 4-5 vs. SEC No. 6 Jacksonville, FL, EverBank Field Jan. 2, Time TBA, ESPN2 TicketCity C-USA No. 2-6 vs. Big Ten No. 7 Dallas, TX, Cotton Bowl Jan. 2, Time TBA, ESPNU Rose Bowl Game BCS-Big Ten No. 1 vs. BCS/Pac-12 Pasadena, CA, Rose Bowl Jan. 2, Time TBA, ESPN Allstate Sugar BCS/SEC No. 1 vs. BCS At-Large New Orleans, LA, Louisiana Superdome Jan. 2, Time TBA, ESPN Discover Orange BCS/ACC No. 1 vs. BCS At-Large Miami Gardens, FL, Sun Life Stadium Jan. 3, Time TBA, ESPN Tostitos Fiesta BCS/Big 12 No. 1 vs. BCS At-Large Glendale, AZ, U. of Phoenix Stadium Jan. 4, 8:00 p.m. ET, ESPN GoDaddy.com Sun Belt No. 2 vs. MAC No. 1 Mobile, AL, Ladd-Peebles Stadium Time/Date TBA, ESPN AT&T Cotton Big 12 No. 2 vs. SEC No. 3-4 Arlington, TX, Cowboys Stadium Jan. 6, 8:00 p.m. ET, FOX BBVA Compass SEC No. 8-9 vs. Big East No. 5/C-USA Birmingham, AL, Legion Field Time/Date TBA, ESPN Kraft Fight Hunger Pac-12 No. 6 vs. Army San Francisco, CA AT&T Park, Time/Date TBA, ESPN

Allstate BCS National Championship BCS No. 1 vs. BCS No. 2 New Orleans, LA, Louisiana Superdome Jan. 9, Time TBA, ESPN

How close is too close to that power line?

Don’t go anywhere near power lines. Those lines will send all that electricity directly into anything – or anyone. You’d be dead in an instant. So keep your distance, and keep your life.

Get the facts about power line safety at entergymississippi.com.

Charles Hall, Production Superintendent

A message from Entergy Mississippi, Inc. ©2010 Entergy Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 75

>>> MSM | SPORTS MEDICINE

MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MEDICINE & ORTHOPAEDIC CENTER

At Mississippi Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Center, community service, including the Mississippi high school and college coaches and athletes they diligently support each year, extends far beyond the walls of the clinic

By Erik Bartlam,

Special to Mississippi Sports Magazine

I

njuries are not a consequence of sports, they are an aspect of sports. With some games the risk of injuries are obvious.

The violence of football seems specifically designed to cause injuries. A Martian could come to Earth, take one look at a player and know he is geared up for something hazardous. The danger of contact sports is obvious, but the lone cross country runner isn’t safe from injury either. He puts his body through a tremendous amount of strain. Dislocated kneecaps and Snapping Hip Syndrome are just two of the common injuries suffered by

76 | MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE

runners. Of course, sports type injuries aren’t limited to the track or playing field. Any physical activity can cause these types of injuries.

Where there are injuries, there is a need for doctors. It should come as no surprise then that the state has an outstanding sports medicine facility. Mississippi Sports Medicine and Orthopedic Center was established in Jackson in 1984. They now have six locations from Cleveland to Magee covering the state’s athletes. Despite what seems like an obvious need, the idea of a medical center dedicated to athletic injuries was a new concept 25 years ago. It was a cutting edge idea from the start, and the folks at Mississippi Sports and Orthopaedic have continued to remain at the fore-

front of treating sports injuries and helping patients to fully recover.

Mississippi Sports and Orthopaedic’s main clinic is in Jackson with over 46,000 square feet located at 1325 E. Fortification St. They have always prided themselves on employing the latest technology to diagnose and treat injuries. MSMOC has an array of state-of-theart medical equipment at their disposal like the ddR Formula which is the latest in digital x-ray equipment. The MRI machine they use is the same machine that was used during the 2008 Summer Olympics. MSMOC also uses the latest techniques and technology in therapeutic recovery. They were the first in the state to offer Hivamat by Physiomed, a

therapeutic technique that uses Deep Oscillation therapy.

Without skilled physicians and therapists to operate it, fancy equipment is nearly useless. You can be certain that Mississippi Sports Medicine and Orthopaedics has a skilled staff. Every doctor at MSMOC has been board certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery. Furthermore, every physician has undergone further training at prestigious institutions like The Hospital for Special Surgery, The Mayo Clinic, Duke University and the American Institute of Sports Medicine. The collection of knowledge and experience that the center can draw on is massive.

There from the beginning and at the center of it all are Drs. Walter R. Shelton and Gene R. Barrett. They are two of the original three founding doctors of the center. Dr. Shelton received a Bachelor of Science degree from Mississippi State University and a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Mississippi School of Medicine.

His orthopaedic surgical training includes an internship at Baylor University Medical Center, and a residency at University of Mississippi Medical Center, and fellowship at the Campbell Clinic of Tennessee.

Dr. Gene R. Barrett is a graduate of Millsaps College where he was Student Body President. He received his Doctor of Medicine from University of Mississippi School

Mississippi Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Center wishes to thank their many employees, Baptist Health Systems, Baptist Cardiology Clinic, and all other medical professionals for helping make their 22nd Annual Health Screenings Event an overwhelming success.

of Medicine. Dr. Barrett did a general surgery internship at University of Mississippi Medical Center and his Orthopaedic surgery residency was completed at the Greenville Hospital System in Greenville, South Carolina. He received fellowship training at the Houghston Orthopaedic Clinic in Columbus, Georgia. In Columbus he worked with the athletic teams at Auburn University. Dr. Barrett did an A-O fellowship in Switzerland where he treated everything from soccer to ski injuries.

Both Dr. Barrett and Shelton are nationally renowned for their research and leadership efforts in their field. That makes them busy men, particularly in a state like Mississippi.

Mississippians are passionate about sports and they’ve got the injuries to prove it. With a population of less than three million people, Mississippi Sports Medicine Clinic routinely treats over 100 anterior cruciate ligament injuries alone. An ACL injury is the tearing of the anterior cruciate (KROO-she-ate) ligament, or ACL, inside your knee joint. An ACL injury most commonly occurs during sports that involve sudden stops and changes in direction.

Immediately after an ACL injury, your knee may swell, feel unstable and become too pain-

ful to bear weight. Many people hear a “pop” in their knee when an ACL injury occurs.

Depending on the severity of your ACL injury, treatment may include surgery to replace the torn ligament followed by rehabilitation exercises to help you regain strength and stability. If your favorite sport involves pivoting or jumping, a proper training program can help you to reduce your chances of an ACL injury.

ACL injuries are just one type of many injuries that are treated at the Mississippi Sports and Orthopaedic Clinic. Every bone and every joint present the possibility for injury from the toes to the neck. Typical of their approach to provide people with a better understanding of sports and orthopaedic injuries, MSMOC offers an extensive library of injuries and treatments on their website. This includes articles discussing the latest treatment, video examples of exactly how these injuries affect the body, and explanations of surgical procedures.

It should also be pointed out that the type of injuries treated at MSMOC can happen to anyone. A hunter could twist his ankle on a dark morning in the woods. An employee moving boxes at work could injure a shoulder.

MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 77

On Saturday, May 7th, at the Mississippi Trade Mart, more than 4,000 junior high and high school athletes from across the state received free comprehensive health screenings that included blood pressure/pulse exams, height/weight measurements, flexibility analysis, dental and vision exams, along with cardiac evaluations from cardiologists using echo cardiogram machines on-site as needed.

Home owners who like to do their own repairs are often at risk of injuring themselves.

The expertise of MSMOC is a benefit to anyone who is active at all.

Mississippi Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Center have dedicated themselves to treating Mississippi’s athletes and have endeared themselves to the community through outreach programs. Every year they give free physicals to over 5,000 Mississippi high school and college athletes. MSMOC provides official physicians for 60% of Mississippi’s four year colleges. Throughout the year, 14 full time trainers make over 100 visits to Mississippi schools per week. This means that MSMOC is often first on the scene at the point of injury. During the fall, their physicians can be found on the sidelines at Junior College games on Thursday, High School games on Friday and College games on Saturday. They have an Indigent Health Insurance plan and offer a scholarship program at certain colleges for future athletic physical trainers. The community involvement of Mississippi Sports and Orthopaedic Center is a testament to their passion for what they do.

Mississippi Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Center has more than met Mississippi’s need for a nationally recognized full service specialty practice and for a clinic dedicated to the treatment of orthopaedic prob78 | MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE

Gene R. Barrett, MD

Walter R. Shelton, MD

lems or athletic and physical injuries. Sports, outdoor activities and putting in a strenuous day at work are part of Mississippi’s culture.

Mississippi Sports and Orthopaedic Center not only meets those needs, but goes beyond it. MSMOC’s twelve board certified, fellowship trained specialists routinely perform shoulder, elbow, hand, hip, knee, ankle and foot procedures and they are experts in their

field making sure their patients have the benefit of the latest medical technology and to guide these patients through rehabilitation to complete recovery. They are very generous with their knowledge, time and resources when it comes to the needs of Mississippians.

This state is very fortunate to have Mississippi Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Center as its sports medicine clinic. - MSM

CHALLENIEGS.ES.

OppORTUNIT

Save Lives. Protect the Environment. Defend Your Country.

Take charge and shape your world.

Are you Ready?

MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 79

>>> MSM | TIMEOUT WITH YOLANDA MOORE

There’s a Champion in You

N

o one cheered harder for the Mavericks than me during this year’s NBA finals. I was so happy when my beloved Mavericks won. I was happy to be a Mavericks fan this year more than ever for a few

reasons. One was because it was their first championship in the history of the franchise. The second was because they shut the mouths of all of the those who said they didn’t stand a chance against the younger, stronger, faster, and more talented Miami

By YOLANDA MOORE Featured Columnist

Heat. And, finally I was happy for them because for a lot of those players, this was their last chance. Many of the players on that team had bounced around the league for years unable to find their place in the league for various reasons.

Dirk Nowitzki, who has been one of the top scorers in the league for years was so overcome with emotion after the championship game that he immediately left the floor and went to the locker room with tears streaming down his face. He had finally gotten his just due. To me, this year’s NBA finals series was what sports fans live for – to see the underdog come out on top.

According to Merriam-Webster, a champion is one who is acknowledged as better than all others. The Mavericks were not considered to be better than all others this past season, yet, they stand as the reigning NBA champions.

Even if you are not an athlete I’m sure you have faced some sort of obstacle or adversity in your life (and, if you haven’t, just keep living). Some may have even counted you out. You may have even thought about giving up at some point but you didn’t. You chose to stand strong and face whatever challenge you came up against head on.

In these tumultuous economic times, it is important that we remember that within each of us lies a champion.

People today are faced with many things such as job loss, foreclosure, and divorce to name a few. Whatever it is that you come up against, know that you have all that you need

When you face the next battle in your life and you feel like there is no way you can win, remember that God gave you all that you need to make it. He gave you talents and abilities to do whatever you have been purposed to do in your life so you have what it takes.

inside of you to overcome. When you get to the point where it looks like its over just think about a time in your life that you had to make a difficult decision and things turned out okay. The same strength that was in you then is in you now.

My personal definition of a champion is one who stands strong in the face of adversity – not wavering on his/her beliefs and holding to his/her faith in God. A champion is a person who doesn’t back down from a challenge just because he/she seems out-matched. Instead, they press forward through the fear and the pain and sacrifice because they know that what lies beyond the test is far greater than the test itself.

Think about all of the U.S. Soldiers who go to war on our behalf just so we can have the freedom that we have.

I am sure they were afraid to leave their families, their children, and the comforts of their homes not knowing if they would live or die. But, they don’t let that stop them for fighting for what they believe in – literally.

When you face the next battle in your life and you feel like there is no way you can win, remember that God gave you all that you need to make it. He gave you talents and abilities to do whatever you have been purposed to do in your life so you have what it takes. Stay positive no matter the situation and know that things will work in your favor because there is a champion in you! - MSM 80 | MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE

MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE | 81

Jamey W. Burrow, M.D. Foot and Ankle Specialist

James R. Ramsey, M.D. Shoulder and Elbow Specialist

Brian P. Johnson, M.D. Hip and Knee Total Joint Specialist

On Your Team.

Orthopaedic Specialists. Mississippi Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Center is the state’s leading full-service orthopaedic specialty practice.

Mississippi’s Orthopaedic Specialists Since 1984

Toll Free 800.624.9168 or 601.354.4488 82 | MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE www.msmoc.com

Our twelve board certified, fellowship trained specialists have performed countless shoulder, elbow, hand, hip, knee, ankle and foot procedures, and guided these patients through rehabilitation to complete recovery.

Your orthopaedic problem or athletic injury deserves the attention and care that only an experienced orthopaedic specialist can provide.

Put your trust in our hands. We’re on your team.