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Bulldog Beat
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Lady Bulldogs shaping up for season |
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Wednesday, 04 November 2009 |
By DAVID MILLER
For the Bulldog Beat
Expecting depth to be a strength of the Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs this season, head coach Sharon Fanning-Otis made it a point to stress that her team’s bench and rotations haven’t taken shape like she’s wanted it to.
Speaking to reporters at Tuesday’s preseason press conference, Fanning-Otis noted Sunday’s scrimmage against Delta State and the results of the first action her players have seen against competition other than themselves.
The MSU coach admitted that the number of rotations in the first half might have gotten the team out of sync, but as the second half wore on and rotations started to solidify the team picked it up and increased its offensive output. Still, Fanning-Otis didn’t have a high grade for her team coming off its first scrimmage.
“We talked about the depth of the team, but I didn’t see the numbers off the bench that we have to have,” Fanning-Otis said. “You saw a big difference with your five returning players on the court. But players found a way to help us, whether it was in steals or rebounding, even if they didn’t have a good night offensively.”
Fanning-Otis and the Lady Bulldogs won’t have the same type of early-season slate as they did last year, with a trip to the Virgin Islands-hosted Paradise Jam pitting the team picked third in the Southeastern Conference coaches poll against the likes of Texas, Rutgers and USC.
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Basketball Bulldogs rain 3s in OCU exhibition blowout |
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Wednesday, 04 November 2009 |
By MATTHEW STEVENS
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What a difference a year makes.
In last season’s exhibition opener Mississippi State’s bunch of freshmen and newcomers had to sweat through a 65-63 comeback victory over Oklahoma City University.
This season the opponent was the only thing that was the same as the Bulldogs cruised to a 82-54 blowout win over the NAIA school Saturday.
“It’s not even close where we’re at this year compared to the same time last year,” Mississippi State head coach Rick Stansbury said.
Junior guard Ravern Johnson led MSU in scoring with 23 points as the 6-foot-7 wing player was 6-of-10 from beyond the 3-point arc. Stansbury and the rest of the coaching staff would point out his five rebounds and defensive intensity as major changes to his game coming into the 2009-10 season.
“(Coach) told me he wanted my focus this season to be on defense and rebounding because he knows my shot will fall,” Johnson said.
The Bulldogs put together two scoring runs at the start of both the first and second halves to pull away and make this version of the exhibition opener a lot more comfortable.
“Once our three-ball is going in it seems like we’re up 15 but we look up at the board and it’s actually 20,” MSU guard Dee Bost said.
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Mullen reiterates confidence in Lee; Defense limits Cobb |
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Wednesday, 04 November 2009 |
By AARON SEIDLITZ
For the Bulldog Beat
Dan Mullen embraced embattled quarterback Tyson Lee after the player’s 67-yard touchdown pass opened the Mississippi State scoring in the second half.
A sense of relief could be seen on Mullen’s face as he smiled and put his arm around the quarterback after the latter threw a deep dart down field that struck wide receiver O’Neal Wilder in stride.
The seven points for the Bulldogs evened the game at 24, and it eased the problems Lee had been facing.
Coming into the game, Lee had already thrown nine interceptions to just three touchdown passes, and then to make matters worse the quarterback through two interceptions in the first half before the long touchdown strike.
“Tyson’s giving us everything he has, he gives us everything he has,” Mullen said. “He works, he continues to battle and tries to improve himself.”
Despite the early interceptions, State remained in the game via Anthony Dixon – who went over 100-yards rushing in the first 30 minutes of the game.
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MSU offense getting back on track with Ky. win |
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Wednesday, 04 November 2009 |
By AARON SEIDLITZ
For the Bulldog Beat
To hear Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen and offensive lineman J.C. Brignone explain it, running back Anthony Dixon’s record-breaking Saturday has some simple roots.
Mullen spoke, earlier in the week, about the team’s lack of an offensive rhythm against Florida. The team struggled to gain first downs, only had 13 by the end of that game and the running game failed to get on track.
The head coach said that the offensive line needed to stay on the field, and convert a few first downs in a row before it can really come together to produce an effective running game.
For much of the season the Bulldogs’ front five had done just that.
Their cohesion helped lead to State’s 219.2 yards per game on the ground, and Dixon’s average of a little over 107 yards per running per game going into Saturday’s game at Kentucky.
Then the Bulldog rushing offense combined for its best effort of the season, with a total of 348 rushing yards gained and a school record 252 yards by Dixon. State also earned 20 first downs.
To Brignone, that kind of production wasn’t due to anything out of the ordinary being done.
“In the Florida game, we just couldn’t get going. We couldn’t find that play that was working, but against Kentucky we found the play that was working – and we just kept running it, and running it,” Brignone said.
That one thing the Bulldogs were doing well was also bolstered by a confidence and trust between linemen and running backs as the game went along.
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‘It was all joy, you know?’ |
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Wednesday, 04 November 2009 |
 Mississippi State running back Anthony Dixon is congratulated by teammate Patrick Hanrahan (35) after scoring a touchdown during the second half of their NCAA football game in Lexington, Ky., Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009. Dixon rushed for 252 yards and two touchdowns in the 31-24 win. By AARON SEIDLITZ
For the Bulldog Beat
Anthony Dixon described quite a scene in the Mississippi State locker room following the running back’s historic night in the team’s win over Kentucky on Saturday.
Immediately following the tightly-contested 31-24 victory, Dixon said he was lifted up on to his teammates shoulders – starting with fullback and friend Patrick Hanrahan.
The team then celebrated together the win and Dixon’s school-record 252 yards rushing against the Wildcats.
“It was just all joy, you know?” Dixon said on Monday. “We had a big win, my family and friends showed me a lot of love, my teammates, they showed me a lot of love.
“They held me up in the locker room, you know, I was just happy.”
The night was one that Dixon will have a hard time forgetting, and the 40-or-so text messages he said he got following the contest helped to keep the result ingrained in his mind.
What it did for the back was to get him and the Bulldogs’ running game back on track, especially after the Florida defense came in and derailed it the previous week at Scott Field.
It also got the Bulldogs – who came in losers in four of the last five games – back on track before the final three games of the season.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 04 November 2009 )
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Several MSU events set in conjunction with Veterans Day |
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Wednesday, 04 November 2009 |
For the Bulldog Beat
More than 300 Army National Guard recruits will be at Mississippi State Nov. 14 for the university's third Veterans' Discovery Day.
Held in conjunction with the university's home football game with the University of Alabama, the event will conclude Veterans Awareness Week on campus.
Sponsored and organized by MSU's G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery Center for America's Veterans, the week's programs are designed to draw attention to the importance of the national Nov. 11 Veterans Day observance.
On the 11th, MSU President Mark Keenum will be keynote speaker for a 2 p.m. public ceremony on the Drill Field that pays tribute to veterans and highlights the importance of the student-veteran population.
"This whole week is about increasing the awareness of how important Veterans Day is," said center director Andrew Rendon. "While Memorial Day remembers soldiers who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country, Veterans Day is a time to pay tribute to and honor all service members, both current and former."
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Program to feature readings from new anthology |
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Wednesday, 04 November 2009 |
By JANA RILEY
BB Staff Writer
Perhaps it’s due to the hospital nature, quirky disposition, or even the humidity, Southerners undoubtably have a unique perspective on life.
On Dec. 1, the Department of English will host its newest fiction reading as part of the Robert Holland Reading Series, featuring pieces of the anthology “Surreal South” .
“In the South — the South as a geographical region, the South as one particular American state of mind — rationality has never been at the top of the list of admired, or even required, qualities,” state Laura and Pinckney Benedict, editors for the anthology Surreal South.
“The Surreal South is a collection of about 20 stories from various writers with some connection to the South. The stories are all, I guess you could say, weird, or surreal, or grotesque, or apocalyptic, or non-rational... It’ll be a lively reading. It’ll be pretty weird. There might even be animal balloons, if I can remember how to make them,” jokes Dr. Michael Kardos, assistant professor of English
Two of Mississippi State’s own professors, Becky Hagenston and Kardos himself, have contributed to and will read parts of the anthology at the event.
The reading is one day only and will start at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 1 on the third floor of the Colvard Student Union, in the Fowlkes Auditorium. Admission is free to the public and “we encourage everyone to attend,” said Kardos.
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