| Friday, September 6, 2019 |
| Mississippi State, MGCCC expand offerings through Engineering on the Coast program | |
 | Mississippi State University and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College are expanding their Engineering on the Coast partnership. MSU President Mark E. Keenum and MGCCC President Mary S. Graham announced Thursday a joint industrial engineering program will be added to the electrical and mechanical engineering majors already available at Gulf Coast's Jackson County campus in Gautier. Through the programs, students can earn a two-year associate's degree from MGCCC before enrolling in engineering classes leading to a bachelor's degree from MSU. The engineering classes are offered by MSU James Worth Bagley College of Engineering faculty working at MGCCC's JC Campus. The curriculum also utilizes synchronous online delivery from MSU's Starkville campus. Electrical engineering was first taught at the coast location in spring 2016, and mechanical engineering was implemented that fall. "We are pleased to announce that we are adding industrial engineering, which we have chosen to satisfy regional industry needs. Students in this program will learn how to design, improve and control systems of people, materials, information, equipment, energy and capital to increase quality, safety and profitability," Keenum said. "The partnership with MGCCC has been outstanding, and we are proud to have support from Dr. Graham and her excellent leadership team." |
| Mississippi State and MGCCC Expand Partnership for Engineering Programs | |
 | It's a great time for aspiring engineers. Mississippi State University and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College are expanding their "Engineering on the Coast" partnership. The presidents of the two colleges announced -- just yesterday -- a joint industrial engineering program will be added to the electrical and mechanical engineering majors already available at the Jackson County campus for MGCCC, located in the city of Gautier. Through these programs, students are offered an affordable option for their education. They can earn a two year associate's degree from MGCCC before enrolling in MSU for their bachelor's. |
| Celebrating 20 Years Of Economic Success And Achievements at the Mississippi Horse Park | |
 | A grand celebration is set to take place in Starkville this weekend. The occasion? The 20th anniversary of the Mississippi Horse Park. The arena has been a staple in the community since its doors opened in 1999. From rodeos, to barrel races, to therapeutic horse riding, the Mississippi Horse Park prides itself on having diverse events for the entire family to enjoy. "When we started we had 23 events the first year," said Bricklee Miller, Mississippi Horse Park Director. "Last year we had 134 events, so that's a tremendous amount of growth in the activities that we have out here and the diversity in the activities that we have as well." Miller has worked at the horse park for 19 of its 20 years. She said what makes it unique is the fact that it's the only facility in the country that's a three part partnership between the university, city, and county. "We're part of Mississippi State University," Miller explained. "We host the educational mission of Mississippi State, we have labs and classes, and all types of educational activities. For our community, for tourism, to drive tourism that's very important, to bring people through the gates." |
| Dak Prescott raises $20,000 to support Mississippi State's T.K. Martin Center | |
| Mississippi State University alumnus and Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott recently raised $20,000 to support the university's T.K. Martin Center for Technology and Disability through his Faith, Fight, Finish Foundation. Prescott created the foundation in 2013 in honor of his mother, Peggy Prescott, who passed away from colon cancer that year. Faith, Fight, Finish works to help young people living with cancer or other life-challenging hardships and their families, the foundation's website says. Kendrell Daniels, a 19-year-old Kemper County resident who paints Cowboys-themed art, with Prescott as a common inspiration, created a painting that the FFF Foundation featured in an auction at its first official fundraiser in Dallas. Daniels was born without arms and paints with his feet, and has been part of the T.K. Martin Center's Express Yourself program for about three years, a release from MSU says. Gene Jones, wife of Cowboys owner and art collector Jerry Jones, purchased Daniels' painting for $20,000. |
| 'Barndominiums' can be a path to an affordable, safe home | |
 | Maybe it isn't such a bad thing, after all, to be raised in a barn. That is, if the barn has been converted to include comfortable living quarters. A cross between a barn and a condominium, "barndominiums" fans say there can be considerable advantages to this style of construction. Barndominiums generally start out as a steel building that can be erected quickly and relatively inexpensively. The lack of flammable materials such as wood framing can make it fire, termite and mold resistant. Insurance might be less because the fire hazard is reduced. And, if properly sited, ventilated and insulated, it can be very energy efficient. Construction costs can be less than with a conventional home. Mississippi State University School of Architecture Professor Emeritus and Director Emeritus Michael A. Berk, AIA, said that whether barn condominiums can be a path to affordable housing depends upon how it is done. Berk said an important consideration is siting the structure correctly so you can get good available light, and potentially some passive solar gain in the winter. |
| Warren County included in agriculture natural disaster area | |
| Warren County is among 45 Mississippi counties named Thursday by Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue as a primary natural disaster area. The designation is for producers who suffered losses caused by the combined effects of freeze, excessive rainfall, flooding and flash flooding that occurred from Jan. 15 and continuing. Producers in those counties could be eligible for U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency emergency loans. Farmers qualifying for emergency loans may borrow up to 100 percent of their actual production loss or the amount needed to restore their operation to its pre-disaster condition, whichever is less, or refinance certain debts. The counties included in the designation are Adams, Alcorn, Benton, Calhoun, Carroll, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Claiborne, Clay, Covington, Forrest, Grenada, Harrison, Holmes, Humphreys, Issaquena, Itawamba, Jefferson, Lamar, Lee, Leflore, Lowndes, Marion, Marshall, Monroe, Montgomery, Oktibbeha, Pearl River, Perry, Pontotoc, Sharkey, Stone, Tippah, Tishomingo, Tunica, Union, Walthall, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Webster, Wilkinson, Winston, Yalobusha and Yazoo counties. |
| Madison County deputy shot in head, suspect charged | |
| A Madison County deputy is in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the head following a high-speed chase Thursday morning. Deputies gathered Thursday at University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson to show support for one of their colleagues undergoing surgery after he was shot in the head after the chase that ended near the Canton Country Club on Mississippi 16 east. The deputy has been identified as Brad Sullivan. He was out of surgery late Thursday and friends say the next hours are critical. Sullivan was wounded around 7:15 a.m. After the suspect crashed his vehicle into a ditch, he exited and started shooting. Other law enforcement officers involved in the pursuit returned fire, hitting the suspect before taking him into custody. Sullivan was airlifted to UMMC. The chairman of the hospital's Department of Emergency Medicine, Dr. Alan Jones, said the deputy was awake and talking to doctors when he arrived, but has since been admitted to the intensive care unit in critical condition. "He will need some additional surgery," Jones said. |
| FY2020 revenue reports still above estimates for August | |
 | Total revenue collections for the month of August FY 2020 are $9,995,224 or 2.49% above the sine die revenue estimate. Fiscal YTD revenue collections through August are $37,080,479 or 5.25% above the sine die estimate. Fiscal YTD total revenue collections through August 2019 are $28,498,048 or 3.98% above the prior year's collections. As of August 31, 2019, total revenue collections for the Fiscal Year 2019 are $5,967,792,927, $311.7M above the Sine Die Revenue Estimate of $5,656,100,000 and $186.4M above the Revised Revenue Estimate of $5,781,400,000. An additional $204,636 in revenue was collected in August for FY 2019. |
| Mississippi high court affirms charter schools' funding | |
 | The Mississippi Supreme Court on Thursday affirmed the state's method of using tax money to pay for charter schools, rejecting a challenge that sought to cut off local money to the schools. The Southern Poverty Law Center sued the state in 2016 on behalf of seven parents who send their children to Jackson schools. The suit argued that charter schools violate the Mississippi Constitution by making school districts share property tax collections with schools they don't control. Charter schools are operated by private, nonprofit groups. They receive tax money but are operated by private boards separate from local districts and the state Board of Education. A Hinds County chancery judge ruled in 2018 that the method of paying for charter schools is acceptable. The Supreme Court affirmed that ruling Thursday, saying the plaintiffs failed to prove that the funding method is unconstitutional. |
| Charter schools' use of tax dollars upheld, Mississippi Supreme Court throws out SPLC lawsuit | |
| There is not enough evidence to prove the way charter schools are funded in Mississippi is unconstitutional, according to a recent decision issued by the Mississippi Supreme Court. In June, attorneys from the Mississippi Southern Poverty Law Center and state Attorney General's office argued in front of the court about the constitutionality of charter school funding. On Thursday, the court upheld a lower court's decision that the plaintiffs "failed to demonstrate" that using tax dollars to help fund charter schools is unconstitutional. "Today's ruling is a loss for Mississippi's 470,000 public schoolchildren, and for the taxpayers who will continue to see millions of public dollars drained from traditional public schools," said SPLC senior supervising attorney Christine Bischoff. In Justice Leslie King's dissenting opinion, which Justice James Kitchens joined, he wrote "This Court should not be a rubber stamp for Legislative policies it agrees with when those policies are unconstitutional." |
| Republicans Hosemann, Reeves at odds over Medicaid, teacher pay and gas tax. So how might they work together in the Legislature? | |
| When it comes to infrastructure, health care and teacher pay raises, Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann -- who would be the state's next governor and lieutenant governor, respectively, if Republicans have their way in November -- have pitched clashing solutions during their respective campaigns. The contrasting policy ideas call into question how the duo might work together atop state government and, by extension, how much they would get done. The question is particularly pressing as Reeves moves to shore up Republican support after a divisive GOP runoff for governor and convince members of his party who voted for former state Chief Justice Bill Waller Jr. that he can beat Jim Hood, a popular moderate Democrat, in November. The contrasts between Hosemann and Reeves -- and foreshadowing a potential stalemate between them -- came into sharper focus this week when Hosemann vowed to practice a kind of bipartisan leadership style that he says the Legislature has moved away from in recent years. |
| Letters Show AG Jim Hood Warned State About Mental Health Crisis for Years | |
| Hours after a federal judge ruled that the State of Mississippi's mental-health system violates the Americans with Disabilities Act, Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood told reporters that he "knew this was coming." Speaking from his office in downtown Jackson, Hood pointed to years of letters he had sent to the Mississippi Legislature, and Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves specifically, expressing concern about the mental-health system, as well as more than $267 million that his office had won in settlements, some of which he had urged the Legislature to allocate to the Mississippi Department of Mental Health. But the Legislature did not heed his advice, he said. "If you don't care about the people from your heart that have mental-health issues ... then you ought to care for your pocketbook, but the Legislature didn't," Hood, who is the Democratic nominee for governor this year, told reporters. "They gave (the money) away to out-of-state corporations and all these tax breaks, and so all this 267 million that I gave over there, they didn't put a dime towards mental health." |
| Legislators change strategies pushing for sale of wine in grocery stores | |
| Supporters of bills allowing the direct shipment of wine and the sale of wine in grocery stores are changing strategies after being unable to see the measures passed in recent legislative sessions. Next year, lawmakers hope to craft a bill that would loosen restrictions on current liquor stores, in hopes that doing so would cut opposition to their proposals. In 2019, a bill that would have allowed customers to have wine shipped from manufacturers directly to their homes again failed to make it out of a House committee. Meanwhile, the author of previous bills that would have allowed for the sale of wine in grocery stores opted not to reintroduce the measure in 2019, after receiving so much resistance from opponents during the 2017 and 2018 legislative sessions. "We've been trying to take a bite out of that apple for years and haven't been able to get anywhere," District 117 Rep. Scott Delano said. District 111 Rep. Charles Busby, author of the direct shipment bill, said the key to seeing the bills passed could be found in relaxing some of the regulations on existing liquor stores. He hopes to find a win-win compromise for all parties involved. |
| Retailers announce gun policy changes | |
 | Kroger and Walmart, two major retailers in DeSoto County, this week came out with policy announcements regarding guns inside their stores and, for one, the sale of ammunition. Walmart provided information about a change in ammunition sales and a statement on gun presence inside its stores. Kroger also made a corporate statement about firearms inside its store locations. The Walmart move comes as a response to the deadly shootings this summer at stores in Southaven and in El Paso, Texas. Two store managers were shot and killed in late July at the Southaven Walmart Supercenter at Southcrest Parkway and Goodman Road. They were identified as Anthony Brown, age 40 of Olive Branch, and Brandon Gales, age 38 of Hernando. Martez Tarrel Abram is accused of shooting Brown and Gales inside the store early the morning of July 30, and then wounding a Southaven Police officer as they responded to 911 calls from the scene for help. Abram has been fighting extradition back to Mississippi from a Memphis hospital, where he was being treated for a gunshot wound he sustained. |
| Economy added disappointing 130,000 jobs in August, giving Fed another reason to cut rates | |
 | Hiring slowed in August as employers added 130,000 jobs, further stoking recession fears and strengthening the Federal Reserve's argument for another cut in interest rates this month. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.7%, just above a 50-year low, the Labor Department said Friday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected 160,000 job gains. Further dimming the latest employment snapshot: Payroll gains for and June and July combined were revised down by a total 20,000. The Labor Department has tended to undercount August job totals in its initial estimate and then revise the number higher the following months, says economist Jim O'Sullivan of High Frequency Economics. That pattern increased the risk of a disappointing jobs report Friday. But the payroll total was inflated by the federal government's addition of 25,000 temporary workers for the 2020 census. Without those gains, the August number would have been even weaker. |
| Ole Miss holds listening sessions for chancellor search | |
| The search for the University of Mississippi's next chancellor is entering its final stages, beginning with Thursday's six listening sessions. For blocks of 45 minutes, members of the community were able to present comments and recommendations of what they would like to see in the University's next leader. Representatives from the Institutions of Higher Learning, Board search committee and the Campus Search Advisory Committee were all in attendance. IHL Trustee Ford Dye, who serves as the Chair of the Board Search Committee, provided an update on the timeline on the search process following Thursday's sessions. The first round of interviews with prospective candidates is anticipated to take place Oct. 2 and 3, with the second round of interviews taking place in mid-October. The preferred candidate is anticipated to visit both the Jackson UMMC campus and the Oxford campus by the end of October. |
| Listening sessions air views on UM chancellor | |
 | With the search on to find the University of Mississippi's next chancellor, members of the broader university community on Thursday voiced a range of sometimes conflicting views about what's needed from the school's top leader. The Board of Trustees for the Mississippi State Institutions of Higher Learning hosted a series of listening sessions at the Ole Miss Campus Thursday, with opportunities given for academic leaders, alumni, students and faculty to address the IHL board. Ford Dye, vice president of the IHL board and chair of the chancellor search committee, offered an update as to where the search process stands. "As we speak, the chancellor search committee has a list of our applicants. They got that last Friday and they will review that list and give the board some input," Dye said. During the academic leaders session, deans and chairs of several departments requested a chancellor who can help Ole Miss establish an international brand while demonstrating a commitment to expanding diversity and inclusion. |
| College Board trustees say they hope to interview candidates for the next U. of Mississippi chancellor in early October | |
| The wish list for the next leader of the University of Mississippi is long and sometimes contradictory --- a Mississippian, an Ole Miss graduate, someone who respects the university's heritage, someone focused on the future, a political conservative, a respecter of academic freedom, someone able to make women and minorities feel more welcome, someone with deep higher education experience, a business leader. Those are the desires voiced Thursday in Oxford by students, faculty, staff, alumni and others to College Board trustees in a listening session as part of the chancellor search. The comments showed sharp divides in what people want for the university, although most agreed on a need for unity. CSpire CEO Hu Meena told trustees that "over-the-top political correctness at Ole Miss" had damaged the school's brand, although he said he opposed those who cling to the Confederate flag. He called for a focus on academic excellence. |
| JCJC got sued for its free speech policy. What are the rules at other Mississippi schools? | |
 | Jones County Junior College is facing a federal lawsuit over free speech from a student, assisted by the national group FIRE -- Foundation for Individual Rights in Education -- because, according the suit, the college twice limited his efforts to recruit classmates for a group called Young Americans for Liberty. Jones officials had stopped Mike Brown's efforts because he had failed to follow college policy by getting administrative approval and waiting a minimum three days before gathering students on campus. JCJC is the only Mississippi college or university FIRE has ever sued for free speech violations, according to Daniel Burnett, a media official with the organization. Are JCJC's free speech policies markedly different from those at other Mississippi schools? Free speech policies at the state's universities varied in some respects with some requiring 48 or 72 hours advance notice to school officials of some free speech activities, while others disallowed disruptive activities and still others set up zones where free speech could occur at any time -- even by non-students. |
| Lowndes County emergency responders to have drill on MUW campus | |
| Lowndes County will be having a large scale drill Friday on the Mississippi University for Women's campus. Starting at 8 a.m., the drill will test emergency responders ability to respond to and recover from a dorm fire situation. The drill will also be testing MUW's notification system and communications. MUW, Columbus Police, Lowndes County Sheriff, Columbus Fire, E911, Lowndes County EMA, Columbus Air Force Base, Baptist Memorial Hospital and Ambulance Service, Lowndes County Coroner, Care Flight, Dept of Health, Dept of Human Services, MS Emergency Management, Red Cross, and other local and state entities will all be participating in the drill. |
| Jamie Riley, Alabama's dean of students, resigns following Breitbart story on controversial tweets | |
 | Jamie Riley, the dean of students at the University of Alabama, has resigned a day after Breitbart published a story highlighting tweets from the dean contending police are racist and other controversial statements. "Dr. Jamie Riley has resigned his position at The University of Alabama by mutual agreement. Neither party will have any further comments," a spokeswoman for the university said in an email to AL.com. Riley's resignation comes a day after the alt-right website published screenshots of three of the dean's tweets from 2016 and 2017. One of the tweets suggested that police are racist. "The [American] flag represents a systemic history of racism for my people," Riley tweeted in September 2017, according to a Breitbart screenshot. "Police are a part of that system. Is it that hard to see the correlation?" The dean also suggested in an October 2016 tweet that movies about slavery are made to "remind black people of our place in society." In October 2017, Riley tweeted that whites can't judge racism because they don't experience it. |
| U. of Kentucky to close Memorial Hall to required classes in spring. Will it end mural controversy? | |
 | The University of Kentucky is going to close Memorial Hall to any required classes starting next spring, ensuring that students who are offended by the building's central mural that depicts early Kentucky history with black and Native American stereotypes are no longer forced to see it. The 1930s artwork by Ann Rice O'Hanlon is currently shrouded for the second time in four years because of student demands last spring that ended in an occupation of the Main Building. This move finds a much-needed compromise between two conflicting camps, one that demanded the mural's removal and the other that opposed destruction of the historic fresco, commissioned by the Public Works Administration, that is painted into the walls. Spokesman Jay Blanton said large lecture classes in anatomy, psychology and sociology were already planned for the fall semester, but they will be moved for spring. Groups that choose to use Memorial Hall will be able to. Tsage Douglas, a UK student who helped organize the spring protest, said she was glad that UK was moving ahead with the action plan the Black Student Advisory Council presented, which included more diverse faculty and better financial support for black students. |
| LSU shows big gain, Tulane top-rated college in Louisiana in The Wall Street Journal rankings | |
 | LSU is rated the 295th best school among 500 public and private universities in a survey by the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education released Thursday, up from No. 352 last year. The school is also ranked 84th among public universities and No. 6 in the 14-member Southeastern Conference. The top-rated school in Louisiana is Tulane University at No. 84, down from No. 56 last year. Harvard University is the top school in the nation followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania, according to the review. In a statement, LSU said the school has risen 148 places in the overall rankings since the survey began three years ago. |
| Taking Out a Student Loan Is Better Than Dropping Out | |
 | Student debt is spiraling, and young people are defaulting on their loans. You might think that students would be better off scraping by with no loans at all. But it turns out that simply cutting loans -- without replacing those lost dollars with grants or lower tuition -- hinders students' academic progress and hurts their grades. That's the conclusion of new research on the effects of student loans at community colleges, which educate most low-income students in the United States. What's more, community colleges are far more racially, ethnically and economically diverse than the elite colleges that get the most attention. Perhaps counterintuitively, the researchers found that students who borrowed more wound up defaulting less. This was most likely because the loans allowed students to earn additional college credits, which led to more stable careers and finances. |
| U. of Memphis President M. David Rudd to receive raise, new contract | |
| Beginning Oct. 1, University of Memphis President M. David Rudd will receive a raise, earning a base salary of $525,000 under the proposed terms of a new president contract. The new base salary is a 33% increase. Rudd, 58, is currently under the terms of an employment agreement with the university. He earns a base salary of $394,075, according to the university's compensation database. The board of trustees approved the terms at its quarterly meeting Wednesday. The executive committee must approve the resulting formal contract. Rudd's contract would be for three years, through September 2022, with an option to extend through September 2024. U of M hired Sibson Consulting to assess Rudd's compensation, with the understanding that the university would like to obtain the highest doctoral research Carnegie Classification -- and that Rudd's retention over the next decade is critical to achieving such institutional goals, according to the presentation. |
| Study plays down potential impact of free community college on four-year graduation | |
 | A new study asserts that providing free community college to students does not lead to increased four-year graduation rates, but proponents of free community college argue that that isn't the point of such programs. The report was released Thursday in the Brookings Papers on Economic Activity. Using economic data from past higher education studies and enrollment and degree completion data from the College Board-National Student Clearinghouse dataset, the researchers analyzed four possible policies to increase bachelor's degree attainment: free community college, reduced tuition at four-year colleges, increased spending at public colleges and reallocating students to academically matched in-state four-year colleges. They assert that the most effective ways to raise four-year graduation rates are to increase per-student instructional spending at public institutions and eliminate tuition and fees at four-year colleges for those below certain income levels. |
| Epstein's donations to universities reveal a painful truth about philanthropy | |
 | Jeffrey Epstein forged deep ties with some of the nation's elite universities and their scholars, showering them with millions of dollars in donations. As the extent of those gifts comes into sharper focus, academics confront a painful realization: The financier's donations supported important research and helped scientists work toward discoveries, but they also provided a veneer of credibility to a convicted sex offender. The ensuing fallout -- prompting resignations and continued soul-searching and outrage -- illuminates enduring questions for academia about the money that fuels research, and how institutions nurture relationships with donors in the race to excel. Epstein's gifts to MIT, Harvard and other organizations underscored the sometimes uncomfortable pressures on faculty and labs to raise money for their work, and the potentially fraught relationships institutions can have with wealthy donors. |
| Education Dept. Levies $4.5-Million Fine Against Michigan State Over Nassar Scandal | |
 | The Department of Education has levied a $4.5-million fine against Michigan State University -- the largest such penalty ever -- for failing to comply with campus-safety regulations in its handling of the Larry Nassar scandal. Nassar, a former team doctor who was accused of sexually assaulting hundreds of women and girls during his decades at the institution, is serving a long prison term after pleading guilty to some of those charges. Shortly after that announcement, the university's president, Samuel L. Stanley Jr., released a statement saying the institution's provost, June P. Youatt, has resigned. The Education Department had criticized her for failing to take action against William Strampel, a former dean and Nassar's longtime boss. Three former university officials -- Lou Anna K. Simon, the former president; Kathie Klages, a former gymnastics coach, and Strampel -- have been criminally charged for their roles in the scandal. "What happened at Michigan State was abhorrent," Betsy DeVos, education secretary, said in a press call on Thursday. |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State, Southern Miss look to maintain momentum | |
| Mississippi State and Southern Mississippi are both seeking to maintain momentum from season-opening victories as they renew their in-state rivalry. While Mississippi State kicked off its season with a 38-28 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette in New Orleans, Southern Miss posted a 38-10 home triumph over Football Championship Subdivision program Alcorn State. Southern Miss and Mississippi State faced each other every year from 1975-90 but have met just twice since. The series is tied 14-14-1 heading into Saturday's matchup in Starkville, though Mississippi State has won the last four meetings. "I am sure we are going to get on the field and look at the two-deep, in all three phases for Southern Miss, and there are a bunch of kids that are from the state of Mississippi," Mississippi State coach Joe Moorhead said. "I know our guys will be excited about that. I am sure they will be excited, and I think it will be great for the fan bases, as well." |
| Three matchups to look for in Mississippi State's home opener | |
 | The Mississippi State home opener has arrived. Following a 38-28 win over Louisiana in New Orleans last weekend, the Bulldogs return to Davis-Wade Stadium to take on Southern Miss 2:30 p.m. Saturday for their home opener. While the Golden Eagles are not quite what MSU will see in SEC competition, they should provide a solid test for a Bulldog squad that showed flashes of brilliance coupled with relative inconsistency in Week One. Here are three matchups to watch this weekend: MSU interior defensive line vs. Southern Miss offensive line. Tommy Stevens vs. the Southern Miss pass rush. MSU wide receivers vs. Southern Miss secondary. |
| TE Jason Witten has watched as Cowboys QB Dak Prescott thrives | |
| Tight end Jason Witten is entering his 16th season in the NFL and the Dallas Cowboys, which gives him tremendous perspective when it comes to evaluating talent he's played with and played against. The All-Pro and franchise leader in games played says the pressure never seems to grind on quarterback Dak Prescott, who enters his fourth season with the team. "It's been a true joy for me at this point in my career to have a young teammate come in at that position and to see him take each step, another challenge comes and he's never fazed by those challenges," Witten told reporters Thursday at The Star. "Coach Garrett has a saying: 'Thrive in tough situations, rise to the occasion.' That's what I think of Dak." |
| Alabama, Mississippi State to pay Southern Miss $3M total this season | |
| When your annual budget is $28 million, making $1.85 million for an afternoon of work is a no-brainer. You'll take $1.2 million in a heartbeat as well. Those are the paydays Southern Miss will get for taking on SEC football teams this month. The Golden Eagles will receive $1.85 million from Alabama for their game on Sept. 21 and $1.2 from Mississippi State for the game this weekend. According to a recent USA TODAY report, there will be more than 250 football games this season including at least one FBS team where one or both of the teams involved is set to profit from the game in the form of a payment from the other team. The values of these "guarantee games" vary massively. Army, for example, is set to make $1.5 million for its game against Michigan on Saturday. Mississippi State, meanwhile, is paying $500,000 later this season for their game against Abilene Christian. That said, few teams stand to gain as much from buy games this season as Southern Miss. |
| Success follows QB Jack Abraham to Southern Miss | |
| Jack Abraham has been through a lot since his days of slinging the pigskin at Oxford High School and leading the Chargers to three-straight Class 5A state championship games. The former two-time Daily Journal Offensive Player of the Year (2013, 2015) began his college career at Louisiana Tech but decided to transfer to Northwest Community College after a redshirt year in Ruston. The gamble paid off as Abraham guided the Rangers to the 2017 MACJC state title game and landed a scholarship to Southern Miss where he became the Golden Eagles' starting quarterback last season. Abraham and Southern Miss will visit Mississippi State on Saturday for a 2:30 p.m. kickoff. "The whole process matured me a little bit," Abraham said. "I went through some pretty tough times leaving Louisiana Tech and going to Northwest. Junior college is a whole animal in itself. But going through that made me realize that I can never give up. I went through some low points but I kept my head down, kept grinding and it all worked out." |
| SEC's losers eager to regroup | |
| With several SEC teams reeling from opening-week flops, the Southeastern Conference didn't look like "top to bottom" the best league in the country as its coaches have long proclaimed. Only the top teams did their part. SEC teams in the bottom portion of the standings are looking to rebound after embarrassing setbacks, lowlighted by Tennessee's loss to Georgia State. So yes, the top of the SEC is still mighty with Georgia and Alabama and a handful of other teams looking formidable in their openers. For the bottom half, after a weekend that was mostly just mighty painful there's a lot of work to do. Four SEC teams fell to unranked nonconference opponents in the first full weekend of games. Wyoming beat Kelly Bryant and Missouri, Ole Miss couldn't get anything going offensively in a loss to Memphis and South Carolina dropped a decision to North Carolina -- and lost its starting quarterback in the process. Plus, freshman-heavy Arkansas had a close, 20-13 win over FCS Portland State. Then there was Tennessee, which got Rocky Toppled. The Volunteers fell to a Sun Belt Conference team that had lost its last seven games and was a 26-point underdog. |
| How much booze did LSU fans buy in home opener? Enough to fill a quarter of Tiger Stadium | |
| An LSU official said Thursday that 27,235 beers were sold during last Saturday's football game against Georgia Southern, marking the first time in which LSU was allowed to sell alcohol throughout the stadium after the Southeastern Conference lifted its ban in May. Domestic beers are priced at $8, meaning LSU generated at least $220,000 in revenue from sales. The amount of wine sold hasn't been determined yet. The sales figures are for general seating and don't include premium areas. In 2018, Ohio State made a whopping $1.23 million in alcohol revenue. After its first game, the school made about a fifth of that amount in one game, with another six home games to go this season. "It's something the fans have told us they wanted for quite some time," LSU senior associate athletic director Robert Munson said, "and we think it'll add to the experience." |
| The road trip that wasn't: What Kentucky fans lost with football game's move to Lexington | |
| In a town of 22,000 strong, Greg Steiner has found home. Steiner, an associate athletic director at Eastern Michigan University, has lived in Ypsilanti, Mich., for two decades. "I came here to go to school at Eastern 20 years ago and loved it so much that I never left," Steiner wrote in an email to the Herald-Leader. Kentucky football fans lost an opportunity to fall in love with Ypsilanti; UK was originally scheduled to play Eastern Michigan there this weekend but last year agreed to a buyout of that game. For $800,000, the Eagles are making their first trip to Lexington since 2017 (they're coming back next year, too) on Saturday. A home game against a Southeastern Conference opponent would have quickly packed The Factory -- EMU's nickname for Rynearson Stadium, its 30,200-seat stadium highlighted by concrete-colored turf -- but it made more sense to trade it for a fat check. |
| Larger US sports betting market races for (online) end zone | |
| As the second NFL season following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling clearing the way for legal sports betting begins, the industry is growing larger and ever-more mobile. Some unmistakable trends have emerged. The extra money that taxing sports bets generates has not exactly been a gusher, and the major professional sports leagues still have not succeeded in compelling gambling companies to cut them in on the action, preferring to sign commercial deals. But the biggest is this: the future of sports betting in the U.S. is online. More than 80 percent of sports bets placed in New Jersey, the state that won the high court case last year, were made over the internet or on smartphones. The question of whether to allow mobile betting, and how to regulate it, has kept several states from entering the market or more fully expanding within it, as is the case in New York. Chris Grove, a managing director with Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, says fully embracing online sports betting will be the biggest challenge for land-based casinos this year. |
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