| Monday, September 23, 2019 |
| Early tech training at the Mississippi Children's Museum | |
 | This week, C Spire and the Mississippi Children's Museum hosted the second annual C3 coding challenge. It's meant to encourage and inspire students of all ages to go after a degree or career in I-T and computer science. But does that have an impact on their higher education? "We really need to be preparing people at every age for the jobs of the future. We readily recognize that there are some great career paths that don't require a 4-year degree," said Dr. David Shaw, Provost at Mississippi State. "It's really incumbent on all of us to help people be prepared for jobs in the very best ways they can, whether that's a high school education, community college education, or a 4-year school." "We want to construct things so that later in life we can take students or adults that have taken a 2-year degree, and later on in their life they can come back for a bachelor's degree without having to start over again," said Shaw. Mississippi State will begin that program in January 2020. |
| Bulldogs embrace match for Mason | |
 | Two-year-old Mason Murphy and his family stepped onto Scott Field to say a special thank you to Bulldog nation Saturday. The West Point toddler, who is the son of Alicia Cherry and Mississippi State safety Marcus Murphy, was born with a genetic abnormality and will need a bone marrow transplant in the future to have the best chance to thrive. The university family has rallied around efforts to expand the National Bone Marrow Donor Registry. Coach Joe Moorhead recorded a public service announcement urging Bulldog fans to step up and join the registry. The family was recognized during the first quarter of Saturday's game against Kentucky. Mississippi State is in its second year of a partnership with Be the Match, the national campaign for the bone marrow donor registry. It's part of a larger partnership between the registry and Learfield IMG College, which holds the multi-media rights for MSU sports. "It's not just to help Mason, but increase the number of donors on the registry so we can help more people," said Ann Brett Gillespie Strickland, general manager for MSU Bulldog Sports. |
| Starkville community excited for Bulldog Bash | |
 | It took seven months to prepare for Bulldog Bash 2019. Rapper T-Pain headlined the show Friday night, but before that, student and community members spent all day preparing for the concert. Bulldog Bash Student Director David Cuevas said his team worked since 2 a.m. to close roads and set up the stages. He said they'd been planning the event since February, and he couldn't be more proud of seeing it all come to fruition. |
| MSU School of Architecture works with groups on Northside School restoration | |
| The National West Point Alumni Association has been working diligently for many years to restore the Northside School. Many members of the Alumni Association attended school there when it was an elementary school. It is a historic landmark that the NWPAA plan to use as a meeting area and a museum. They have also offered space to the Boys & Girls Club of Clay County when the renovations are complete. The Mississippi State University School of Architecture has offered a helping hand on the undertaking. "Our fourth year architectural students are taking photos and measurements," Alexis Gregory, associate professor with the MSU School of Architecture, said. "They are measuring and drawing the building, they will put it into a 3D program and create modules of the new spaces." |
| Ancient Roman comedy offers theater under the sky at Mississippi State | |
 | In "The Braggart Soldier," an ancient comedy by Plautus, a young Athenian man named Pleusicles must journey afar in a story that reveals a true hero in an unexpected character. First performed in Rome in 206 B.C., the play has been adapted specifically for Mississippi State's Judy and Bobby Shackouls Honors College Classical Week. Free public performances will be Tuesday and Wednesday, Sept. 24-25, at 6 p.m. in the Griffis Hall Courtyard at Zacharias Village on the MSU campus. While the play dates back more than 2,000 years, its scenarios and innuendos can be easily understood in modern time, said MSU student actor Joseph Rutherford of New Albany. He portrays Palaestrio in the production. "I feel as if classical plays should still be a major factor in education today," he said, noting that the works continue to be relevant. "It leaves me in disbelief of how the plots for these plays were even thought of then and how they continue to be played and studied today." |
| Fall Flower & Garden Fest set for Oct. 11-12 at MSU's Truck Crops Branch Experiment Station | |
 | Home gardeners and professional landscapers can tour display gardens and attend educational seminars during an upcoming horticultural show. The Fall Flower & Garden Fest is set for Oct. 11 and 12 at the Mississippi State University Truck Crops Branch Experiment Station in Crystal Springs. The fest runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day. Admission and parking are free. The station is located at 2024 Experiment Station Road. In its 41st year, the event remains the largest home gardening festival in the Southeast drawing an average of 5,000 attendees each year. Attendees can tour the station's 3-acre display garden, which includes flowers, vegetables and herbs. Walking tours of the gardens and wagon ride tours of the station's other research plots will be led by MSU specialists. Topics for educational seminars include specialty crops, pond management, hummingbird gardens, shade gardening, and insect and disease control. |
| Historical Society talk: 'Seems Like I've Been Here Before' by MSU's Joseph Thompson | |
| The Columbus and Lowndes County Historical Society will present a lecture and discussion Wednesday led by Joseph Thompson, Ph. D., assistant professor of history at Mississippi State University. The program, "Seems Like I've Been Here Before: Historical Connections Between the 1960s and the Present," will be held at noon at the Stephen D. Lee Home, 316 Seventh St. N. The public is invited to attend and to participate. "I'll be comparing the political and social upheavals of the late 1960s and early 1970s with similar events in our current day to think about the differences and similarities between these two tumultuous time periods in our nation's history," Thompson said. |
| Poor House Road construction starts Monday, will last about three weeks | |
| Half a mile of the heavily traveled Poor House Road between Highway 25 and South Montgomery Street will be closed for construction starting Monday morning while contractors replace the base of the road in preparation for future repaving. Smithville-based construction company Cook and Son bid almost $375,000 for the project, said District 4 Supervisor Bricklee Miller. Burns Dirt Construction and Phillips Contracting Company, both based in Columbus, bid slightly more but still less than $400,000. The project is funded by Oktibbeha County road bond money. The road is in Districts 4 and 5, but Miller presented the project to the board of supervisors, and the money was allocated to her district, she said. Cook and Son has until early November to complete the project, but it is scheduled to be finished within a week of Oct. 19, just in time for the even heavier traffic that comes with Mississippi State University home football games. The Bulldogs' next two games will be out of town before they play Louisiana State University on Oct. 19. |
| Two electric car charging stations come to Starkville | |
| Starkville Utilities installed two charging stations for drivers of plug-in electric cars Thursday in areas of the city that receive a great deal of traffic. One ChargePoint charging station is downtown near the intersection of Jackson and Jefferson streets, behind Starkville Cafe and Hotel Chester, and the other is outside the Starkville Sportsplex. The city leased the chargers from the Tennessee Valley Public Power Association. Both can service any electric vehicle regardless of make and model. Mississippians drive electric vehicles at the lowest per-capita rate in the United States, but EV sales in the state doubled from 2017 to 2018, Matt Doude, associate director of Mississippi State University's Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems, said in July. Cities with colleges in particular have high EV adoption rates regardless of population, said Brad Rains, the TVPPA manager of distributed energy resources deployments. |
| New owner brings variety of changes to movie theater | |
| What once was a medium popcorn at Hollywood Premier Cinemas is now a small, and the price of a small has doubled. The spike in concession prices and sizes is just one change that resulted from United Entertainment Corp. purchasing Hollywood Premier Cinemas on Sept. 13. The Minnesota-based corporation owns 22 movie theaters nationwide. Ticket prices remain the same, but the theater now has additional showtimes, a loyalty card system, one free popcorn refill per visit and kiosks in the lobby to redeem tickets bought online. Showtimes used to begin at 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 4 p.m. on Friday and 2 p.m. on weekends. Now showtimes begin at 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon on weekends. Additionally, tickets will cost only $5 per seat every Tuesday, and the concessions area will soon have a self-serve drink station. Digital signs have gone up inside the building, both at concessions and above each individual theater, and will soon be outside as well, General Manager Seth Parsley said. |
| From Music Row to powering the future | |
| There was a time when Chase McGill, Haley Fisackerly and Lea Brigham Turnipseed reported to Heritage Academy every day for classes. Soon, however, they'll return to the Columbus school as respected alumni and guest speakers for the 28th annual Hazard Lecture Series. McGill, Class of 2005, is a Grammy-nominated songwriter in Nashville, with multiple co-writes topping the charts. Fisackerly, Class of 1983, and Turnipseed, Class of 1990, are at the helm of Entergy Mississippi, which serves power customers in more than half of Mississippi's 82 counties. "I'm excited to have the opportunity to return to my hometown and alma mater and share Entergy's story," said Fisackerly who holds a degree in business administration from MSU and a master's degree in public policy administration from George Washington University. He served for several years on the staff of U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi prior to joining Entergy at its Washington, D.C. office in 1995. |
| 8 Mississippi counties get federal disaster declarations for 2019 flooding, tornadoes | |
 | State officials announced Saturday that the federal government has declared eight Mississippi counties disaster areas related to severe storms, flooding and tornadoes earlier this year. According to a press release from the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, the federal disaster declarations will bring aid to individuals and households as well as help clear debris, implement emergency protective, fix roads, bridges and other infrastructure. The counties declared disaster areas Saturday are Clay, Humphreys, Issaquena, Lowndes, Monroe, Sharkey, Warren and Yazoo, of which several are located in the Delta, which experienced months-long flooding this year. "I would like to thank President Trump's administration for the decision to provide financial assistance to our Mississippians in need," Gov. Phil Bryant said in a statement. "With more than 600 homes affected in the Yazoo-Basin backwater region alone, this federal assistance is critical towards helping these counties recover. Our hearts and prayers continue to be with those families that have lost their homes during the floods, and everyone who must rebuild." |
| Analysis: Candidates spin numbers on government employment | |
 | Mississippi has about 3,900 fewer state government employees now than it did five years ago, and the employees' average salary has increased by about $3,700. The statistics are from the Mississippi State Personnel Board, and candidates are putting their own spin on them in this year's race for governor. The numbers should be accompanied by an asterisk. They only cover about 30% of the people who work fulltime for state government -- those at the 121 agencies, boards and commissions where the Personnel Board has a role in filling jobs, handling employment grievances and ensuring that the employers comply with state laws and policies. The Personnel Board does not provide services for public school teachers, who make up 39% of the state government workforce; employees of the Institutions of Higher Learning, who make up 24%; employees of community colleges, who make up 7%; or employees of the governor's office and the legislative branch, who, combined, make up less than 1%. |
| Jim Hood rolls out K-12 education plan in the Delta | |
| Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Jim Hood revealed his K-12 education plan in the Delta this week. "The economists now agree that education is the best dollars that a state can spend for economic development," Attorney General Hood said to the crowd at Lucy Webb Elementary School in Greenville. "The issue of early childhood education -- we can do that in the first month of the Legislature. It's $31 million is what it would cost us. I brought in more than that on drug case overcharge settlements every year." Part of the plan to alleviate the shortage involves expanding tuition forgiveness programs for teachers who work in the state five years after graduating. In the short term, Hood suggests letting retired teachers come back to the classroom to teach while still drawing retirement. |
| Road ahead: Senate set to pass stopgap spending, with House focus on Homeland Security and immigration | |
 | The Senate needs to act this week to clear a stopgap spending bill before recessing through the end of the government's fiscal year, but that is really the only must-pass business for either chamber. The House passed the measure Thursday, 301-123, after resolving hangups that included a debate over assisting farmers who have seen demand for crops plummet thanks to the ongoing sparring over trade with China. While demonstrators are expected to descend on Washington on Monday, aiming to get the attention of official Washington, much of the official business will be elsewhere. The House is coming in a day later this week than initially planned so members can attend Monday funeral services for Emily Clyburn, wife of House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn, in South Carolina. And with the U.N. General Assembly meeting this week, much of the White House's focus has shifted to New York. |
| Ed Meek moving endowment from U. of Mississippi to CREATE Foundation | |
| A $5.3 million gift to the University of Mississippi has been withdrawn and will be given to the CREATE Foundation in Tupelo, per court documents. Ed Meek, along with his wife Becky, had a series of negotiations from 2007-09 with UM and the University of Mississippi Foundation pertaining to a gift totaling $5.3 million. The money was to establish the Ed and Becky Meek Quasi-Endowment Fund and under the terms of the Quasi-Endowment, the University was to establish the Meek School of Journalism and New Media. These events come after Meek's name was removed from the University's School of Journalism and New Media last December. Meek requested his name be removed from the building on Sept. 22, 2018 after backlash from a controversial Facebook post Meek made earlier that month. Due to interest accrued, the Meeks will have $6.4 million returned to them. The amount transferred back to the Meeks reflects the accrued $1.1 million in interest as well as minus prior distributions made from the Meek endowment, according to Rod Guajardo, the University's associate director of strategic communications. |
| Suspected mold in Crosby dormitory causes health issues for Ole Miss students | |
| Crosby Hall is the largest residence hall on the University of Mississippi campus, and according to one mother, it's also been the source of her daughter's continuous health problems. Brittany Musser, whose daughter is a student at Ole Miss, said her daughter called her recently, complaining that she and her roommate were having nosebleeds. She had also been diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection that required a steroid shot. After seeing pictures of a black, yellow and green substance spreading across the ceiling in one corner of her daughter's room, Musser said she knew the culprit: mold. Musser took to the "Ole Miss Parents" Facebook group Monday to share her findings. In a letter sent to Crosby residents on Thursday, Student Housing director John Yaun denied the presence of mold in any residence hall. "We take very seriously the concerns expressed by residents of Crosby Hall over the past few days and want to address the important items we heard from our students," Yaun said in the letter. |
| U. of Mississippi conference to examine history of mass incarceration | |
| More than 2.2 million people are imprisoned in the United States, a higher rate of incarceration than anywhere else in the industrialized world. On a state level, Mississippi is surpassed only by Oklahoma and Louisiana in the number of people it imprisons per capita, but organizers of an international conference at the University of Mississippi hope to highlight solutions. The Making and Unmaking Mass Incarceration conference, set for Dec. 4-6, will examine the history of mass incarceration and envision a world without prisons. The opening keynote address is to be delivered by Albert Woodfox, who was the longest-held prisoner in solitary confinement after serving more than four decades in a 6-by-9-foot cell at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, known as Angola Prison, for a crime he did not commit. The conference will bring together scholars, activists, policymakers, lawyers, students and Mississippi residents to look for interdisciplinary ways to reduce society's reliance on prisons and other punitive solutions. |
| New residence hall at Mississippi Valley State named to honor attorney and educator | |
| A new men's dormitory at Mississippi Valley State University is being named to honor a civil rights attorney and an educator who have been longtime supporters of the historically black school. McTeer Residence Hall is being dedicated Saturday on the Itta Bena campus. The name honors a husband and wife from Greenville, Mississippi. Victor McTeer is an attorney who has worked on cases involving public accommodations and discrimination in employment and education. Mercidees McTeer has been a public school teacher has served as the school board president in Greenville and president of the Mississippi State School Boards Association. |
| From Natchez roots: Jackson State historical marker unveiled | |
 | Jackson State University officials and alumni unveiled a historical marker Friday on the site of the former Natchez Charity Hospital on Cemetery Road where JSU was founded as the Natchez Seminary in 1877 by the American Baptist Home Mission Society and the Mississippi Baptist Convention Association. In 1883, the college was moved to Jackson and was renamed Jackson College. |
| U. of South Carolina's trustees doubted presidential search firm. Will they hire them again? | |
 | Even as University of South Carolina trustees prepared to elect Robert Caslen the school's next president this summer, members on all sides of the debate considered ditching the presidential search firm and starting over. University of South Carolina trustees -- including some who voted for Caslen in July -- asked questions about the search firm hired to find candidates, according to recently released documents. Some thought the firm wasn't capable and did an inadequate job. Though the presidential search is over, USC will soon conduct at least two nationwide searches for top university positions: chief diversity officer and provost. The board members' concerns about Parker Executive Search raise questions about how USC will fill these positions without running into the same problems. The records reviewed by The State -- which were released by the university and Gov. Henry McMaster's office -- show some board members thought about bringing in another search firm after the board decided in April to continue the presidential search. |
| Texas A&M system experimented with using outsourced coaches to help re-enroll stopped-out students | |
 | The Texas A&M University system for years has been working to re-enroll students who stopped out of college. The system's 11 universities often reach out to students who are eligible to enroll for the next semester but haven't yet, or who stepped away but have earned more than 90 credits. But system officials realized they were missing out on a large swath of students -- those who had been stopped out of college for a year or more. A key problem was finding contact information for students who had been away that long. Students could have moved, gotten new phone numbers or gotten married and changed their names. That's why the system began working with ReUp Education in May, said Shonda Gibson, the system's associate vice chancellor. Gibson said having a partner is critical for this work. It's difficult for campuses to track students down, and ReUp coaches also provide extra support by continuing to contact students throughout their time in college. |
| U. of Missouri receives $1.5 million from legacy donor | |
 | The University of Missouri received $1.5 million for business practice improvements from a university alumnus and descendant of one of its founding families. Jim Pace, a graduate of both Hickman High School and MU, is a direct descendant of the Pace family who contributed money and support for the foundation of MU in 1839. He earned a degree in business and eventually became the owner and CEO of manufacturing company ROM Corporation in 1973. "The foundation that I received from the university gave me the courage and skills to follow my dream of owning my own business," Pace said. After selling the company in 2004, Pace said he had the resources to give back to the university that believed in him. His intention was to improve university business practices. Rhonda Gibler, vice chancellor for finance and MU's chief financial officer, worked closely with Pace to accomplish his goals for the university. |
| 2019 Survey of Admissions Leaders: Admissions directors face growing pressure | |
| Last year, in response to suggestions of admissions counselors, Inside Higher Ed changed the question it asked of admissions directors about when they filled their class. In addition to asking if they had filled their class by May 1 (the traditional date), we asked if they had filled the class by June 1. Only the public doctoral universities category showed a majority filling their classes by May 1, and asking about June 1 resulted in majorities for private institutions. This year we asked if admissions leaders filled their classes by July 1 (in addition to the earlier deadlines). Administrators at a majority of institutions answered no. That's one of the findings of the 2019 Inside Higher Ed Survey of College and University Admissions Officials, conducted by Gallup. A majority (58 percent) are concerned about maintaining current levels of international students. The number that says they believe they will have to offer aid is going up. |
| Iranian Students Set to Start at U.S. Universities Are Barred From Country | |
 | At least a dozen Iranian students who were set to begin graduate programs in engineering and computer science say their visas were abruptly canceled and they were barred from their flights to the United States this month. The sudden batch of visa cancellations, which came at a time of heightened tensions between the United States and Iran, set off a scramble by university officials, lawmakers, the students' union and Iranian-American advocates to figure out what had happened. The State Department said that there had been no change in policy regarding student visas, and higher education officials say that visa problems arise every fall for some of the hundreds of thousands of international students who travel to attend American colleges and universities. But the students, most of whom were headed to schools in the University of California system, say their visas were revoked at the last minute, without any warning or explanation. |
| Why Undergraduate Research Matters in College | |
| The phrase undergraduate research may prompt images of lab coats and test tubes, but that's only a narrow slice of the whole experience. Undergraduate research opportunities extend across disciplines, taking many forms and offering benefits regardless of major, experts say, noting that such work helps students develop a variety of skills that employers value. Undergraduate research opportunities vary by college, but experts say the experience is really what students make of it. The nonprofit Council on Undergraduate Research defines undergraduate research as "an inquiry or investigation conducted by an undergraduate student that makes an original intellectual or creative contribution to the discipline." But what an undergraduate research program looks like can vary, taking many forms and methods across disciplines. In addition to developing skills, undergraduate research also is an opportunity to connect with professors. While student interactions may differ based on the undergraduate research model, faculty will always be central to the project. Students can expect to work closely with faculty mentors, whether in an assistant role or doing their own research. |
| The future of food is crawling. IUPUI leads the way in insect research | |
| The black ants could have been mistaken for caviar from a distance. At Sun King Brewery Tuesday evening, Brooklyn-based Chef Joseph Yoon sprinkled them carefully on top of a shrimp and cucumber slice. Only when you get close can you see the legs. And apparently, the ants add a nice citric tang. Yoon created an eye-catching spread of edible insect hors' d'oeuvres Tuesday evening at the opening reception to a planning conference held by Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis' School of Science. Its mission: plan its new Center for Insects as Feed and Food, which could be funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation. Partnering with Texas A&M and Mississippi State University, the center will bring together researchers and industry leaders to identify major issues and questions of raising insects for human consumption. Researchers will then work to answer those questions. The plan for the national research center will be pitched to the foundation in December, but IUPUI won't hear back until next fall. |
| Preposterous promises taking over politics? | |
 | Syndicated columnist Bill Crawford of Meridian writes: Standing on the promises... No, not those promises, but the promises of politicians. Consider these current promises from the Democratic candidates for president. Sen. Bernie Sanders is promising to make college and university attendance free for students for families earning less than $125,000 per year. Sen. Elizabeth Warren's promise is to forgive up to $50,000 in student loans for graduates who make less than $100,000. Sen. Cory Booker and Sen. Kamala Harris of California promise to subsidize college costs. As you might expect, such promises appeal to many. ... Presidential candidates have often been unable to deliver on campaign promises due to a reluctant Congress or changing circumstances. But those cited above seem all too willing to make appealing promises they have little chance to deliver. We're seeing the gap between politics and upright character traits integrity and honesty grows wider and wider. |
| Tate Reeves barely mentions MAEP rewrite on campaign trail, though, big issue for him in Legislature | |
| Bobby Harrison writes for Mississippi Today: Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves seemed a little more on edge than normal when he answered questions in March 2018 after the Senate where he presides surprisingly rejected his effort to replace the Mississippi Adequate Education Program. The Mississippi Adequate Education Program provides the bulk of state funding for the basic operation of local school districts. In the 2017 and 2018 sessions, Reeves and House Speaker Philip Gunn made the rewrite of the school funding formula one of their top legislative priorities. On that March day Reeves blamed the media for the failure of his MAEP rewrite attempt. ... As Reeves campaigns for the office of governor this year, he seldom talks about what was one of his top legislative priorities for two years -- the rewrite of the MAEP -- and whether he would renew that effort as the state's chief executive. |
SPORTS
| Kylin Hill Leads Mississippi State to 28-13 win over Kentucky | |
| Kylin Hill rushed for 120 yards and three touchdowns to lead Mississippi State to a 28-13 victory over Kentucky on Saturday. Mississippi State (3-1, 1-0 SEC) handed the ball to Hill, the Southeastern Conference's leading rusher 26 times in the game, taking some of the offensive pressure off freshman quarterback Garrett Schrader who started in place of injured senior Tommy Stevens, a Penn State transfer. "He was a grown man out there," Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said. "You can see a great player there, with a great desire to make some tough runs. That's a very good football player." Shrader, who played the entire second half last week, was another offensive highlight, throwing for 180 yards and rushing for 125 yards in his first full game managing the offense. "I don't know that there's too many freshman quarterbacks around the country playing like that," Mississippi State coach Joe Moorhead said. |
| Mississippi State QB Garrett Shrader steadies ship in win vs. Kentucky | |
 | Garrett Shrader lined up on the 30-yard line at Davis Wade Stadium. Kylin Hill stood to his left. Darryl Williams snapped to Shrader, and he handed the ball off to Hill. Stadium introductions occurred concurrently on the video board behind the south end zone. Names of the usual suspects were announced as Mississippi State starters. Hill at running back, Williams at center, etc. Then the public address announcer got to the final Bulldog to be called. The quarterback. "From Charlotte, North Carolina, Garrett Shrader," he bellowed. The true freshman lined up for another warm-up play as fans clad in maroon and white rang cowbells in his honor. Half an hour later, Shrader would make his first career collegiate start. It turned out to be a pretty good one. Mississippi State beat Kentucky, 28-13, to hand the Wildcats (2-2, 0-2) their second straight SEC loss as the Bulldogs (3-1, 1-0) picked up their first conference win. |
| Kylin Hill, Garrett Shrader lead Bulldogs past Kentucky | |
| Kylin Hill and Garrett Shrader ran wild as Mississippi State survived a late scare from Kentucky on Saturday night. Mississippi State beat Kentucky, 28-13, at Davis Wade Stadium in the SEC opener for the Bulldogs. Hill rushed for 120 yards and three touchdowns while Shrader rushed for 125 yards on 11 carries. The Bulldogs (3-1, 1-0) got an early spark when Starkville's Willie Gay Jr. intercepted a Sawyer Smith pass on the fourth play of the game and ran it back 52 yards for a touchdown to put MSU up 7-0. It was Gay's first defensive snap of the season after he was suspended for the team's first three games. "I think Willie is one of the top linebackers in the conference and in the country," MSU coach Joe Moorhead said. "He's big, he's fast, he's strong, he's athletic, and he plays with great passion. ... He played a great game today for the time he was in." |
| Mississippi State running back Kylin Hill is on pace for historic season | |
| Mississippi State might need to increase its football spending budget. After junior running back Kylin Hill topped 100 rushing yards for the fourth-straight game in MSU's 28-13 win over Kentucky on Saturday, head coach Joe Moorhead pitched an idea to make sure Hill stays healthy the rest of the year. "We're going to put him in a hyperbaric chamber, or whatever that's called," Moorhead said. Hill doesn't have a life-threatening complication like the ones listed above, and his body is functioning normally. He showed that when he leaped from the 4-yard line at Davis Wade Stadium and soared over the corner of the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown rush, his first of three on the day. Hill evoked freshman quarterback Garrett Shrader on the play. He infamously leaped from 5 yards away from the line to gain in last week's loss to Kansas State. He came up 1 yard short of the sticks. Hill cleared the pylon rather easily. "I did a little better than Garrett," Hill said with a smile. |
| How Willie Gay ignited Mississippi State's win over Kentucky | |
| Davis Wade Stadium's speakers blared "Halftime" by the Ying Yang Twins. The crowd of 54,556 sang along and acted accordingly. They rang their cowbells and caused a ruckus. So did Mississippi State linebacker Willie Gay. "Stand up and get crunk!" the Ying Yang Twins implored. Gay obliged. Mississippi State was set to kick off to Kentucky in the second quarter. The Bulldogs were leading 21-3 at the time. Gay was on the field as a gunner. He jumped up and down, waved his arms in the air, slapped his chest twice and pointed down the field. At a Kentucky player? Maybe. It was indiscernible, but it didn't matter. Gay made his point. He was fired up and ready to go, and his presence on Scott Field made a huge difference in Mississippi State's 28-13 win over Kentucky. "I call him an eraser," junior linebacker and team captain Erroll Thompson said. "If someone's not fitting right up front, he's so fast and so twitchy and just a freak of nature. He just erases the mistakes. If I mess up, he's there to erase it." |
| Brutal first half buries Kentucky football early at Mississippi State | |
 | Both Kentucky and Mississippi State had a week to channel their rage after dropping tight games at home last Saturday. Only one of them came out on fire this weekend. Mississippi State defeated Kentucky, 28-13, to open its Southeastern Conference slate and dropped the Wildcats to 0-2 in league play. An interception on UK's first drive led to the Bulldogs' first score, and in hindsight it was a start of a disastrous first half from which the Wildcats wouldn't fully recover. Linebacker Willie Gay Jr., a junior who missed Mississippi State's first three games due to a violation of team rules, picked off Sawyer Smith's second pass of the game and returned it 53 yards to put the Bulldogs up 7-0 less than 2 minutes into the game. Kentucky then stalled at midfield on its second trip. |
| Bulldogs, Rebels hit the road this weekend | |
| Mississippi State and Ole Miss will both venture across the state line to Alabama this week for SEC games. The Bulldogs go to No. 7 Auburn for their first true road game of the season on Saturday at 6 p.m. on ESPN. Earlier in the day, the Rebels will travel to Tuscaloosa to take on second-ranked Alabama at 2:30 p.m. on CBS. MSU (3-1, 1-0 SEC) is coming off a 28-13 victory against Kentucky on Saturday without the services of starting quarterback Tommy Stevens, who was sidelined with a shoulder injury. True freshman Garrett Shrader guided the Bulldogs' offense in his first career start, completing 17 of 22 passes for 170 yards and one interception and also leading the team with 125 rushing yards on 11 attempts. "We'll fix the mistakes, some of the other stuff you can't teach," MSU coach Joe Moorhead said of Shrader. "This was three or four years of recruiting, relationships and belief coming to fruition. I don't know if there's any other true freshman quarterback playing like that." |
| Pac-12: Refs ruled correctly in Cal-Ole Miss game | |
| The Pac-12 said Sunday night that officials were correct on the final two plays of Saturday's contest between California and Ole Miss, a game that ended in controversy. "The Pac-12 conference confirmed that the on-field game officials ruled correctly during the final two plays in the California-Ole Miss game Saturday, September 21, that Ole Miss did not score a touchdown and there was no irrefutable video evidence to reverse those calls by replay," the league said in a statement. "However, the conference would have supported play being stopped by instant replay for further review to confirm the on-field call of the second-to-last play of the game." Rebels coach Matt Luke pleaded with officials to stop the clock and review the play, but the ball was quickly marked at the 1. Plumlee attempted a sneak and was held short of the goal line on fourth down as time expired. |
| Texas A&M AD wants Arkansas series back on campuses after contract with AT&T Stadium ends in 2024 | |
| New Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork is no fan of conference games at neutral sites -- and that likely has the A&M series with Arkansas at AT&T Stadium on borrowed time. The current contract between the two schools and AT&T Stadium runs through 2024. The two schools, who have played in Arlington since 2014, meet next Saturday. "Here's how I should view it: we should have every SEC home game on our campus from here on out," Bjork said Friday afternoon in a phone interview. "How we do that after the contract is over is still yet to be determined. I think we should have four SEC home games every single year on our campus." Bjork says he has spoken in general terms with Arkansas AD Hunter Yurachek about his feelings. Because of its commitment to play games in Arlington and Little Rock, Arkansas only has two SEC games in Fayetteville this season -- Auburn and Mississippi State. |
| Auburn releases full details of Bruce Pearl's new 5-year contract | |
 | Bruce Pearl agreed to a new five-year deal to remain at Auburn after guiding the program to its first-ever Final Four in April. On Friday, full details of that contact were finally released by Auburn. AL.com obtained a copy of Pearl's new contract through a public records request made April 12, the day the program announced the deal. While the new deal was agreed to in principle in April, it wasn't signed and executed by all involved parties until two weeks ago on Sept. 6. Despite that, Pearl's extension went into effect May 1 and runs through April 30, 2024. He previously received an extension through the 2022-23 season a year earlier, when he helped Auburn return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2003. The head coach, who is entering his sixth year on the Plains, will earn a base annual salary of $250,000, which will be paid in equal monthly installments at the end of each month. Pearl will also earn $1,775,000 annually each in endorsement rights and appearance fees. |
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