STARKVILLE — On the day of the funeral for Mississippi State sophomore quarterback Dak Prescott’s mother Peggy, Bulldogs assistant head coach Tony Hughes started his time on the Southeastern Conference media teleconference with a message for the signal caller.
“Our hearts go out to Dak Prescott who is truly a team player and a great representative of Mississippi State…and his family today,” said Hughes, who is also the team’s recruiting coordinator and safeties coach. “He is very well respected by his teammates and the coaching staff here at Mississippi State.”
Hughes substituted for MSU coach Dan Mullen as the fifth-year head coach was scheduled to attend the Prescott funeral in Louisiana Wednesday.
Peggy Prescott died Sunday morning, losing her long battle with colon cancer and leaves three children with Dak being the youngest of the trio. Dak Prescott left the MSU program Sunday to be with his family in Haughton, La., and funeral proceedings were set for Wednesday with the entire MSU team planning to attend the services. MSU (4-4, 1-3 in Southeastern Conference) will travel Friday afternoon for a road game at No. 11 Texas A&M and Mullen said Monday he’s currently unsure if Prescott will play Saturday (2:30 p.m., CBS).
“We train year-round during the offseason, spring and summer conditioning program for adversity,” Hughes said when asked about coaching the team this week after the tragic news of one of their leader’s families.
“We teach them the game of football is like the game of life. Sometimes you’re going to get knocked down and sometimes circumstances are going to happen that you can’t control. You have to rise up past the adversity. Our young men here at Mississippi State are resilient and mentally tough.”
n Chick-fil-A Bowl to send representative to MSU-A&M game Saturday in College Station: The Chick-fil-A Bowl announced Wednesday morning they will be sending representative Rod Hovater to visit Kyle Field when MSU travels to face No. 11 Texas A&M. The bowl committee confirmed both teams are being scouted as potential representatives in the 2013 Chick-fil-A Bowl on Dec. 31.
The ACC and SEC team selections for the 46th annual Chick-fil-A Bowl will be announced on Sunday, Dec. 8. The Chick-fil-A Bowl is the oldest guaranteed Atlantic Coast Conference vs. Southeastern Conference match-up in the bowl business.
Texas A&M (7-2, 3-2 in SEC) has never appeared in the Chick-fil-A Bowl as the Aggies just joined the SEC in football last season. MSU has made three appearances in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, most recently in 1999, when the game was simply called the Peach Bowl, with a 17-7 victory against Clemson. The Bulldogs competed in the 1994 and 1992 bowl games as well.
n Derek Sherrod activated from the PUP list by Green Bay Packers for first time since injury: The Green Bay Packers activated tackle Derek Sherrod from the reserve/physically unable to perform list. Sherrod, 24, was the Packers’ first-round draft pick (32nd overall) out of Mississippi State in 2011.
He appeared in five games as a rookie offensive right tackle but suffered a broken leg and hasn’t been on the active roster since the injury. The Packers may need help along the offensive line as guard T.J. Lang suffered a concussion in Monday’s loss to the Chicago Bears.
Sherrod, a Columbus native and former four-star recruit to MSU under then-head coach Sylvester Croom, signed a rookie deal with the Packers worth $6.602 million with $5.3 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $3.3 million.
Follow Matt Stevens on Twitter @matthewcstevens.
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