MSU defensive coordinator Sirmon wants better play calling

STARKVILLE — Wearing a Mississippi State sweat shirt and shorts Tuesday afternoon, Peter Sirmon talked bluntly about his defense.

MSU will try to answer questions after loss to Auburn

STARKVILLE — Dan Mullen learned at an early age that questions about his performance as a football player were going to be asked.

Growing up in Manchester, New Hampshire, Mullen recalled his father, Bob, always asking him about the decisions he made on the field.

“He’d be like, ‘Why are you doing this or why are you doing that?’ I’d say, ‘How do you know what I was doing? Were you at practice all week? You didn’t have any idea what was going on out there. You didn’t even know the game plan,'” Mullen said.

Expectations building for 2017 Mississippi State baseball team

The Mississippi State baseball team is a little more than four months away from the start of the 2017 season.

MSU offers little resistance

STARKVILLE — With two weeks to prepare, Mississippi State football coach Dan Mullen was surprised Saturday by how his team played against Auburn.

The Bulldogs used the bye week to clean up mistakes and to give players time to heal their injuries.

Unfortunately, Mullen and his coaches appear to need a little more time to get things going in the right direction.

Mullen: Bulldogs need to strain every snap

STARKVILLE — Giving relentless effort has been the main talking point for Dan Mullen in his eight-year tenure as Mississippi State football coach.

Mullen has seen his squads give everything they have on every play to help the program reach a school-record six-straight bowl games.

Things have gone differently through the first five games of the 2016 season.

Mixon catches first touchdown pass

STARKVILLE — Keith Mixon wasn’t sure he was going to be able to stay inbounds.

Auburn defensive back Stephen Roberts tried to jump the route, but he couldn’t intercept or deflect the pass from quarterback Nick Fitzgerald.

McCloud has night to remember for Noxubee County

MACON — Antonio McCloud took one step and was surrounded by friends and families.

The Noxubee County High School senior defensive end took a few minutes to join in on several pictures and to catch up with loved ones. As soon as McCloud finished one picture with three girls, there were others waiting to get their picture taken with the man of the evening.

In addition to being named Homecoming king at halftime, McCloud came up with two fumble recoveries to help Noxubee County beat Leake Central High 41-13 in a Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 4A, Region 4 game at Tiger Stadium.

Starkville’s Gay gets All-American jersey

STARKVILLE — On a day when Willie Gay was the center of attention, he didn’t want it that way.

On Thursday, the Starkville High School football senior linebacker was presented with his 2017 U.S. Army All-American Bowl jersey as part of the American Family Insurance Selection Tour at the Starkville football office. The U.S. Army All-American Bowl will be at noon Saturday, Jan. 7, 2017, at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. WTVA will broadcast the game live.

MSU wants to build streak vs. Auburn

STARKVILLE — Mississippi State football coach Dan Mullen is looking to do something that hasn’t happened since Jackie Sherrill led the Bulldogs.

Mullen and MSU have a chance to win three games in a row against Auburn. It would be the longest streak against the Tigers since the Bulldogs won four in a row from 1997-2000.

MSU defense will try to avoid Auburn’s window dressing

STARKVILLE — Window dressing.

That’s how Mississippi State football defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon describes the Auburn offense. Watching film of the Tigers, Sirmon said he has seen a lot of formations and has watched Auburn use guys in motion and make shifts in an attempt to confuse defenses.

Sirmon likened the window dressing to cars passing by when asked why it is so effective and how it distracts defenses.

Youth movement underway for MSU men’s basketball team

STARKVILLE — Mississippi State men’s basketball coach Ben Howland bowed his head both Monday and Tuesday and asked the media to take a look.

Shumpert providing leadership role in MSU backfield

STARKVILLE — When Ashton Shumpert was young, he watched his grandfather closely as he worked.

MSU men will look to Q

STARKVILLE — After a stellar freshman season, Quinndary Weatherspoon faces high expectations for the 2016-17 season.

Playing opposite of five-star guard Malik Newman, Weatherspoon flourished for the Mississippi State men’s basketball team and was named to the All-Southeastern Conference Freshman team. Weatherspoon played guard and made the transition to forward in January and played well.

MSU gets back to work for Auburn

STARKVILLE — Dan Mullen did a lot of multi-tasking last week.

The Mississippi State football coach used the week following his team’s victory against Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, to clean up some problem areas and to give some veterans time off to heal injuries.

Near the end of the week, Mullen and his coaches started to prepare for the team’s game against Auburn (3-2, 1-1) at 11 a.m. Saturday (SEC Network) at Davis Wade Stadium.

Howell sad to see son-in-law leave position at MSU

In 2008, Bailey Howell received some news that was going to change his life for the time being.

Caledonia dops region opener to Houston

CALEDONIA — Caledonia football coach Andy Crotwell wants to see his team overcome adversity in a game.

Calvin proving he can be MSU’s viper

STARKVILLE — Johnathan Calvin has been a defensive lineman for most of his football career.

The Mississippi State senior played at that position at Provine High School and at Murray High, where he played as a junior and as a senior. He then played defensive end at Copiah-Lincoln Community College.

Calvin signed with MSU in July 2014 and played in all 13 games last season, drawing one start (Belk Bowl against North Carolina State).

Strawberry speaks about addiction, redemption

Darryl Strawberry has a powerful message and he wants it to be heard, especially by college students.

Mullen balances calling plays, running team

STARKVILLE — Mississippi State football coach Dan Mullen understands why Auburn coach Gus Malzahn relinquished his play-calling duties.

Malzahn, who admitted his play calling hadn’t been very good in Auburn’s two losses, handed the duties over to offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee before his team defeated LSU 18-13 on Saturday. Lashlee will call the plays the rest of the season.

Mullen, who was an offensive coordinator at Florida from 2005-08, has been calling the plays the last couple of seasons for MSU. But he said it’s “tricky” to call plays and to be in charge of the entire team.

Offensive line has fueled Starkville High’s success

STARKVILLE — Connor Reinike and Jakoby Jones didn’t know what to expect when they joined the Starkville High School football team last season.

Reinike had transferred from Starkville Academy and Jones was getting used to life away from East Oktibbeha County High School. Jones became a Yellow Jacket after the Oktibbeha County School District and Starkville School District consolidated in the fall of 2015.