MSU gearing up for opener

STARKVILLE — With two-a-days in the books, the Mississippi State football team will continue to prepare for the start of classes and its season opener.

And much like the rest of MSU’s training camp, coach Dan Mullen was positive Monday in his assessment of the team’s morning practice.

Conner leaves MSU

STARKVILLE — Mississippi State football fans will never know how good of a running back Montrell Conner could have been.

At least in maroon and white.

The redshirt freshman’s sudden departure and transfer to Copiah-Lincoln Community College leaves a small, but fillable void in the backfield just three weeks from the Bulldogs’ season opener. 

Citing having a two-year-old son in his hometown of Monroe, La., and feeling unhappy at MSU, Conner leaves Robert Elliott, Vick Ballard, LaDarius Perkins, Nick Griffin and Adrian Marcus to split reps. 

Starkville registers shutout of Callaway

STARKVILLE — Out of all the teams at the New Hope Fall jamboree, Starkville High School left the biggest stamp on Scott Field. 

Against three top offensive linemen recruits on a team that went 8-4 last season, the Yellow Jackets looked the like the polished, veteran team by beating Callaway 21-0 on Saturday. 

As for that vaunted Callaway offensive line? Just 31 rushing yards to show at the end of the two-quarter game. 

Mullen: Conner dealing with personal issues

STARKVILLE — Montrell Conner, despite an Internet rumor Thursday, is still a member of the Mississippi State football team, coach Dan Mullen confirmed Thursday.

Mitchell wants to see better response at jamboree

STARKVILLE — Jamie Mitchell’s Starkville High School football team has gotten mentally and physically tougher, but he will find out just how much progress his squad has made when it faces Jackson Callaway on Saturday at the New Hope High jamboree at Mississippi State’s Davis Wade Stadium.

Richardson scores four goals to lead Starkville Academy

STARKVILLE — The Robert Gardner era at Starkville Academy kicked off Thursday with an 11-0 rout of Washington School.

The first-year Lady Volunteers’ coach watched his side score seven goals in the first half and hold Washington to just one shot on goal in its season opener at the Starkville Sportsplex.

MSU’s kickers are competing neck-and-neck

STARKVILLE — Possibly the most tightly-contested position on Mississippi State’s football team this preseason is at kicker, where two seniors with a lot in common are trying to gain an edge for the No. 1 job.

Derek DePasquale and Sean Brauchle are junior college transfers who each started six games last season and experienced success.

Their similarities don’t stop there.

Both were perfect on extra points and were close in accuracy as DePasquale missed two field goals to Brauchle’s three. Neither recorded a touchback, and their respective season-long field goals are separated by just a yard.

Mississippi State simplifies defense

STARKVILLE — The only changes made to Mississippi State’s coaching staff after Dan Mullen’s first year at the helm came on the defensive side of the ball and it’s had an effect on all three levels.

Manny Diaz left Middle Tennessee State and Chris Wilson left the University of Oklahoma and joined MSU to help retool a young defense that flashed just as much big-play potential as big plays given up.

Diaz and Wilson have a spring practice under their belts as they co-coordinate the defense. In addition, Diaz coaches the linebackers and Wilson tutors the defensive line in a system run by some NFL teams.

Gardner inherits young Starkville Academy team

STARKVILLE — As Starkville Academy’s third head coach in the last three seasons, Robert Gardner has the attacking tools to make the Lady Volunteers a postseason threat. 

But will defense and youth be too much to overcome?

One year removed from a Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AAA playoff berth, the Lady Volunteers are unsettled on who’ll man the back line.

Also, the team has just one senior (Shelby Carpenter), and no juniors. 

QB race far from decided

STARKVILLE — Dan Mullen isn’t budging on who he expects to be Mississippi State’s starting quarterback.

The race between Tyler Russell and Chris Relf, only a week into fall practice, hasn’t produced a front-runner and there doesn’t appear to be light at the end of the tunnel, Dan Mullen hinted during Saturday’s team media day.

MSU has young receiving corp

STARKVILLE — Receiving depth is a concern for the Mississippi State football team, but if Thursday’s practice was any indication of what to expect, all the Bulldogs need is a bit of patience. 

Such was the case last year when MSU relied on Chad Bumphis and Leon Berry to assimilate themselves into a new offense at a new level. 

In just a year, Bumphis and Berry have become the elder statesmen of what passing game coordinator Mark Hudspeth calls “the youngest receiving corps in the country.” 

MSU volleyball team has higher expectations

STARKVILLE — Expect more from Mississippi State’s volleyball team.

MSU coach Jenny Hazelwood believes she has seen enough from the progress the team made last year and the success it had in the spring season to warn of a breakout year for one of the Southeastern Conference’s lower-ranked programs. 

“We’ve carried over a lot of momentum and will be a better team,” Hazelwood said.

Starkville Academy football team hosts Leake in scrimmage

STARKVILLE — Jeff Terrill’s positive energy is infectious.

And it’s a good thing as Starkville Academy’s football program is attempting to climb out of the valley and to the top of the mountain.

Today’s home scrimmage against Leake Academy gives the Volunteers their first chance to play against a different team since Terrill took over at the beginning of the year.

Eager, hungry, anxious and antsy, the Vols have been buoyed by Terrill’s diligence in creating an expectation to be better than they’ve been since winning a state title in 2005.

Starkville volleyball team stresses playing as a team

STARKVILLE — Playing as a team is a goal every athlete and coach will list at some point of the season. 

And as cliché and obvious as the concept might seem, a team won’t get far with individual play. 

Starkville High School volleyball coach Lauren Love has been drilling that concept to her squad since she took over last season. 

Communication is vital for solid team play, but the spirit of playing for one another can help overcome any deficiencies or lack of experience. 

Forwards will carry MSU’s hopes

STARKVILLE — Mississippi State’s soccer team has been re-tooling its attack for the past three seasons, and coach Neil Macdonald believes the firepower issues are a thing of the past.

Last year’s squad took a step toward contending in conference play, posting a 9-8-2 record and earning draws against ranked sides Florida and South Carolina.

MSU splits practice on first day

STARKVILLE — Mississippi State began football practice Tuesday with two split-squad sessions and plenty of eyes on the team’s newcomers.

In the first of three practices open to the public, Mississippi State newcomers took the field for the first time this fall in a format head coach Dan Mullen hoped would acclimate the freshman/transfer class to practice routines.

MSU begins practice

STARKVILLE — Mississippi State football players opened practice this morning with the first of two practices to begin the 2010 season.

The Bulldogs, coming off a 5-7 season, began fall camp Monday with 105 players reporting to the first team meeting.

Starkville scrimmage features everything

STARKVILLE — Starkville High School’s first fall scrimmage during head coach Jamie Mitchell’s tenure had a little bit of everything Saturday morning. 

But the multitude of pre-snap penalties and fumbled snaps were potentially offset by a string of long plays from sophomore skilled players. 

The long grind of opening week culminated with an intrasquad scrimmage in front of an estimated crowd of 100 Yellow Jacket fans. 

McGee’s No. 21 at MSU won’t be used

STARKVILLE — The No. 21, worn by the late Keffer McGee, will remain a symbol of Mississippi State football history as the only unofficial retired jersey.

Dickens shuffles Starkville Academy lineup

STARKVILLE — A move here. A move there. Let’s see if that works.

For much of Jessica Dickens’ time as head coach of Starkville Academy softball, that has been the order of readying the team for the 2010 season. 

The former Leake Academy standout spent two seasons as an assistant on Randy Haynes’ staff and took over in the spring following his swan song in 2009.