STARKVILLE — Mississippi State football’s 1980 season featured one of the program’s biggest wins in school history.
In a game still remembered more than 40 years later, the Bulldogs knocked off No. 1 Alabama, the two-time defending champions, 6-3 in Jackson’s Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium, ending the Crimson Tide’s 28-game winning streak.
At the heart of MSU’s upset was a linebacker who couldn’t be blocked that November day, in Johnie Cooks. Cooks finished the game with 20 tackles, according to the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, highlighting one of the best careers in program history.
Cooks, the second overall pick in the 1982 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Colts, died Thursday morning at 64 years old, according to reports.
Cooks, a Leland native, played for MSU from 1977-1981, earning numerous accolades as one of college football’s best defensive players. On two occasions, 1980 and 1981, Cooks was named a First Team All-Southeastern Conference player, and was named a Second Team All-American those same years.
Cooks, who also lettered in basketball and track, was also an Associated Press First-Team All-America and MSU Team MVP in 1981.
He finished his college career with 373 tackles and was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.
Cooks spent 10 years in the NFL from 1982-1991, playing for the Colts, both in Baltimore and Indianapolis, as well as the New York Giants and Cleveland Browns. In 128 games, Cooks tallied 347 solo tackles, 134 assisted tackles, four interceptions, two fumble recoveries and added 32 sacks.
Cooks won a Super Bowl with the Giants in 1990.
Cooks’ No. 99 was inducted into Davis Wade Stadium’s Ring of Honor in 2011.
Justin Frommer is the Mississippi State sports reporter for The Dispatch.
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