It”s hard to imagine Mississippi State”s football team having its Gator Bowl week go any better.
The Bulldogs” 52-14 win over Michigan set a Gator Bowl record for most points scored and sent the Wolverines home with their worst bowl loss in program history.
Saturday”s blowout win was the culmination of a five weeks of preparation and careful management of the extra time provided by being bowl eligible.
For all the valuable reps MSU”s freshman and reserves received during the first half of bowl prep, the team”s flawless week in Jacksonville played a vital role in what ended with State”s largest ever margin of victory in a bowl (38 points).
For starters, there were no mishaps Tuesday during the team”s beach celebration in Jacksonville Beach, where players held sand volleyball matches and watched several teammates take wintertime dips in the Atlantic Ocean.
Players enjoyed the break from their practice routine, though head coach Dan Mullen patrolled the beach nervously, understanding the downtime was good for his players but also keen to keep his team focused.
Outside of veterans Derek Sherrod and K.J. Wright, most of MSU”s players weren”t around for the 2007 season when the Bulldogs MSU won the Liberty Bowl. How the players would utilize the extra practices, manage the time away from home, and effectively prepare once they got to Jacksonville, were valid concerns for such a young team.
Mullen, though he”d had national championship-level coaching experience at Florida, was set to coach in his first bowl game as a head coach.
So much of the experience was unchartered territory for the Bulldogs, but Michigan, not MSU, had the controversy and untimely discipline issues.
Wolverines” head coach Rich Rodriguez was the coach fielding questions about his future with the school, while Mullen agreed to a new four-year extension Wednesday that will rank him in the top 20 nationally in terms of annual salary.
All of MSU”s players were eligible and made curfew each night; Michigan sent one reserve home and received news backup quarterback and one-time starter Tate Forcier was academically ineligible for the game.
The only hurdle MSU needed to clear before Saturday was a mid-week rash with a stomach virus, which affected offensive linemen Derek Sherrod, J.C. Brignone and Addison Lawrence, as well as wide receiver Arceto Clark and middle linebacker Chris White. Players received fluids through an IV the day before the game, but there were no signs of dehydration or fatigue Saturday.
Then, quarterback Chris Relf capped a career-best passing day and earned game MVP, hoisting the trophy while wearing the jersey number of former teammate Nick Bell, who had passed away nearly two months to the day.
The leap from a 5-7 record in 2009 to a 9-4 record and Gator Bowl win over storied club Michigan raises the bar for ”11, which Mullen welcomes.
“Hopefully that catapults us from the step from good to great, just as the last win from our previous season did going into that offseason,” Mullen said Saturday. “I know our goals as a football team is to win the (Southeastern Conference) West (Division) and find a way to improve. We had nine wins this year, and next year it”ll be more than nine wins. And we”ll start working on that tomorrow.”
Wright, a three-year starter, got a taste of success early before enduring an underachieving ”08 campaign and an ”09 season — Mullen”s first in Starkville — filled with a pair of close calls that could put in MSU in a bowl.
As a senior, he”s proud to be one of the building blocks of the Mullen era.
“It”s real big to end the season with nine wins, it”s gonna get a lot of high school guys to come here,” Wright said. “And everybody in the state of Mississippi knows this is where they want to play.”
What”s next
Speaking of things that went right, MSU”s passing game continued to deliver.
For the third straight game, quarterback Chris Relf threw for more than 220 yards and led the Bulldogs to 30 points or more.
He did it Saturday without a receiver who was on the roster when he arrived on campus in ”08, when Arceto Clark was a true freshman.
Of Relf”s 18 completed passes Saturday, 16 went to freshmen or sophomores.
The junior quarterback opened the game 4 of 4 on the Bulldogs” first drive of the game, which was capped with a 4-yard scoring pass form Relf to Clark.
MSU had so much confidence in Relf that it often emptied the backfield and ran five-wide sets — an obvious indicator of a pass play.
“That”s something I worked on in the offseason,” Relf said. “I was just throwing to what I see.
“I think I”ve had a pretty good season overall.”
Relf”s 1,789 passing yards and 13 touchdowns were the most for the Bulldogs since Kevin Fant finished the ”03 season with 2,151 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Relf”s development as a passer gives the Bulldogs tremendous balance and productivity they haven”t had since Fant and his predecessor Wayne Madkin.
“I just want to thank the coaches for giving me an opportunity to play quarterback,” Relf said before accepting the MVP trophy.
Not noted from MSU”s passing performance in the Gator Bowl was graduate assistant Angelo Mirando, who coached the receivers after Mark Hudspeth accepted the Louisiana-Lafayette head coach job.
Mirando also was a graduate assistant when Mullen was at Florida.
MSU”s assistants are in line to receive pay raises after Mullen”s new deal, and Mirando could find himself with his first coaching job. Mullen said he”s been impressed with Mirando”s work, though said he would make a decision on filling the job permanently after the Gator Bowl.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 43 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
