STARKVILLE — Richie Brown didn’t want to be a part of the senior class that ended the bowl streak.
Entering this season, the Mississippi State football team had been to a school-record six-straight bowl games. The likelihood of getting to a seventh looked good, but the Bulldogs hit hard times and needed to win their final two games, much like in 2013, to become bowl eligible.
However, MSU lost to Arkansas 58-42 on Nov. 19 in Starkville to end a chance of getting to six wins and becoming bowl eligible in the conventional manner.
Brown and the rest of the seniors prepared for MSU’s game against Ole Miss believing it was going to be their final game and the streak was going to end. A 55-20 victory in the Battle for the Golden Egg followed and set the stage for a waiting game that ended a week later with the news that MSU had made a bowl game at 5-7 because of a 971 Academic Progress Rate (APR) score. MSU will play Miami University (6-6) n the St. Petersburg Bowl at 10 a.m. Monday, Dec. 26 (ESPN), at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
“We didn’t want that to be our legacy as the seniors going out,” Brown said. “It was a tough season, and we’re three plays away from going somewhere else and not even being in this situation. It just kind of shows what kind of team we are.”
MSU began the streak with a 52-14 victory against Michigan in the 2011 Gator Bowl to cap the 2010 season. Since then MSU has won enough games to qualify for a bowl berth.
Brown said it is exciting the Bulldogs’ hard work in the classroom helped them get another game. Even though it was a disappointing season, Brown said there is no other place he would be in December than hitting the practice fields to prepare for one last game.
“This is definitely, exactly where we want to be,” Brown said Friday before the Bulldogs hit the practice fields. “We get to play another game of football. I love football, and this is just another opportunity to go play. We’re excited about it.”
Brown, who has a team-high 93 tackles (four for loss) and one-and-a-half sacks, has family in St. Petersburg. He said he is looking forward to spending Christmas with his wife, parents, and in-laws.
When MSU coach Dan Mullen arrived prior to the 2009 season, MSU had been to one bowl game since the 2001 season. His seven bowl appearances are the most by any MSU coach. Mullen is 4-2 in the previous six.
Mullen said there is no other place he’d like to spend Christmas than preparing and playing in a bowl game.
“I would never want to be at home trying to explain why I’m at home. You want to be out practicing this time of year,” Mullen said.
Mullen said he envisioned going to a bowl game every year when he took over the program. He’s just as happy as Brown and the seniors to keep that streak alive.
If the Bulldogs hadn’t made a bowl game, the senior class might have been remembered for winning back the Egg Bowl trophy after back-to-back losses.
Now, Brown hopes to end his career with a two-game winning streak.
“We just want to win the game just like any other week. We’re going to come to play and we’re going to come to compete,” Brown said.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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