STARKVILLE — In each of the last two seasons, the Mississippi State football team has worn an alternate uniform around Veterans’ Day weekend, both times black with stars and stripes around the shoulder.
This year, MSU will be honoring a specific veteran.
G.V. “Sonny” Montgomery — the MSU alum, World War II veteran, former Congressman and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient — has a Mississippi Air National Guard C-17 Globemaster III plane named in his honor; on Nov. 17 against Arkansas, MSU will wear uniforms inspired by the plane.
The uniforms are the same color as the plane, light onyx, with the same “Spirit of Sonny Montgomery” text on the side of the plane found out the right hip. Each helmet is hand-painted with the Mississippi welcome sign on the side and images of medals Montgomery won on the back.
The numbers and writing on the jersey are representative of the font used on the plane.
Cole out for the season
After being without him for a few weeks, Mississippi State has learned it will be without defensive back Brian Cole for the rest of the season.
Cole started four of MSU’s first five games at nickelback but got injured against a Florida, an upper-body injury that is not season ending. His season ends with 11 tackles, three for a loss, with a sack and an interception.
MSU has turned to Jaquarius Landrews and West Point native Marcus Murphy in Cole’s absence.
“He’s playing fantastic football right now, very productive, very steady and made a lot of plays,” MSU coach Joe Moorhead said of Landrews. “Early in the season, a lot of people were talking about Marcus because of coming out of a local school and how talented he is, and you can see him easing his way into it and making plays on special teams. It was a valuable experience for Marcus the last two games and I think it was a good decision to not redshirt him and get him on the field.”
Landrews had a standout game in Cole’s place against Texas A&M: seven tackles, 2.5 for a loss, two sacks and three pass breakups. Murphy has had a tackle in four of the last five games.
Also on the injury front, running back Kylin Hill, defensive tackle Braxton Hoyett and wide receiver Keith Mixon are day-to-day; Moorhead is optimistic about Hill and Mixon.
More honors for Fitzgerald and others
Quarterback Nick Fitzgerald was named the Southeastern Conference Offensive Player of the Week this week after 241 passing yards and 88 rushing yards against Texas A&M. It is the sixth time he has collected that honor, a school record.
“Excellent validation for him to bounce back and execute the plan, do things in both the run and the pass game to lead the team,” Moorhead said. “Being resilient, being adaptive and all the things that go into being a good teammate. I thought it was a good day for the whole team and an excellent day for Nick.”
The honor came on the same day that defensive linemen Jeffery Simmons and Montez Sweat were both named Bednarik Award semifinalists, given to the nation’s best defensive player by the Maxwell Club.
CBS picks MSU
For the first time this season, CBS will put a MSU game in its 2:30 p.m. national slot.
MSU’s trip to Alabama will be the afternoon game. It will be MSU’s first time playing in that slot since the 2015 meeting with the Crimson Tide.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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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 30 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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Related Photos
A look at the uniform the Mississippi State football players will wear then they take the field against Arkansas on Nov. 17. Photo by: Mississippi State Athletic Media Relations
