Mississippi State Bulldogs Miami (Ohio) Redhawks St
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2016 MISSISSIPPI STATE FOOTBALL ST. PETERSBURG BOWL Dan Mullen Era • Winningest 6-Year Stretch in MSU History • 7 Straight Bowl Games • 21 NFL Draft Picks • 11 All-Americans • 2 National Scholars December 26, 2016 GAME 13: ST. PETERSBURG BOWL 11 a.m. ET/10 a.m. CT • ESPN Mississippi State Bulldogs Miami (Ohio) RedHawks St. Petersburg, Fla. Record 5-7 (3-5 SEC, T5th SEC West) Record 6-6 (6-2 MAC, T1st MAC East) Tropicana Field (31,042) Streak W1 Streak W6 Ranking NR Associated Press Ranking NR Associated Press SCHEDULE (5-7, 3-5 SEC) NR Amway Coaches NR Amway Coaches DATE OPPONENT TV TIME (CT) NR CFB Playoff NR CFB Playoff SEPTEMBER (2-2) Head Coach Dan Mullen Head Coach Chuck Martin 3 South Alabama SECN L, 20-21 Career Record 60-42 (.588)/eighth year Career Record 85-32/ninth year 10 South Carolina * ESPN2 W, 27-14 MSU Record same MU Record 11-25/third year 17 at #20/22 LSU * ESPN2 L, 20-23 Mullen Bowl Rec. 4-2 Martin vs. MSU first meeting 24 at UMass (Foxborough) ESPN3 W, 47-35 OCTOBER (1-3) STORYLINES 8 Auburn * ESPN L, 14-38 MSU Makes Seventh Straight Bowl, Takes on Miami in St. Petersburg Bowl 14 at BYU (Fri.) ESPN L, 21-28 2OT MSU makes its school-record seventh straight bowl appearance as the Bulldogs take on Miami (Ohio) for the first 22 at Kentucky * SECN L, 38-40 time in the St. Petersburg Bowl on Dec. 26 at Tropicana Field. Kickoff is 11 a.m. ET/10 a.m. CT on ESPN. 29 Samford (HC) SECN W, 56-41 At 5-7, MSU qualifi ed for a bowl with a 971 NCAA APR, which is 12 points above the national average. NOVEMBER (2-2) MSU is the fi rst SEC team to play in the St. Pete Bowl. Th is is MSU’s sixth all-time bowl appearance in the 5 #7/7/4 Texas A&M * SECN W, 35-28 state of Florida and third bowl in the Sunshine State the past four years. 12 at #1/1/1 Alabama * ESPN L, 3-51 Th is is State's 20th bowl appearance. Th e Bulldogs are 11-8 all-time in bowl games and 4-2 under Dan Mullen. 19 Arkansas * ESPNU L, 42-58 Dan Mullen, the Bobby Dodd Trophy National Coach of the Week following a win over No. 4 Texas A&M 26 at Ole Miss * SECN W, 55-20 and 2014 National Coach of the Year, owns the highest winning percentage (.588) at MSU since College Football DECEMBER (0-0) Hall of Famer Allyn McKeen from 1939-48 (.764, min. 3 seasons). Mullen is the second-longest tenured SEC 26 St. Petersburg Bowl ESPN 10 a.m. coach at his current school behind only Alabama’s Nick Saban (10). MSU was 32-65 in the eight years prior to vs. Miami (Ohio) Mullen’s arrival. Mullen owns more bowl appearances (7) and bowl wins (4) than any coach in school history. MSU is coming off a dominating 55-20 win over Ole Miss. The margin of victory was the largest in the Egg Bowl COACHING STAFF since 1916. Nick Fitzgerald set an MSU single-game record with 258 rushing yards, which was the highest by an FBS On the Sideline (Year at MSU) QB since Navy’s Keeenan Reynolds in 2014. Fitzgerald averaged 18.4 yards per rush, which was the highest by an SEC Dan Mullen, head coach (8th) player in a conference game in league history. RB Aeris Williams rushed for a career-best 191 yards and two scores. Brian Baker, defensive line (1st) Sr. WR Fred Ross, a two-time first-team All-SEC recipient, has shattered four MSU career records this Terrell Buckley, cornerbacks (1st) season: catches (195), consecutive games with a catch (34), 100-yard receiving games (10) and receiving yards Billy Gonzales, co-offensive coordinator/WRs (4th) (2,485). For his career, he has tallied 22 receiving touchdowns, which is tied for second in school history and John Hevesy, co-offensive coordinator/OL (8th) two shy of the record. This season, Ross leads the SEC in receiving TDs (12) and he’s second in the league in Greg Knox, running backs/special teams (8th) catches (68) and fourthin the SEC in yards (873). His 195 catches rank 11th in SEC career history, and he’s five Scott Sallach, tight ends (8th) catches from becoming the ninth player in SEC history with 200 catches in a career. Peter Sirmon, defensive coordinator/LBs (1st) So. QB Nick Fitzgerald leads the SEC in three categories: total offense (3,530), rushing touchdowns (14) and 100- yard rushing games (7). He leads the nation in 300-yard passing/100-yard rushing games (3), and he’s third nationally In Th e Booth (Year at MSU) in QB rushing yards. He’s accounted for 35 (21 pass, 14 rush) of MSU’s 46 offensive TDs this season (76.1%) and broken eight school records - five single-game and three single-season. In the last five games, Fitzgerald is averaging a Brian Johnson, quarterbacks (3rd) SEC-best 382.6 yards per game of offense with 22 TDs accounted for. Fitzgerald’s 1,243 yards rushing is third all-time Maurice Linguist, safeties (1st) among SEC QBs in a single season and 148 yards shy of the MSU single-season record held by RB Anthony Dixon. STATISTICAL LEADERS Fitzgerald is 230 yards shy of Cam Newton’s single-season SEC single-season QB record. MSU has put up at least 500 yards of total offense 18 times in the last three seasons, which is No. 1 in SEC. Passing: Fitzgerald (183-335, 2287 yds, 21 TD, 10 INT) The Bulldogs are averaging 523.2 yards per game in the last five contests with four 500-yard games. Rushing: Nick Fitzgerald (177 att, 1243 yds, 14 TD) Receiving: Fred Ross (68 rec, 873 yds, 12 TD) BY THE NUMBERS Tackles: Richie Brown (93 tackles, 4.0 TFL, 1.5 sacks) Tackles for Loss: Johnathan Calvin (11.5 TFL, 7 sacks) 72 5 Tackles by Freshman All-SEC LB Leo Lewis, which MSU is one of five SEC teams who have been to a AIRWAVES leads all SEC freshmen and is No. 7 nationally bowl every season this decade (Alabama, Georgia, MSU Sports Radio Network among Power 5 freshmen (18th overall in SEC) LSU and Texas A&M the others) Jim Ellis, play-by-play Matt Wyatt, analyst 22 112.5 John Correro, sideline Freshmen who have played for MSU this season Average yards per game rushing by Aeris (five true, 17 redshirt; 9 defense, 11 offense, 2 ST) Williams in the last four games (2 100-yd games) ESPN/WatchESPN.com Dave LaMont, play-by-play 35 21 Rene Ingoglia, analyst Combined games missed by MSU starters due to First-time starters for MSU this season, which is Chris Doering, reporter injury this season (among eight starting players) most in the SEC and ninth-most nationally Facebook.com/HailStateFB @HailStateFB HAILSTATE.COM @HailStateFB Hail State Snap ST. PETERSBURG BOWL MEDIA SERVICES MSU Athletic Media Relations Staff Team Hotel Three members of the MSU Athletic Media Relations staff will be in St. The team will be headquartered at the Vinoy Renaissance St. Petersburg Petersburg beginning Wednesday, Dec. 21 for your media service needs. on 501 Fifth Avenue NE from Dec. 21-26. It is approximately 1.7 miles from Tropicana Field. Team Practices All MSU team practices will take place at Calvary Christian High School in Clearwater on 110 N McMullen Booth Road. It is approximately 18 miles NW of the team hotel. The first 30 minutes of practice will be open to media on Thursday, Dec. 22 and Friday, Dec. 23. Media are allowed to shoot photography and video during the open portion of practice on Bill Martin Andrew Piper Nick Price Dec. 22 and 23. Practices on Dec. 24 and Dec. 25 are CLOSED to media. Bill Martin, Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations Email: [email protected] Post Practice Interviews Office: (662) 325-0967 • Cell: (662) 418-3821 • Twitter: @MSUBillMartin Media interviews will be conducted on the field at Calvary Christian Andrew Piper, Assistant Director of Media Relations High School following practices on Thursday, Dec. 22; Friday, Dec. 23 Email: [email protected] and Saturday, Dec. 24. Please email Bill Martin and Andrew Piper your Office: (662) 325-0972 • Cell: (662) 418-9183 • Twitter: @ADPiper7 player and assistant coach requests. Head coach Dan Mullen will be avail- Nick Price, Graduate Assistant able following practice on Dec. 22 and Dec. 24. See the calendar below Email: [email protected] for a complete schedule. Office: (662) 325-7297 • Cell: (662) 601-527-3232 • Twitter: @NickPriceMSU @MSUMediaAlerts St. Petersburg Bowl Media Contact Please follow our media only Twitter handle, @MSUMediaAlerts, for Jack Heilig serves as the media contact for the St. Petersburg Bowl. He can important media information, including changes to the media schedule. be reached at [email protected]. This site is for media ONLY. Schedule (All times local and subject to change) Wednesday, December 21 Saturday, December 24 1 p.m. – Buses depart from Seal Complex to Golden Triangle Regional 10 a.m. - Team Practice at Calvary Christian High School Airport (CLOSED to the media) 2 p.m. – Depart on charter fl ight for St. Pete-Clearwater International 11:50 a.m. - Post Practice Interviews on fi eld at Calvary Christian HS 4:30 p.m. – Arrive at St.