MISSISSIPPI STATE GAME NOTES MSTATE (1-1, 0-1 SEC) AT AUBURN (1-1, 0-0 SEC) JORDAN-HARE STADIUM (87,451) • SEPTEMBER 15, 2007 • 11:30 A.M. • LF SPORTS MSTATE SCHEDULE & RESULTS MISSISSIPPI STATE RETURNS TO SEC WEST ACTION AT AUBURN Date Opponent W-L Score/Time Following last week's 38-17 win over Tulane in the Louisiana Superdome, Mississippi State returns to Aug. 30 * LSU L 0-45 Southeastern Conference Western Division play when it travels to Auburn, Saturday, Sept. 15. The Sept. 8 at Tulane W 38-17 game between the Bulldogs and Tigers will be televised by Lincoln Financial Sports and will kick off Sept. 15 at Auburn 11:30 a.m. at 11:30 a.m. at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Sept. 22 GARDNER-WEBB 6 p.m. Sept. 29 at South Carolina TBA MISSISSIPPI STATE LOOKS TO END SIX- FORMER AUBURN PLAYER, COACH Oct. 6 UAB (Homecoming) 1:30 p.m. Oct. 13 TENNESSEE TBA GAME SLIDE AGAINST AUBURN RETURNS TO JORDAN-HARE Oct. 20 at West Virginia 11 a.m. Mississippi State hopes to terminate a current six-game When Mississippi State wide receiver coach Pat Washington Oct. 27 at Kentucky TBA losing streak against the Auburn Tigers, a stretch that returns to Auburn this weekend, it will be another home- Nov. 10 ALABAMA TBA Nov. 17 at Arkansas (Little Rock) TBA started following a 17-10 Bulldog win in 2000. That vic- coming for the former Tiger great. Washington played Nov. 23 OLE MISS 11:30 a.m. tory was the last in a run of four-consecutive State wins quarterback at Auburn from 1982-85, helping the Tigers All times Central from 1997-2000. State last won at Auburn in 1999, a last- to four-straight post-season bowl games. He also served The Series second 18-16 victory. two years as a graduate assistant coach at AU. Overall Record . Auburn leads, 56-22-2 at Starkville . Auburn leads, 10-4-1 at Auburn. .Auburn leads, 25-5 MISSISSIPPI STATE EYES SEC ROAD- A SLEW OF ALBAMA-BORN BULLDOGS at Neutral Sites . .Auburn leads, 21-13-1 OPENING REVERSAL RETURN TO THEIR HOME STATE Last meeting: . Auburn, 34-0, 2006 in Starkville Last meeting in Auburn:. Auburn, 28-0, 2005 Mississippi State is 19-53-1 (.267) all-time in Southeastern No less than 15 Mississippi State football student-athletes Last 10 meetings: . Auburn leads 6-4 Conference road openers. The Bulldogs have dropped will venture across the border back into their home state Current Series Win Streak: . Auburn, 6 games seven straight league road openers, dating to a win at of Alabama this weekend when the Bulldogs travel to Sylvester Croom vs. Auburn: . 0-3 at Auburn. 0-1 Vanderbilt in the school's first SEC road game in 1999. Auburn. True freshmen DB Zach Smith (Altoona), OL D.J. Tommy Tuberville vs. Mississippi State: . 7-4 Looney (Birmingham), LB Terrell Johnson (Cullomburg), at Auburn. 3-1 Croom vs. Tuberville: . Tuberville leads 3-0 BULLDOGS APPEAR ON NETWORK and QB Chris Relf (Montgomery) return to their home TELEVISION FOR THIRD-STRAIGHT TIME state for the first time as Bulldogs. Offensive line- Broadcast Information When Mississippi State plays Auburn this Saturday, it will men Mark Melichar (Birmingham) and Johnny Carpenter Television . .Lincoln Financial Sports Announcers . Dave Neal, Dave Archer, Dave Baker mark the Bulldogs' third-straight televised game to open (Citronelle), running back Arnil Stallworth (Daphne), snap- Radio . Mississippi State Radio Network the 2007 campaign. It is the first time since 2001 that per Aaron Feld (Homewood), defensive linemen Rodney Announcers . Jack Cristil, Jim Ellis, John Correro in Starkville . 107.9, WFCA State has opened with three consecutive games on net- Prince (Irondale) and Titus Brown (Tuscaloosa), wide work TV. MState is 50-74 (.403) all-time in games appear- receivers Ryan Mason (Mobile) and Aubrey Bell (Prichard), Quick Facts - Mississippi State ing on live network television. defensive backs Keon Humphries (Montgomery) and Record . 1-1 Ranking (AP/Coaches'). NR / NR Chris Nance (Tuscumbia) and quarterback Michael Henig Last Game . W, at Tulane, 38-17 BULLDOGS SEEK A RETURN TO (Montgomery) also call the state of Alabama home. Head Coach . .Sylvester Croom Career Record . .10-26 / fourth season PREVIOUS MORNING-SLOT DOMINANCE The 15 players from Alabama are the most out-of-state MSU Record . .10-26 / fourth season Mississippi State is 17-23 (.425) in games aired by the Bulldogs on the MSU roster. Southeastern Conference's current early television win- Quick Facts - Auburn Record . 1-1 dow partner (Lincoln Financial Sports/Jefferson Pilot THREE TIGERS FROM MISSISSIPPI Ranking (AP/Coaches'). RV / RV Sports). That record has been skewed by a 2-12 mark in WELCOME MSU TO THE PLAINS Last Game . L, vs. South Florida , 23-26 (OT) Head Coach . Tommy Tuberville televised morning games since 2001. Those two wins, Auburn lists three players on its roster from the state Career Record . 97-50 / 13th season however, were big Bulldog victories -- a 38-31 win over of Mississippi. Senior defensive end Quentin Groves is Auburn Record . 72-30 / first season Florida in 2004 and a 24-16 win at Alabama last fall. Prior from Greenville. Junior linebacker Steve Gandy is from MISSISSIPPI STATE ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS to that stretch, State was 15-11 in such games. MSU is 4-8 Waynesboro. And true freshman offensive lineman Chaz P.O. Box 5308 all-time vs. Auburn on TV. Ramsey hails from Madison. Mississippi State, MS 39762 Football Contacts: Mike Nemeth, Joe Galbraith Phone: (662) 325-2703 • Fax: (662) 325-2563 Mississippi State Bulldogs vs Auburn Tigers • September 15, 2007 • Football Game Notes • Early Week Notes OTHER ASSOCIATIONS EXIST BETWEEN MEDIA SERVICES THE TWO SCHOOLS' PLAYERS STATISTICAL COMPARISON MONDAY TELECONFERENCE Mississippi State's Melichar was in the same class with Mississippi State vs. Auburn MSU head football coach Sylvester Croom will conduct a Monday teleconference (10 a.m. CT) prior Auburn punter Ryan Shoemaker at Oak Mountain High (2007 per-game averages) to Bulldog games this year. Contact the MSU Athletic School in Birmingham. MSU's Feld and Auburn wide Media Relations Office (662-325-2703) for access info. receiver Tim Hawthorne were likewise in the same grade Mississippi State Auburn TUESDAY PRESS CONFERENCE at Homewood HS. State's Bell and Tiger linebacker Chris Overall Record . 1-1. 1-1 Coach Croom will conduct a weekly press confer- Evans were teammates at Blount HS in Prichard, Ala. Conference Record . 0-1. 0-0 ence each Tuesday prior to an MSU game. The confer- MState true freshman Karlin Brown played with AU red- Points Scored . 19.0. 23.0 ence will be held at the Bryan Athletic Administration Building. Coach Croom's press conference begins at shirt freshman linebacker Craig Stevens and true freshman Points Allowed . 31.0. 19.5 1 p.m. (CT). Selected players will be available following Michael Slade at Tallahassee's Lincoln HS. Bulldog Keith Total Offense . 317.5. 290.5 Croom's presentation (approximately 1:30 p.m.). To Fitzhugh and Tiger Mario Fannin were one year apart at Rushing Yards . 138.0. 93.5 request specific players, media members must contact MSU Athletic Media Relations (662-325-2703) by 5 p.m. Lovejoy (Ga.) High School. Passing Yards . 179.5. 197.0 the Monday preceding each respective press confer- Yards Allowed. 295.0. 317.5 ence. DEFENSE SHUTS DOWN TULANE Rushing Yards Allowed . 121.0. 81.0 WEDNESDAY SEC WEEKLY TELECONFERENCE SECOND-HALF ATTACK Passing Yards Allowed. 174.0. 236.5 Coach Croom will join the league's other 11 coach- Mississippi State's defense surrendered just 6 yards of total First Downs. 18.0. 16.5 es on the SEC's Wednesday teleconference. Coach offense and allowed no first downs to Tulane on 16 sec- Time of Possession. 33:09. 29:46 Croom's seven-minute segment is scheduled from 11:03-11:10 a.m. (CT). The teleconference phone num- ond-half snaps to completely shut down the Green Wave 3rd Down Conversion . 43%. 18% ber can be obtained by calling the MSU Athletic Media offense. For the eighth-straight game, MSU did not allow Relations office. an opponent rusher to reach the 100-yard plateau, a streak INDIVIDUAL COMPARISON WEEKLY PLAYER INTERVIEWS that covers games against BenJarvus Green-Ellis (Ole Miss), Mississippi State vs. Auburn During game week, all player interviews must Darren McFadden and Felix Jones (Arkansas), Kenneth (2007 per-game averages) be conducted by Tuesday evening and need to be Darby (Alabama), and Kregg Lumpkin (Georgia). Matt arranged at least 24 hours in advance. Players MAY NOT be interviewed after Tuesday evening. Players Forte, who rushed for 170 yards against the Bulldogs last Mississippi State Auburn will be notified of requested telephone interviews via a year, managed only 47 yards, 1 in the second half, against Rushing Yards-per-Game message placed on the player's locker. The player will MSU this season. Dixon . 80.0. 71.5 . Tate call following practice at his convenience. Please coordinate all player requests with the MSU Williams . 35.0. 31.0 . Fannin Athletic Media Relations office (662-325-2703). BULLDOG OFFENSE EXPLODES FOR 489 Ducre . 24.0. 3.0 . Dunn TOTAL YARDS, 38 POINTS VS. TULANE PRACTICE COVERAGE The first six periods (approximately one hour) of Mississippi State's offense gained 489 yards of total offense Passing Yards-per-Game MSU's practice sessions are open to the media (still this past weekend against Tulane, 266 on the ground and Henig . 171.5. 197.0 . Cox photo & TV video). The remainder of practice is closed 223 through the air.