2010 MISSISSIPPI STATE FOOTBALL NOTES Mississippi State (3-2, 1-2 Southeastern Conference) at Houston (3-1, 2-0 Conference USA) Saturday, October 9, 2010 • 7:00 p.m. • CBS College Sports Robertson Stadium (32,000) Primary Contact: Joe Galbraith • [email protected] • Office - 662.325.2703 • Cell - 662.418.3970 2010 • GAME 6 Secondary Contact: Jay Middleton • [email protected] • Office: - 662.325.0972 • Cell - 662.213.5555 MISSISSIPPI STATE TRAVELS TO HOUSTON TO TAKE ON OFFENSE RETURNS TO OPENING WEEK RHYTHM, MISSISSIPPI STATE SCHEDULE & RESULTS HOUSTON IN NON-CONFERENCE ACTION AGAIN SCORES 49 Date Opponent W-L Score/Time Mississippi State will hit the road this weekend for only In its season opening win over Memphis, the Mississippi State Sept. 4 MEMPHIS W 49-7 its second game away from home this season. The Bulldogs offense racked up 569 total yards and scored 49 points. Against Sept. 9 * #20 AUBURN (Thurs.) L 14-17 Sept. 18 * at #12 LSU L 7-29 travel to the University of Houston to take on the Cougars of Alcorn State a week ago, the Bulldogs finished with 566 yards Sept. 25 * GEORGIA W 24-12 Conference USA. State and Houston met in 2009, with UH claim- and again scored 49 points. The yardage totals rank as the fifth Oct. 2 ALCORN STATE W 49-16 ing a 31-24 victory. and sixth highest single game tallies in school history. Oct. 9 at Houston 7 p.m. This weekend’s game will be televised on CBS College Sports Oct. 16 at Florida TBA as part of the C-USA television package. Roger Twibell and Mike DOGS CONTINUE TO EXCEL IN GROUND GAME Oct. 23 * UAB (HC) TBA Leach will call the action, and the game will be available nation- In his 17 games as head coach at Mississippi State, Dan Oct. 30 * KENTUCKY TBA ally on Channel 613 on DirecTV and 152 on Dish Network. Mullen’s team has eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark in all but Nov. 13 * at Alabama TBA one contest. State has rushed for 100+ in each game this season, Nov. 20 * ARKANSAS TBA BULLDOGS, COUGARS TO PLAY FOR 16TH TIME including 230 last week against Alcorn State. The Bulldogs have Nov. 27 * at Ole Miss TBA Mississippi State and Houston have played 15 times dating also scored at least one rushing touchdown in each of the first all times Central back to the first meeting in 1956. The Cougars have a 9-6 advan- five contests, marking 15 times in the last 17 games the offense tage in the series, and have won each of the teams’ meetings this has scored at least one touchdown on the ground. The Series decade. Prior to renewing the series in 2003, State and Houston Overall Record: . Houston leads 9-6 had not faced off since 1972. The two schools played 11 times OFFENSE SPREADING BALL AROUND IN in Houston: . Houston leads 4-3 between 1960 and 1972, with the Bulldogs holding a 6-5 record BOTHUN R AND PASS GAME Last meeting: . Houston 31-24, 10/10/2009 in Starkville in those meetings. At nearly the halfway mark of the 2010 season, 11 different Last meeting in Houston: . UH 42-35, 9/20/2003 offensive players have at least one rushing attempt and 12 dif- Last 10 meetings: . Houston leads 7-3 STATE LOOKS TO EXTEND NON-CONFERENCE STREAK ferent players have at least one reception. In 2009, 12 players Current Series Win Streak: . .Houston three games The Bulldogs began the 2010 campaign with a 49-7 vic- had rushing attempts and 13 Bulldogs caught passes all season tory over Conference USA’s Memphis Tigers after closing out the long. Quick Facts - Mississippi State Record . 3-2, 1-2 SEC non-league portion of their 2009 schedule with a 27-6 win over Ranking (AP/Coaches') . .NR / RV Middle Tennessee. With last week’s victory over Alcorn State, the DIAZ, WILSON LEAD DEFENSE TO IMPRESSIVE START Head Coach . .Dan Mullen Bulldogs have won three consecutive non-conference tilts for Defensive coordinator Manny Diaz and co-defensive coor- Career Record . 8-9 / Second Season the first time since defeating Tulane, Gardner-Webb and UAB in dinator Chris Wilson joined the coaching staff with hopes of MSU Record . same 2007. State has not posted four-straight non-league wins since improving a defensive unit that finished 10th in the Southeastern winning eight regular season non-SEC games from 1998-2001. Conference in total defense a year ago. Quick Links Through five games, the Bulldog defense ranks 32nd nation- News MULLEN AIMING FOR ANOTHER YEAR 2 SUCCESS STORY ally in total defense, 22nd in scoring defense and 44th in passing Roster Head coach Dan Mullen had coached two or more seasons at defense. State ranks among the top half of the SEC in each of Team Stats six schools prior to taking the top spot at Mississippi State, and those categories. Individual Stats at nearly every stop along the way Year Two has seen marked NCAA Stats improvement. Wagner College went 6-5 in 1994 and 8-2 in 1995; DOG ‘D’ STINGY IN REDZONE SEC Stats Notre Dame improved from 5-7 in 1999 to 9-3 in 2000; Bowling The Bulldog defense has been toughest when its back has Mississippi State Media Guide & Record Book Green went 8-3 in 2001 and 9-3 in 2002; Utah jumped from 10-2 been against the wall. Through five games, State has allowed in 2003 to 12-0 in 2004; and Florida improved from 8-3 in 2005 only four touchdowns in 15 times the ball has reached inside Broadcast Information to 13-1 and national champions in 2006. its 20 yardline. Television . CBS College Sports The Bulldogs are 3-2 after five weeks of the 2010 season, one Announcers . .Roger Twibell and Mike Leach game better than at the same mark of the 2009 campaign. DEFENSE LOOKS FOR MORE NEGATIVES; GETS A Radio . Mississippi State Radio Network BUNCH AGAINST ALCORN Announcers . Jack Cristil, Jim Ellis and John Correro BULLDOG ‘O’ PUTTING UP POTENTIALLY The defense has worked on creating negative plays for the XM Radio Network . Channel 198 Sirius Radio Network . Channel 212 HISTORICAL NUMBERS opposition, and through the first four weeks tallied a total of in Starkville . .107.9, WFCA Looking at the single-season record book, the Mississippi 23 tackles for loss. Against Alcorn State in Week 5, the Bulldogs State offense is on pace to break or match several school marks. nearly doubled their season total as they recorded an astound- Through five games, the Bulldog offense would rank third all ing 15 tackles for loss. And the MSU defense was sharing the Mississippi State Athletic Media Contacts time in passing yards per game (220.2), first in completion per- wealth, as 13 different players had at least one half tackle for MEDIA RELATIONS - 662-325-2703 centage (60.7) and have nearly cracked the top 10 in touchdown loss. With their output last weekend, State jumped into the Joe Galbraith - 662-418-3970 passes. The total offense average of 392.6 trails only the 1982 national top 20, averaging 7.60 TFL per game. MISSISSIPPI STATE RADIO NETWORK - 662-325-4171 team that averaged 422 yards per game. Don Williams - 662-312-2564 Additionally, if State scores 40 points in a game again this BULLDOGS BECOMING SECOND HALF SQUAD TELEVISION CENTER - 662-325-1332 season, it will become only the seventh team in school history Through five games of the season Mississippi State has out- Bennie Ashford - 662-418-2165 to ever score 40+ points in three separate games during a single scored its foes by 43 points in the final two quarters. State has season (1911, 1914, 1944, 1946, 1994 and 2000). scored 35 points in the third period and 38 in the fourth quarter, FTP INFORMATION outpacing the opposition’s 14 and 16 in the same two quarters. Located on XOS Digital Xchange The Bulldog defense has pitched second-half shutouts Contact Bennie Ashford in Television Center for login against Auburn and Alcorn State, while allowing only garbage- time scores by both Memphis and Georgia. Monday 4 Tuesday 5 Wednesday i 6 Thursday 7 Friday 8 Saturday 9 Sunday 10 1 p.m. Afternoon 11:30 a.m. 7 p.m. No Media Availability 7:00 p.m. 12:00 Noon Press Conference Practice - Closed SEC Teleconference Coach Mullen Radio Show Kickoff at Houston MSU Teleconference (Bryan Building) (Harvey’s) Players available following 6:00 p.m. 6:00 p.m. Postgame Players available post-practice Players available post-practice Coach Mullen and selected (Offense) (Defense) players available following game 2010 MISSISSIPPI STATE FOOTBALL NOTES • GAME 6 AT HOUSTON RELF SHOWS PLAYMAKING SKILLS LAST TWO WEEKS WILSON, SUMLIN WORKED AT OU TOGETHER STATISTICAL COMPARISON Junior quarterback Chris Relf enjoyed arguably the best Mississippi State defensive line coach Chris Wilson worked at Mississippi State vs. Houston game of his career against Georgia two weeks ago as the Oklahoma with Houston head coach Kevin Sumlin from 2005 to Montgomery, Ala., native completed nine of 14 passes for 148 2007, and Wilson took over the special teams from Sumlin when Mississippi State Houston yards and two scores. He also rushed for 109 yards on 20 carries, he left to take the Houston job. Overall Record . 3-2 . 3-0 becoming the first Bulldog quarterback since 2000 to eclipse Conference Record . 1-2 . 2-0 the 100-yard mark both rushing and passing in the same game. SPAVITAL WAS G.A.