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10/28/03
STARKVILLE, Miss. ­ Jefferson Pilot Sports has selected the Mississippi State-Alabama game, scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 8, at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field, for telecast, the Southeastern Conference announced Monday. Game time for the broadcast is 11:30 a.m. CT.

In conjunction with the announcement, MSU athletic officials released a game time for the Bulldog men's basketball team's exhibition opener with Sioux Falls of the Continental Basketball Associaton. Tipoff for that contest will be 4 p.m. in the Humphrey Coliseum. Admission is free.

Source: MSU Media Relations

10/13/03 - Excerpts from Coach Sherrill's Monday morning teleconference.

After the (Vanderbilt) game, (MSU offensive coordinator) Coach Watts said he became a little conservative with his play-calling in the second half. Do you agree with that or do you feel it was something Memphis' defense was doing?
"No, they did the same thing in the second half. We didn't call some of the plays that we did in the first half. That was what he was referring to. But the timing of throwing the ball and catching it wasn't there in the second half like it was in the first half. We had five or six deep balls that were off. We even had a couple of throws for first downs in the first half that we didn't make in the second half."

Comment on Auburn.
"You are looking at a team that is very, very physical and has tremendous players on both sides of the football. Without a doubt, they have the best (defensive) front seven that I have seen. They have tremendous team speed. They are very talented at every position."

Were you surprised that Auburn defeated Arkansas at Arkansas this past weekend?
"No. They turned it into a defensive game and let their defense win the game, which they did."

Do you think your team matches up better with Auburn then they did with LSU?
"Against LSU, we made the mistakes, offensively, that led to 21 points. Auburn is a very well-balanced football team, from the kicking game all the way down. I haven't seen too many teams that can line up and knock them off the football. Look at Tennessee, a good running team, they had minus 4 yards rushing against them. To have a chance against them you are going to have to move the football. You have to keep your defense off the field because their offensive line is big and very good."

10/08/03 - Excerpts from Coach Sherrill's Tuesday press conference.

Opening comments:

"Guys who played well last week; I thought that the offensive linemen played well. Burch, Stewart, Davis and Jones played very well. Donovan (Davis) coming off the bench as a true freshman played very well. Of course, (tailback Jerious) Norwood had a very good game. I thought that (quarterback) Kevin (Fant) played well. He had four drops. Defensively, (DE) Tommy Kelly had a very good game. He had four tackles, one assist, a tackle for a loss, a fumble recovery, caused two fumbles, had a quarterback sack and three (quarterback) pressures. (Cornerback Odell) Bradley and (linebacker) Marvin Byrdsong also had very strong games. I think that Marvin is beginning to play like we thought he would earlier; that is to use his speed to make a lot of plays.

"Memphis, offensively, has a lot of talent. I'm not sure if (DeAngelo) Williams, after watching him on film, is not better than any back that we have played, so far. He is a really talented young man. He is averaging a 114 yards rushing and 48 (yards) receiving and in return yardage. So, he is averaging about 214 all-purpose yards a game. (Maurice) Avery is the other receiver that they go to quite a bit. Of course (they also have wide receivers) Tavarious Davis and Darron White. (Quarterback Danny) Wimprine has shattered all the records and continues to shatter them. He averages 260 yards passing a game. What is really impressive is his 61% completion ratio. That is very, very high. Another thing that stands out is their 40% (success rate) on third down. When you are throwing the ball as much as they are, being able to complete 40% is very good.

"Defensively, they are, basically, doing the same things every game; trying to put a lot of pressure, trying to give you a lot of looks to look at and, also trying to give you different looks in the secondary. We know pretty much what they will play. They are going to play three deep and put eight people on the line of scrimmage and force you to find a way to block them or be able to pass protect.

"Their kicking game is good. Their field goal/kickoff guy is a very good player. They have blocked some punts. They also put pressure on the kickers. They have a good return game. (DeAngelo) Williams is one of their kickoff return guys, so they are very dangerous at any time."

10/07/03 - Memphis players to watch.