It may not have been exactly what head coach Dan Mullen envisioned a victory over a SWAC school would look like, but the Bulldogs took care of business Saturday, beating Alcorn State 49-16.
“We were very sloppy at times with different things and things that will hurt us,” Mullen said. “We have to play much, much better. We have high expectations of ourselves, and our team felt we should have played better.”
However, as the final score indicates, it wasn’t all bad for the Bulldogs. There were no major injuries, and the offense was successful moving the ball throughout the entire game.
Quarterback Chris Relf had no trouble finding receiver Chad Bumphis, as the duo accounted for two of the Bulldogs’ seven touchdowns. Relf threw for 209 yards and two touchdowns in one of his most impressive passing performances in a MSU uniform. Granted, it was against Alcorn State, but he has been primarily a running quarterback thus far. In fact, Relf did not even have a designed run called for him the entire game, and he said it felt good to be primarily a passing quarterback.
Bumphis’ totals of nine receptions and 133 yards were both career highs. The sophomore also ran plays out of the Wildcat formation, something he had been trying to get Mullen to do since earlier this summer.
Running back Vick Ballard rushed for three touchdowns in the game, including a 75-yard breakaway run in the fourth quarter. Ballard has become well acquainted with the end zone in his first season in a Bulldog uniform. His eight rushing touchdowns are good for first in the SEC and a tie for fifth in all of the FBS.
Mullen said he did not think Ballard would be fast enough to out-run the Alcorn State secondary and get the ball to the endzone on his 75-yard run, but Ballard had little doubt the run would not end in a touchdown, putting the Bulldogs up 42-16 early in the fourth quarter.
“When I took the handoff, I knew,” Ballard said.
The only glaring negative from the game was the play of the Bulldog secondary. Alcorn State quarterback Brandon Bridge, a freshman, threw for 193 yards and had an impressive 78-yard run for a touchdown. Defensive coordinator Manny Diaz thought Bridge could have been contained if the coverage in the secondary were better.
“You gotta cover better,” Diaz said. “In the first half, they just wanted to catch it more than we did. They were winning the one-on-one battles.”
On special teams, it was a big day for Leon Berry, who busted out of a recent slump with a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the second quarter. The return certainly helped Berry, who had not had a reception since the opening game against Memphis.
“It was a big confidence booster,” Berry said.
While the Bulldogs had struggles in the secondary, the front seven dominated the line of scrimmage most of the game, racking up 15 tackles for loss. For senior linebacker Chris White, who had 2.5 sacks, and company, tracking down Alcorn’s speedy quarterback was no easy task.
“He was faster than we thought he was going to be,” White said. “He’s big, tall and lanky, and he could definitely play.”
This week’s “how did he do that” play came in the second quarter, with the Bulldogs facing a first and goal at the Alcorn seven yard line. Relf dropped back to pass, and it appeared no one was open, but the junior decided to thread the needle and try to get the ball through two defenders to Bumphis in the endzone. Somehow, Relf’s pass split the defenders, and Bumphis caught the ball in the endzone to extend the lead to 21-7.
“It was a great pass,” Bumphis said. “I honestly don’t know how he got it through there. I wouldn’t have even thrown it.”
Bumphis was all over the field Saturday, catching passes, returning kicks and running the ball out of the wildcat four times for 38 yards. There is still no nickname for Mullen’s version of the Wildcat, other than “Bumphis at quarterback.” Bumphis actually played quarterback for Tupelo High School in his prep career.
For Bumphis, his big game on Saturday began with the preparation he did last Monday.
“The coaches always tell us what we do in practice carries over to the game, and I just had a great week of practice,” Bumphis said.
For Mullen, he will look to improve on  the team’s performance when they travel to Houston next week for the Bulldogs’ only road, non-conference test.
“We gotta get a lot cleaner,” Mullen said. “We’re heading on the road next week and we gotta get a lot better