The Mississippi State Bulldogs (3-4) ended two painful streaks Saturday night against the Memphis Tigers (2-5). First, the Bulldogs put together their first win streak in two seasons. Second, MSU posted their first road victory since traveling to Kentucky in 2000. After starting slowly this season, and not posting an interception in the first four contests, the Bulldog defense found their second straight stellar performance. MSU picked off five Memphis passes, making 11 in the past two games,and returned two of those interceptions for touchdowns.
“We had a lot of players that wouldn’t give up even though we had a lot of adversity facing us,” MSU head coach Jackie Sherrill said after the game. “Our players never gave up.”
Memphis took the early lead with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Danny Wimprine to Travis Anglin. But, the Bulldogs would fight back and cut the lead to 7-3 on a 28-yard field goal by Brent Smith. Korey Banks set up the field goal with a 52-yard punt return, the longest for the Bulldogs since 1998.
On the Tigers’ next possession, Bulldog defensive end Jason Clark intercepted a Wimprine pass and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown. Memphis would post another first half touchdown, and the Bulldogs added a field goal to send the game into halftime with a score of 17-13.
After giving up 17 points in the first half, the Bulldog defense stiffened in the second half and did not allow a touchdown. The MSU offense also found it’s most solid performance of the year during the final 30 minutes.
The teams traded punts during the first two possessions of the second half. On the Tigers’ second possession, Bulldog cornerback Banks picked off his first pass of the game setting up the MSU offense. The Bulldogs took the ball on a 17 play, 8:24 drive before pulling the score to 17-16 on another Smith Field goal.
On the Bulldogs next offensive possession, the MSU offense got its first touchdown on the contest on a one-yard plunge by Fred Reid.
After the teams traded possession during the fourth quarter, Michael Gholar ended the scoring for the night by pulling down the fifth Bulldog interception of the night, and returning it 28 yards for a touchdown.
On this night, freshman running back Jerious Norwood paced the Bulldogs on the ground, pounding out 67 yards on nine carries, including a 52-yard scamper in the first quarter that was the longest Bulldog rush since 2000. Justin Griffith added carries highs during the game with 17 carries for 61 yards, while Fred Reid turned in another solid performance with 59 yards on 14 carries.
“This is what we have been looking for all year,” Griffith said. “Coach Davis always tells the running backs that we have to win it on the ground if we are going to win the ballgame. We had success in the air, but we had it on the ground tonight.”
With Kevin Fant injured, red-shirt freshman Kyle York started his second game of the year, this time turning in an impressive performance.
York completed 19 of 29 passes for 149 yards and one interception. The Bulldog quarterback was also only sacked once.
For the Bulldog receiving corps, Ray Ray Bivines set a career high with five receptions for 41 yards. Darius Tubbs added four catches for 33 yards.
Adding to the special teams success, Robert Wallis punted seven times for a 46.7 yard average. Bulldog place kicker Smith was 3-4 on field goal attempts.
The Bulldogs were led on defense by dog safety Gholar. Gholar added eight tackles to his interception.
Josh Morgan made five tackles and also picked off a pass, and Banks added three and a half tackles to his two interceptions.
“I think we have seen them get better in certain ways each week, but we haven’t seen the results on the field,” Bulldog assistant coach Carrol McCray said. “And that has been tough on all of us. Today, they got to see some positive results and I am happy for them. Now, I hope we have some things we can build on.”
The Bulldogs will have a week off to heal their wounds before taking on SEC conference foe Kentucky on Nov. 2.
The Wildcats are the Bulldogs’ permanent SEC Eastern Division opponent now, using the SEC’s new 5-1-2 scheduling format. MSU beat UK last season by a score of 17-14 at Davis Wade Stadium.

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MSU punter Robert Wallis (37) lets one fly. Wallis, normally the backup punter, averaged just under 47 yards per kick Saturday night.