2008 POSTGAME NOTES GAME 1

Jackson State at Mississippi State

MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY Saturday, September 5, 2009
Davis Wade Stadium
FOOTBALL Starkville, Miss.

ATTENDANCE : 54,232

TEAM

• Today’s game captains were Jamar Chaney, Marcus Washington, Tyson Lee and Derek Sherrod.

• Mississippi State won the opening coin toss and elected to receive.

• The Start of the game was postponed 32 minutes due to lightning.

• The Bulldogs extended their winning streak against FCS opponents to five games.

• The Bulldogs won their season opener for the first time since defeating Murray State in 2005.

• Mississippi State tallied 45 points which was the most since posting 51 points against Jacksonville State in 2002.

• Today’s attendance of 54, 232 was the third largest in school history.

• The Bulldogs scored 21 points in a quarter today for the first time since 2007 when they scored 21 points in the fourth quarter vs. UAB.

INDIVIDUAL

• First-career start and action for Chad Bumphis, Sylvester Hemphill and Addison Lawrence. O’Neal Wilder also made his first-career start.

• Also making their first-career starts were Charles Mitchell, Damein Anderson, Chris White, Pernell McPhee and Brandon Cooper.

• First-career receiving touchdown for WR Chad Bumphis and first -career passing touchdown by QB Chris Relf when they connected on a 14-yard touchdown strike

with 9:12 remaining in the first quarter. The duo connected again with 3:33 left in the third quarter for a 7-yard touchdown.

• In the second quarter, Heath Hutchens punted 42 yards to collect his first career punt for the Maroon and White.

• With 48 seconds remaining in the first half, Chris Relf finished off a 79-yard drive by recording his first-career rushing touchdown from 5 yards out. Relf is the first

Bulldog quarterback to throw for three passing touchdowns and rush for a touchdown in the same game since Kevin Fant accomplished the feat vs. Oregon in 2003.

• DB Charles Mitchell recorded his first career interception with 13:31 left in the third quarter off a Trae Rutland pass and returned it 17 yards for a score.

• RB Robert Elliott posted his second-career rushing touchdown on a 7-yard carry with 13:07 left to go in the third quarter.

• With 8:15 left in the third, TE Marcus Green recorded his first-career touchdown reception when he caught a pass from QB Chris Relf from 19 yards out.
• Sean Brauchle made the first field goal of his career when he put a 25-yard kick through the upright with 13:47 left in the game.

• With 3:34 left to go in the game, DB Corey Broomfield intercepted a Trae Rutland pass and returned it 43 yards for a touchdown. The interception and touchdown are

both firsts for Broomfield. He becomes the first player to return an interception for a touchdown since Anthony Johnson ran one back 100 yards against Alabama in

2007.

• Dan Mullen becomes the fourth straight Mississippi State head coach to win his coaching debut.
 HEAD COACH DAN MULLEN
September 5, 2009
Jackson State Game Postgame Quotes

Opening Comments...
“I was really, really proud of our guys. It is obviously an honor as a football coach to walk
away with a win. I will forever be indebted to this team for giving me that great honor.
They came out and played hard; they focused all week and did a heck of a job. Carl Tour-
bush and our whole defensive staff did a great job preparing those guys. We bent a little
there at the end but we were able to get something done that we wanted to do and that
was get people playing time. We want to have a defense that is deep, that we can rotate
when we play in the Southeastern Conference. We have to be able to roll guys through,
and I was proud of everybody that stepped a foot on the field in the defensive side. Offen-
seively, we have a ways to go. It was a really sloppy first half. You go through our first half
with two turnovers, a touchdown called back on a penalty, and serveral other false start
penalties and holding penalties. Two of our drives result in missed field goal; that is not
the offense execution that we need. I was pleased with our guys and the way they came
out in the second half. They competed and clean some things up. We started to execute
much better and settle in. We have a lot of work to do offensively between now and next
Saturday to get ourselves ready to go on the road to play down at Auburn. Special teams
wise, I was pleased with the way it went besides the two missed field goals. I think our
kickoff team really set the tone to start the second half with the field position that we held
them pinned back. That put our defense out on the field with Jackson State inside their
own 20. Our special teams did not put our defense in a bad situatuon, and I was really
pleased with that. Sean (Brauchle) then came out and made a couple kicks as the game
went on and got some of those first-game jitters out. It was an unbelievable atmosphere
out there. I would like to thank the student body; they obviously showed up. This place
was obviously packed before kick-off. The rest of our fans showed up and supported it
and it is awesome being a part of an historic game like that, and I hope we have more of
these games to show the pride that the people have in this state and show the support
that they have in their football teams. Also, give their kids credit. They fought hard for
four quarter. I wish them the best, and I hope the represent this state really well on their
way to winning a conference championship this year.”

On Anthony Dixon...
“Anthony Dixon was suspended today as part of his continued discipline as in result from
his actions in July. This was not the only step of his discipline, nor is it one that we have
taken lightly. Anthony has also been enrolled in counciling and will continue that process.
Over the past few weeks, Anthony has done everything our team has asked of him to work
his way back on to the field. He will remain on our team probation throughout the rest of
the fall, but we look forward to having him back next week at Auburn.”

On the overall Quarterback Play and Tyson Lee’s health status...

“They said Tyson was having some shoulder spasms in the second half, and they said he
 HEAD COACH DAN MULLEN
September 5, 2009
Jackson State Game Postgame Quotes

could have played in the second half if we wanted him to. We had been rotating a lot
early, and Chris had done a nice job so we thought why even bother with it right now and
let Tyson rest.”
 MSU PLAYER QUOTES
September 5, 2009
Jackson State Game Postgame Quotes

Chad Bumphis FR. Wide Receiver...

On Offense in First Half and Adjustment...
“The offense was real shaky at the start, and once we went in the locker room at half time
and made adjustments the offense was fine. The defense played great but the offense was
just kind of shaky at the beginning.”

On Playing with Injured Ankle...

“My ankle felt great. It did not bother me, not at all. When I was out I was still working
out. I was pretty much lifting weights the whole time I was out. Every time we had meet-
ings I was over there listening. The coaches called it mental rest because I was resting but
when I got back I was right there with everybody.”

On First Catch and Touchdown and Emotions...

“For me it was crazy. That first catch I just went blank. My whole body went numb. I saw
open field and I pretty much forgot all the technique I have been taught, like tucking the
ball away, and I am sure I will hear about that.”

On Expectations Entering Today’s Game...

“Senior wide receivers like Brandon McRae were pretty much telling me everything and
how everything would go today. I know I was real nervous at the team dinner last night
but I knew I would be. Coach’s faith in us means a lot. It says a lot about him and the
trust he has in us young guys. Brandon and I are the two H’s and we look at it as a com-
pliment.”

Jamar Chaney SR. Linebacker...

On Impact of Rain Delay...
“Coach Mullen and Coach Balis did a good job of keeping us ready. We just went in there
and relaxed a little bit and stayed loose. The delay had no effect on me, but of course
when you go out there and get all excited and are ready to play, then they tell you there is
a 30-minute rain delay the emotions probably went down a little bit. ”

On Overall Game...
“It was the first game of the season and you do not really know what to expect then. We
played a lot of freshmen out there, and a lot of redshirt freshmen, and it was there first
time to play out there. I think after they got the feel for the game, they came back for the
second half and were a lot more ready to play.”
 MSU PLAYER QUOTES
September 5, 2009
Jackson State Game Postgame Quotes

On Historical Significance of Game with Jackson State...

“This game meant a lot. It will probably be the biggest game in Mississippi this year. I
remember this summer people were asking me about tickets so they could come to this
game. When I was walking through the Dog Walk before the game I thought that was
probably the most people I had seen at the Dog Walk before any game.”

Chris Relf, Quarterback

On Nervousness During Game...
“I was real nervous when I first got out there, but I had to be there for my team. I had to
be a leader for my team, so I just went out there and gave 100%. I knew I was going to
play a lot, but then Tyson got hurt so I just had to step up and be a leader.”

On Adjustments to Offense at Halftime...

“Coach told us at halftime that we just had to come back out and execute in the second
half. We just did not execute that well in the first half so we had to do that in the second
half. We had to step it up in the second half. That was really the main thing I had to do.”

On Offense in First Half and Adjustment...

“The offense was real shaky at the start, and once we went in the locker room at half time
and made adjustments the offense was fine. The defense played great but the offense was
just kind of shaky at the beginning.”

On Playing with Injured Ankle...

“My ankle felt great. It did not bother me, not at all. When I was out I was still working
out. I was pretty much lifting weights the whole time I was out. Every time we had meet-
ings I was over there listening. The coaches called it mental rest because I was resting but
when I got back I was right there with everybody.”

On First Catch and Touchdown and Emotions...

“For me it was crazy. That first catch I just went blank. My whole body went numb. I saw
open field and I pretty much forgot all the technique I have been taught, like tucking the
ball away and I am sure I will hear about that.”

On Expectations Entering Today’s Game...

“Senior wide receivers like Brandon McRae were pretty much telling me everything and
how everything would go today. I know I was real nervous at the team dinner last night
but I knew I would be. Coach’s faith in us means a lot. It says a lot about him and the
trust he has in us young guys. Brandon and I are the two H’s and we look at it as a com-
pliment.”
 OPPONENT HEAD COACH Rick Comegy
September 5, 2009
Jackson State Game Postgame Quotes

Opening comments...
“Well, I am disappointed as far as total numbers. Give them (Mississippi State) a lot of
credit for taking advantage of a lot of our mistakes. I thought we started off good in the
first half, but after that we played in our own backyard too much. When we did that, their
talent took over. Their coaching staff did a nice job with some adjustments. We tried to
stop the option, and they came back and threw a touchdown. We just keep pushing now
and move on down the road.”

On the play of his team’s defense...

“I thought they played well. We have a lot to build on. They worked hard today, and we
have a lot to build I think as we go through the rest of the season.”

On how this game prepares his team for the rest of the season...
“We played a good quality team with good quality players. We came up here and Missis-
sippi State gave us everything we were looking for. With the great speed that Tennessee
State has, I think it was good to see the speed and athleticism today in Mississippi State
to help prepare us for that.”

On the play of senior quarterback Trae Rutland...

“I think he did good. He was spotty at times. I think we can help him out though by get-
ting the plays in a little quicker. I know he can do better than he did today. We can really
help him make better checks and calls at the line if we shuffle our plays in quicker and do
little things like that.”

On the next step for his football team...

“We just need more work. Today was our first time under real game conditions. We will
get better, and we will make adjustments to make us a better football team.”
 OPPONENT PLAYER QUOTES
September 5, 2009
Jackson State Game Postgame Quotes

Quarterback Tray Rutland

Quarterback Trae Rutland On His Team’s Overall day
“Didn’t turn out how we would have liked it, but it was a good experience for our team.
It was a good matchup today; they are an SEC team. We expected to come out and have
better results, but we are going to get better from this. We still have to compete in the
SWAC.”

On Mississippi State Defense

“They didn’t do anything we didn’t expect them to do. It was just a lot of mental mistakes
and a lot of unnecessary penalties that held us back.”

On What The Team Will Take Away From The Game

“We are going to get better; we have a great team. Like I said, Mississippi State was the
better team today. They have been seeing way better teams than us, but we had it in our
minds that we were going to give them a hard fight. We are going to get better from this.”

On His Play
“It was up and down. Not like I hoped it would be. I was all fired up coming into the game.
It was a great experience for me because this is the school I came from, and it was a nice
experience coming back, but I wish we could have had better results.”

On Coming Back To MSU

“It was the night before the game, and I spoke to all the guys. They came out to the field.
After the game, we talked it up. I knew I wanted to play hard. I knew they were going to
play hard because a lot of those guys are my friends. It was a good experience.”