Mississippi State
6-2 , 2-2
UAB (HC)
2-5 , 1-2
#24 State Staves Off Challenge From UAB For 29-24 Homecoming Win
October 23, 2010 | Football
And in doing so, the Bulldogs improved to 6-2 on the year and are now bowl eligible for the first time since 2007.
However, MSU's quest to win its fifth game in a row remained in jeopardy until the 6:53 mark of the fourth quarter when Derek DePasquale connected on his third-straight field goal, this time from 39-yards out to give his team a 26-24 lead.
Fortunately for the Bulldogs, those weren't his final points of the evening.
With 1:48 to play and in front of 56,423 fans at Scott Field, the senior from Woodsland, Texas, booted a 28-yard field goal to pad the lead and tie the school record for the most field goals by a kicker in a single game.
Earlier in the half, he also delivered from 29 and 43 yards, respectively, to put MSU ahead, 23-17.
"I'm really proud of the way the guys battled, and I'm really proud of the way the guys fought," said second-year Bulldogs coach Dan Mullen, whose team returns to action here next Saturday in a 6 p.m. showdown against Kentucky. "UAB was the third Conference USA team we've played, and they were the best we've played, hands down."
Offensively, production in the second half was quite the contrast from the first two quarters, where both teams entered the locker room tied at 10-apiece.
But coming out of the break, the Bulldogs marched 63 yards in six plays on their first possession and capped the drive with a 2-yard plunge up the middle by LaDarius Perkins to go up 17-10.
UAB (2-5), though, didn't back down.
Instead, the Blazers found their offensive rhythm and tied the score on a 2-yard run by Daniel Borne.
MSU answered with DePasquale's back-to-back field goals, only to see the lead evaporate when quarterback Bryan Ellis snuck the football up the middle to put UAB up 24-23, marking their first lead since 3-0 in the first quarter.
But that early advantage didn't last long, as Perkins scored his first touchdown of the evening on a 4-yard pass from Chris Relf for a 7-3 lead. Then in the second quarter, DePasquale opened his scoring fest with a 29-yard kick to put his team up 10-3.
But with 10 seconds left in the half, UAB tied the game on a 2-yard pass from Ellis to Mike Jones.
For the game, MSU manufactured 378 yards, with 271 coming on the ground. Perkins paced the ground attack with a career-best 131 yards, while Relf totaled 51. He also threw for 107 yards on 8-of-19 passing.
UAB finished with 354 yards, with Ellis completing 23 of his 45 passes for 236 yards.
Team Stats
UAB 3, MS 0
UAB - ZAHN, Josh 18 yd field goal 15 plays, 84 yards, TOP 6:59
UAB 3, MS 7
MS - L. Perkins 4 yd pass from Chris Relf (D. DePasquale kick) 9 plays, 61 yards, TOP 3:43
UAB 3, MS 10
MS - D. DePasquale 29 yd field goal 9 plays, 23 yards, TOP 4:03
UAB 10, MS 10
UAB - JONES, Mike 2 yd pass from ELLIS, Bryan (ZAHN, Josh kick) 12 plays, 84 yards, TOP 1:29
UAB 10, MS 17
MS - L. Perkins 2 yd run (D. DePasquale kick), 6 plays, 63 yards, TOP 2:30
UAB 17, MS 17
UAB - BORNE, Daniel 2 yd run (ZAHN, Josh kick), 6 plays, 60 yards, TOP 2:23
UAB 17, MS 20
MS - D. DePasquale 29 yd field goal 6 plays, 61 yards, TOP 2:43
UAB 17, MS 23
MS - D. DePasquale 43 yd field goal 10 plays, 55 yards, TOP 3:11
UAB 24, MS 23
UAB - ELLIS, Bryan 1 yd run (ZAHN, Josh kick), 11 plays, 69 yards, TOP 3:43
UAB 24, MS 26
MS - D. DePasquale 39 yd field goal 8 plays, 20 yards, TOP 3:23
UAB 24, MS 29
MS - D. DePasquale 28 yd field goal 9 plays, 56 yards, TOP 3:51
