Football Completes Starkville Practices, Turns Attention to St. Petersburg
December 17, 2016 | Football
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Sixteen Mississippi State football seniors went through their final home practice Saturday morning as the Bulldogs now turn their attention to St. Petersburg in preparation for a Dec. 26 bowl matchup against Miami (Ohio).
On Saturday, MSU held a typical practice it would normally do on a Thursday of game week at the Seal Complex. Nine practices into bowl prep, Bulldog players and staff will get away for a few days for the holidays before returning to Starkville on Dec. 21. MSU will depart for St. Petersburg that afternoon and resume practices on Dec. 22.
"We prep like it is game week and finish a game week on a Thursday practice," MSU head coach Dan Mullen said. "When you get down to the bowl site there is a lot that goes on. You are in a new city. You are excited, and you are in a different practice facility and there are all kinds of different activities."
A win in the St. Petersburg Bowl would be the 32nd for the 2016 senior class, tying them as the fourth-winningest senior class in MSU history. The Bulldogs (5-7) and Miami (Ohio) (6-6) meet at 10 a.m. CT on Dec. 26 from Tropicana Field.
Mullen met with members of the media Friday evening to discuss bowl preparations. Mullen will be coaching in his school-record seventh bowl at MSU. Below are his quotes:
Head Coach Dan Mullen
On JUCO signing day Wednesday…
"Wednesday was a good day for us. We addressed some needs on the team. We are excited about the guys coming in. We will find out in a year or so how good a day it was. We are excited about guys that are coming to play for us."
On evaluating junior college talent…
"We go out and rate players at a need by position to fill immediate needs. You are looking at guys that are really good players in that group that we felt are going to immediately contribute to our team."
On junior college players that have signed with D1 schools in the past…
"A lot of guys that go to JUCO are desperate to get back, because they know what they are missing in terms of facilities and training and other stuff they have. Those guys will know what to expect coming in on day one."
On bowl game preparation…
"I thought our guys on Wednesday did a great job. We had a great practice and I was really pleased with that. They flipped the switch back into game week, and that was fantastic. We had a really good day today, and we will wrap up tomorrow just like it is a regular Thursday practice for us. When we walk off the field tomorrow we should be just about ready to go play that game. That is the confidence you want to have leaving practice.
On preparing for Miami (Ohio)…
"You watch everything, but you pay a little more attention to the last six games. They are a team that plays with a little more confidence. It is not like they were getting crushed early in the season, and then all of the sudden the light came on for them. They were battling and had some tough losses early in the season. They just started making the plays and had the confidence to make the plays later in the year."
On preparation and game planning while traveling to a bowl site…
"That is how we have always done it. We prep like it is game week and finish a game week on a Thursday practice. When you get down to the bowl site there is a lot that goes on. You are in a new city, you are excited, you are in a different practice facility and there are all kinds of different activities. You want to make sure the guys know the game plan and are confident in the game plan before you get there, so when you are there you are really just redoing the practices you have already done to build up that confidence. If we have to make a tweak or change in it we will, but hopefully we will have most of those changes done this week."
On the team's record setting academic performance…
"I think we had over 30 guys with over a 3.0 GPA. We are pretty pleased academically. This is a great motivation for guys, because we get to play in a bowl game because of our academics. Hopefully that message to the young guys will sink in; how important it is to be a champion in the classroom as well as on the field."
On the recruitment of running back Aeris Williams…
"When you watch him, he plays so hard. I remember going to watch him play in high school, and I thought he was a heck of safety too. He could potentially have been a linebacker. You just saw that he was an SEC football player. The biggest thing to me was his character off the field. That was something that really separated him from a lot of people. The type of person he was off the field was really special."
On juniors filling out paperwork for potential NFL evaluation…
"We had a meeting on that. I do not know if anyone is turning in any paperwork. I think a lot of them were wondering if the paper work would come back as an evaluation on what they need to improve on. I told them it would just give them what their status is. They are more interested in what they need to improve on to be a prospect next year rather than where they stand right now coming out."
On his name coming up for NFL coaching vacancies…
"I have not talked to the (Los Angeles) Rams. That is back on the flattering side of things. I am flattered by that stuff. I think everyone knows how happy I am here. I love it here; I love what we have built. We have a great program and a great future with young guys. I think it is pretty flattering, but I haven't gotten a call. I was pretty shocked by that too."
On his plans before the team reports back on Dec. 21…
"I am going to New York City to see my newborn nephew and my mom. I will take my kids up to New York City and see The Lion King and maybe The Rockettes. I haven't talked to the boss yet. She has the itinerary exactly laid out. We will write a letter to Santa Claus, and I think hopefully he is going to drop stuff off at our house the night of Dec. 26 when we get back from the bowl game. I think everyone is worried about being at a bowl trip and Santa not knowing anyone is home and skipping our house. He might not know what hotel room we are in, and I do not think there is a chimney in the hotel."
On Saturday, MSU held a typical practice it would normally do on a Thursday of game week at the Seal Complex. Nine practices into bowl prep, Bulldog players and staff will get away for a few days for the holidays before returning to Starkville on Dec. 21. MSU will depart for St. Petersburg that afternoon and resume practices on Dec. 22.
"We prep like it is game week and finish a game week on a Thursday practice," MSU head coach Dan Mullen said. "When you get down to the bowl site there is a lot that goes on. You are in a new city. You are excited, and you are in a different practice facility and there are all kinds of different activities."
A win in the St. Petersburg Bowl would be the 32nd for the 2016 senior class, tying them as the fourth-winningest senior class in MSU history. The Bulldogs (5-7) and Miami (Ohio) (6-6) meet at 10 a.m. CT on Dec. 26 from Tropicana Field.
Mullen met with members of the media Friday evening to discuss bowl preparations. Mullen will be coaching in his school-record seventh bowl at MSU. Below are his quotes:
Head Coach Dan Mullen
On JUCO signing day Wednesday…
"Wednesday was a good day for us. We addressed some needs on the team. We are excited about the guys coming in. We will find out in a year or so how good a day it was. We are excited about guys that are coming to play for us."
On evaluating junior college talent…
"We go out and rate players at a need by position to fill immediate needs. You are looking at guys that are really good players in that group that we felt are going to immediately contribute to our team."
On junior college players that have signed with D1 schools in the past…
"A lot of guys that go to JUCO are desperate to get back, because they know what they are missing in terms of facilities and training and other stuff they have. Those guys will know what to expect coming in on day one."
On bowl game preparation…
"I thought our guys on Wednesday did a great job. We had a great practice and I was really pleased with that. They flipped the switch back into game week, and that was fantastic. We had a really good day today, and we will wrap up tomorrow just like it is a regular Thursday practice for us. When we walk off the field tomorrow we should be just about ready to go play that game. That is the confidence you want to have leaving practice.
On preparing for Miami (Ohio)…
"You watch everything, but you pay a little more attention to the last six games. They are a team that plays with a little more confidence. It is not like they were getting crushed early in the season, and then all of the sudden the light came on for them. They were battling and had some tough losses early in the season. They just started making the plays and had the confidence to make the plays later in the year."
On preparation and game planning while traveling to a bowl site…
"That is how we have always done it. We prep like it is game week and finish a game week on a Thursday practice. When you get down to the bowl site there is a lot that goes on. You are in a new city, you are excited, you are in a different practice facility and there are all kinds of different activities. You want to make sure the guys know the game plan and are confident in the game plan before you get there, so when you are there you are really just redoing the practices you have already done to build up that confidence. If we have to make a tweak or change in it we will, but hopefully we will have most of those changes done this week."
On the team's record setting academic performance…
"I think we had over 30 guys with over a 3.0 GPA. We are pretty pleased academically. This is a great motivation for guys, because we get to play in a bowl game because of our academics. Hopefully that message to the young guys will sink in; how important it is to be a champion in the classroom as well as on the field."
On the recruitment of running back Aeris Williams…
"When you watch him, he plays so hard. I remember going to watch him play in high school, and I thought he was a heck of safety too. He could potentially have been a linebacker. You just saw that he was an SEC football player. The biggest thing to me was his character off the field. That was something that really separated him from a lot of people. The type of person he was off the field was really special."
On juniors filling out paperwork for potential NFL evaluation…
"We had a meeting on that. I do not know if anyone is turning in any paperwork. I think a lot of them were wondering if the paper work would come back as an evaluation on what they need to improve on. I told them it would just give them what their status is. They are more interested in what they need to improve on to be a prospect next year rather than where they stand right now coming out."
On his name coming up for NFL coaching vacancies…
"I have not talked to the (Los Angeles) Rams. That is back on the flattering side of things. I am flattered by that stuff. I think everyone knows how happy I am here. I love it here; I love what we have built. We have a great program and a great future with young guys. I think it is pretty flattering, but I haven't gotten a call. I was pretty shocked by that too."
On his plans before the team reports back on Dec. 21…
"I am going to New York City to see my newborn nephew and my mom. I will take my kids up to New York City and see The Lion King and maybe The Rockettes. I haven't talked to the boss yet. She has the itinerary exactly laid out. We will write a letter to Santa Claus, and I think hopefully he is going to drop stuff off at our house the night of Dec. 26 when we get back from the bowl game. I think everyone is worried about being at a bowl trip and Santa not knowing anyone is home and skipping our house. He might not know what hotel room we are in, and I do not think there is a chimney in the hotel."
Players Mentioned
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