Belk Bowl Day 2: Bulldogs Take In Petty Driving Experience
December 27, 2015 | Football
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Mississippi State football began day two of its time in Charlotte for the Belk Bowl with a morning of racing at the Richard Petty Driving Experience at the famous Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Upon arrival, the team was immediately ushered into Victory Lane, where theMaroon and White took a group picture in front of MSU's personalized Belk Bowl stock car. Following the picture, head coach Dan Mullen was presented with an official Belk Bowl NASCAR jacket by Will Webb, the bowl's executive director.
Led by first-team All-Southeastern Conference performers Fred Ross and Dak Prescott, the Bulldogs then hit pit road where they were immediately suited for their racing suits. After taking pictures in front of NASCAR Hall of Fame member Richard Petty's No. 43 car, the players jumped in several vehicles and went three laps each around the racetrack with professional racing instructors. The ending of the track portion of the morning came when defensive tackle Nick Jamessuccessfully jumped inside of Petty's car.
Once every Bulldog had a ride, the team was then escorted into the car garages, where they were fed piles of pulled pork, coleslaw and baked beans. The lunch provided the first time MSU stood face-to-face with Wednesday's bowl opponent N.C. State. The two teams conversed for a short while before the Bulldogs were whisked back to their team hotel in Uptown for team meetings prior to their afternoon practice.
Mullen's squad returns to action Wednesday, Dec. 30 with a 2:30 p.m. CT ESPN kickoff at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. For more information on the Maroon and White, follow "HailStateFB" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. You can also find all-access coverage of the Bulldogs on SnapChat by searching for "HailStateSnap."
Following practice, defensive coordinator Manny Diaz addressed the media.
On getting the defense back in rhythm after the Christmas break…
"I think it's a credit to the leadership on your team and I think our guys came here ready to go. I think they respect the time Coach Mullen gave them to be home for Christmas and they understood the urgency when they came back here. We'll come back out here tomorrow and be ready. We still believe our best game is out there and that's our goal for Wednesday afternoon."
On being back in North Carolina after having previously coached at NC State…
"That's one of the neatest things in coaching, when you see guys that you coached grow in the profession so it's been a fun experience."
On what stands out about NC State quarterback Jacoby Brissett…
"I don't remember going against someone as versatile in terms of his ability to hurt you in so many ways. He's a hard guy to tackle and can extend plays so there's a lot of things in terms of the stress he puts on your defense. He's an older guy so he's seen everything he's been everywhere so you're not going to shock him with a look he hasn't seen."
On how practicing against Dak Prescott helps the MSU defense…
"Practicing against Dak helps for no matter what. It really challenges our pas defense which I feel like over the year has improved and practice is a big part of that."
On finding a player comparable to Jacoby Brissett…
"I don't know of anybody we've played this year, but certainly when you see how many sacks he has got them out of its easy to get into the Byron Leftwich-type comparisons, but he's a challenge and he's a hard man to get on the ground."
