Postgame Notes: Mississippi State vs. Arizona

Postgame Notes
Mississippi State 31, Arizona 24 (OT)
Starkville, Miss. (Davis Wade Stadium)
Sat., Sept. 9, 2023
Kick: 6:39 p.m. CT | End: 10:11 p.m. CT
Attendance: 51,648

GENERAL

MSU's game captains were S Marcus Banks, QB Will Rogers, OL Kwatrivous Johnson and LB Nathaniel Watson.
Arizona won the opening coin toss and elected to defer.
Mississippi State is 1-0 in 2023 when wearing the White/White/White uniform combo.
MSU improved to 2-0 in the all-time series against Arizona.
MSU forced turnovers on Arizona's first four drives. The last time State recorded three turnovers in three opening drives was Sept. 5th, 2009, against Jackson State. The Bulldogs have never forced four turnovers to open a game in the 21st century.
Tonight's contest went to overtime marking the first time the Bulldogs went to OT since November 5th, 2022, which was a victory against Auburn.
Arizona won the overtime coin toss and elected to play defense.
With the victory over Arizona, State improved to 7-5 in overtime contests and 4-3 at home.
The Bulldogs combined to have nine explosive plays on offense, defense and special teams.

OFFENSE

Seth Davis had a career long 15 yard rush during State's first drive. He rushed for a career-high 34 yards and a career-high five rush attempts.
Jo'Quavious Marks had a big 21 yard rush in the first quarter.
Lideatrick Griffin hauled in a 23 yard touchdown catch in the first quarter.
Jo'Quavious Marks punched in a touchdown from the 1 yard line to put State up 14-0.
Jo'Quavious Marks rushed for 123 yards in the game which marked the first time in his career that he has recorded back to back 100+ yard rushing games.
Lideatrick Griffin caught his second touchdown of the game 15 yards out from Will Rogers.
Lideatrick Griffin had a big 37 yard catch and run in the fourth quarter.
Jeffery Pittman with a 29 yard touchdown reception at the start of Overtime which would be the game-winning touchdown.
For the first time since Oct. 1 and Oct. 8, 2022, the Bulldogs rushed for 140 or more rushing yards in back-to-back games.
The Dawgs completed their longest pass play of the season when Will Rogers found Lideatrick Griffin for a 37 yard completion. This was the third completion of over 30 yards this season.

DEFENSE

In the first quarter of the contest, LBs Nathaniel Watson and Jett Johnson both intercepted a pass. This is the first time in their career that they both had an interception in the same game. With Watson's interception, Mississippi State has forced a turnover in seven straight games. Both of these came on Arizona's first two drives of the game.
With Watson's interception, Mississippi State has now forced a turnover in seven straight games.
On Arizona's second drive of the game, LB Jett Johnson recorded his second career interception and his first since 2021.
An Esaias Furdge pass breakup led to Shawn Preston Jr. picking up his third career interception on Arizona's third drive of the game. State's back-to-back-to-back interceptions marked the first time the Bulldogs have had three interceptions in a game since 2022 against ETSU.
Shawn Preston Jr. forced a fumble and Hunter Washington picked it up for the Bulldog's fourth turnover of the game. The four turnovers came on Arizona's first four drives of the game. This was the second turnover forced by Preston Jr. as he had the third interception of the game.
Late in the fourth quarter, Jett Johnson comes away with his second interception of the game after a pass from DeCarlos Nicholson.
The Dawgs made a fourth down stand in overtime to secure the victory for State.
MSU forced five or more turnovers for the first time in a game since Nov. 7, 2020 against Vanderbilt. In that game, the Dawgs recorded three interceptions and two fumbles. The Dawgs had four picks and a fumble recovery against Arizona.
The four Bulldogs interceptions marked the first time a Mississippi State squad had done such since October 17, 2009, which was against Middle Tennessee.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Kyle Ferrie hit a 36 yard field goal in the fourth quarter. He has made a field goal in each of the first two games of the season.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

WR Lideatrick Griffin

Caught his 6th career touchdown in the first quarter from 23 yards out.
On the opening drive of the second half, Griffin caught a 15 yard touchdown pass from Will Rogers. This was his second touchdown reception of the game which tied a career-high that was set on Nov. 19, 2022, against ETSU.
With five receptions on Saturday night, Griffin has recorded a reception in 17 straight games.
The five receptions is his first game of 2023 with five or more catches and the fifth time in his career.
Griffin has recorded a receiving touchdown in five career games and now has two games in his career with multiple receiving touchdowns.

RB Jo'Quavious Marks

Marks has a reception in each of his 38 career games played. His 38 consecutive games with a reception is the 4th most in the FBS.
Marks needs one reception to become the all-time receptions leader in MSU history. With one more he will have 200 and that would move him to 12th on the SEC's all-time receptions list.
Scored his 21st career touchdown, which moved him into 10th on the All-Time MSU Career Rushing List. With 21 touchdowns, he is now tied with Don Smith (1983-86).
Eclipsed 100 yards rushing in back to back games, which is the first time in his career he has done this.
Set a new career high in rushing attempts with 24. His previous high was 20 against Kentucky on Oct. 30, 2021.
With his one rushing touchdown, Marks has now scored a rushing touchdown in 18 career games, including both games this season.

RB Jeffery Pittman

With his first catch as a Bulldog, Pittman went 29 yards for the ultimate game-winning touchdown. This was also his first touchdown in the Maroon and White.

QB Will Rogers

Has made 34 consecutive starts and has thrown a touchdown pass in seven straight games.
Moved into the top ten for SEC Total Yards
- 88 yards away from Ninth place
76 yards away from moving into 6th on the SEC Passing yard list
- He is 124 yards shy of passing Peyton Manning for 5th.
- He is 135 yards from passing Chris Leak for 4th
With the three touchdown passes tonight, he has now tied Tua Tagovailoa for 7th on SEC All-time Passing TDs list.
Rogers' three touchdowns passes means he now has 21 career games with multiple passing touchdowns.

S Hunter Washington

Washington picked up a fumble recovery in the second quarter, returning it 23 yards.

LB Jett Johnson

In the first quarter, Johnson tallied his second career interception and first since Nov. 24, 2021 against Ole Miss.
In the fourth quarter, Johnson recorded his second interception of the game off a DeCarlos Nicholson deflection. This is his first multi-interception game of his career. Johnson is the first Bulldog to record two interceptions in a game since Emmanuel Forbes did against Texas A&M in 2022.
With his 11 tackles, Johnson has now logged eight career 10+ tackle games. The 11 tackles led the team.

LB Nathaniel Watson

Watson picked up his first interception of the year on Arizona's opening drive after a deflection from Marcus Banks. This was his second career interception and first since Sept. 10, 2022 against Arizona.
Watson recorded 10 or more tackles for the tenth time in his career in the win over Arizona. This is the eighth-most by a Bulldog since 1988.

S Shawn Preston Jr.

Preston Jr. picked up his third career interception in the first quarter, marking his first interception since 2022 against Bowling Green.
A big hit in the second quarter by Preston Jr. forced the fourth Wildcat turnover. This was Preston Jr.'s first career forced fumble.

Mississippi State University Athletics

Postgame Notes: Mississippi State vs. Arizona

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Players Mentioned

Marcus Banks

Seth Davis

Kyle Ferrie

Emmanuel Forbes

Esaias Furdge

Lideatrick Griffin

Jett Johnson

Kwatrivous Johnson

Jo'Quavious Marks

DeCarlos Nicholson

Jeffery Pittman

Shawn Preston Jr.

Will Rogers

Hunter Washington

Nathaniel Watson

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