Appreciating Tulu’s Historic Night
September 24, 2023 | Football, Joel Coleman
Electric State pass catcher sets school’s new all-time, single-game record for receiving yards.
COLUMBIA, S.C. – By now, everyone is fully aware that Lideatrick Griffin is explosive and electric. But above anything else, the young pass catcher better known as Tulu is a winner.
So, it shouldn't come as any surprise that after Mississippi State came up just short at South Carolina on Saturday, Griffin was barely aware of the monumental accomplishment he'd just achieved personally on the field in Columbia.
Griffin became State's all-time, single-game record holder for receiving yards after he totaled 256 of them against the Gamecocks. Yet the night's outcome didn't lend itself the opportunity for Griffin to truly realize or appreciate his feat.
"I didn't even know I did that [until I was told after the game]," Griffin admitted. "I really didn't know it."
Griffin surpassed the previous school record of 220 receiving yards set by Jameon Lewis in the 2013 Liberty Bowl against Rice. Ideally, Griffin's moment would've coincided with a big road victory, but it wasn't meant to be.
Nonetheless, when a player does something that hasn't been done in the history of a football program that played its first game way back in 1895, it's special. Particularly when you consider the record was nearly broken in just two quarters of play.
Griffin racked up 205 of his yards prior to halftime. He had catches of 33, 65, 47 and 60 yards before the intermission.
The 65-yard catch resulted in State's first touchdown of the night and was a spark for a Bulldog offense that went on to rack up 519 yards, including 487 through the air.
Will Rogers with a dime to Tulu Griffin!#HailState🐶 pic.twitter.com/8Djjw4p8zr
— Mississippi State Football (@HailStateFB) September 24, 2023
Griffin hauled in a 30-yard pass in the early moments of the third quarter that served as the record breaker and set a bar that might not soon be eclipsed again.
And if it is, the most likely candidate to do so is probably the individual that put it there in the first place: Tulu himself.
There are almost certainly more big nights ahead for Griffin in 2023. State head coach Zach Arnett is just about banking on it.
"He's one of the most explosive guys in the country with the ball in his hands," Arnett said of Griffin. "So, we play to our strengths. We find a way to get the ball in our most explosive guy's hands."
School Record for @TuluuuuuG!
— Mississippi State Football (@HailStateFB) September 24, 2023
First player in program history with over 221 yards receiving in a single game! #HailState🐶 pic.twitter.com/MJanFSorVq
