STARKVILLE — Weekend arrest figures did not spike in correlation with droves of tourists visiting Starkville for Mississippi State University’s historic victory over Auburn, law enforcement representatives confirmed Monday.
Oktibbeha County Sheriff Steve Gladney and Mississippi Highway Patrol Troop G spokesperson Criss Turnipseed both said the weekend went smoothly for their respective agencies and low arrest tallies reflect tourists who, for the most part, were on their best behavior after the Bulldogs beat Auburn, vaulting them to the top of The Associated Press’ collegiate football poll.
Reading from Oktibbeha County Jail’s docket, Gladney said the jail processed 39 arrests across two days from troopers, city police officers and his own deputies. Of those arrests, 11 were charged with driving intoxicated, he said, while 13 people received public drunk citations.
Visitors began swelling Starkville’s population Thursday in anticipation of various weekend events. Besides Saturday’s Southeastern Conference game, the Greater Starkville Development Partnership hosted its annual Pumpkinpalooza fall festival, while the Starkville High Yellowjackets won its third-straight Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 6A, Region 2 game by shutting out Greenville.
Many troopers spent a majority of their time on traffic detail, Turnipseed said, as the concentrated amount of cars on State’s campus led to traffic jams extending to Miss. Highway 82 and other feeder roads.
“It went pretty smoothly considering just how many people were on campus and in Oktibbeha County this weekend,” he said.
“That was absolutely the largest crowd I can remember at MSU, and that’s coming off of me saying the same thing to others about (the Texas A&M University game day),” added Gladney, whose previous decade-long MHP job embedded him with the university during game days. “We set a record with attendance at the game, and then you hear rumors about how there might have been upward of 100,000 people combined on campus. It was a safe weekend with no major accidents. We were lucky that everything turned out the way it did.”
A call to Starkville Police Chief Frank Nichols went unanswered Monday, and dispatchers said no administrators were present to review weekend arrest numbers because of Monday’s holiday.
CBS to broadcast MSU-UK game next weekend
After three straight wins against top-10 college football programs, the Bulldogs have this weekend off and will play its second-straight network-broadcast game next weekend.
MSU travels to Lexington, Ky., on Oct. 25 to face the University of Kentucky. Kickoff is scheduled about 2:30 p.m. or 3:30 p.m. local time in Kentucky.
CBS will broadcast the game, which marks the second time this year the Bulldogs will play in what is considered one of the SEC’s marquee matchups.
Kentucky (5-1, 2-1) is tied with the University of Georgia for the lead in the SEC’s eastern division. The Wildcats jumped to 2-0 with out-of-conference victories but dropped their first conference game to the University of Florida 36-30 in three overtimes.
UK will face Louisiana State University on the road this weekend before returning home for the MSU game.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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