STARKVILLE — Mississippi State football coach Dan Mullen still isn’t providing many details about his quarterbacks two weeks after making a change at the position.
MSU’s third-year coach refused to name a starting quarterback for his team’s game at 6 p.m. Saturday’s road game at Kentucky (6 p.m., Fox Sports South) after sophomore Tyler Russell played every snap but one in a 14-12 loss to the University of South Carolina on Oct. 15. Russell, a former Parade All-American from Meridian High School, was 11 of 29 for 165 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions.
Russell’s first college start came a week after he relieved senior Chris Relf at the halftime of the team’s game against University of Alabama-Birmingham and helped the Bulldogs rally for a 21-3 victory.
“I’m not against playing both of them,” Mullen said. “You might see both of them play. I don’t know. You might not. So much depends on the rhythm of the game and if they’re both performing well.”
Mullen said he won’t name the starting quarterback for the Kentucky game until kickoff. Two weeks ago, he informed Russell of his decision the day before the contest.
Relf hasn’t played a down since being removed from the game at UAB, but Mullen said Tuesday he expected the senior to see the playing field again this season. Before the game almost two weeks ago, Relf had started 19 straight games since the season opener of last season.
“I thought they played well last week,” Mullen said. “I thought Chris
had a really good week last week and Tyler continues to develop.”
MSU defensive coordinator regrets call on Gamecocks’ game-winning TD
MSU defensive coordinator Chris Wilson has watched the film and suggested Monday he would’ve made a different defensive call.
With MSU leading South Carolina 10-7 with a little less than four minutes remaining in their game two weeks ago at Davis Wade Stadium, Gamecocks quarterback Connor Shaw lofted a jump ball to junior Alshon Jeffery for a 4-yard touchdown pass to give South Carolina the final lead.
Mullen said his staff would look at the film and see if any mistakes were made as both teams were coming out of a timeout before that game-winning play.
“We need to go back and evaluate if we’re putting our guys in the best chance to succeed,” Mullen said Oct. 18. “The bye week allows us to figure out if we’re tipping our hand on offense, defense, and special teams.”
MSU had its smallest cornerback (junior Corey Broomfield) on the 6-foot-4 Jeffery. It also had sophomore safety Nickoe Whitley over the top to help, but he got there a second too late before the Gamecocks’ All-America receiver caught the ball.
“I wish I could’ve been in a perfect call and wish we would’ve played it as well, but they threw it up to a guy that had five catches for 40 yards but all that doesn’t matter,” Wilson said. “This league is predicated on making plays at critical times. You can play 70 snaps perfectly but you only need one or two to determine the outcome of a football game.”
The score was only the fifth second-half touchdown allowed by the MSU’s defense this season. The Bulldogs have outscored opponents 77-50 in the final two quarters.
“I’m excited about the direction this group is going (and) the guys buying into preparing and setting a standard,” Wilson said. “That’s what is kind of fun. The guys are saying we can play so much better.”
UK tailback Sanders “iffy” for Saturday’s game
Kentucky coach Joker Phillips told the local media sophomore running back Raymond Sanders is “iffy” for Saturday’s game against Mississippi State after he suffered a high ankle sprain last week against Jacksonville State.
Sanders, who has started three games this season at tailback, has 115 yards on 27 carries.
“It’s a high ankle sprain, it’s just not one of those they think he will be out four or five weeks,” Phillips said. “But it’s definitely iffy for this coming week. We’ll have to see as days go by whether or not he can play this week, but it doesn’t look good.”
Coming off the bench last week against Jacksonville State, junior CoShik Williams rushed for a career-high 148 yards on 22 carries after Sanders went down with the injury. Quarterback Morgan Newton carried 12 times for a career-high 75 yards.
Phillips said in his news conference sophomore Jonathan George would back up Williams if Sanders can’t play Saturday. He said redshirt freshman Brandon Gainer would third on the depth chart.
“CoShik Williams really, really looked good during the open date and he’s practicing hard,” Phillips said. “Raymond Sanders has been one of the more consistent guys. He’s kind of held him off, and if Raymond had been down, CoShik, he’s got to step up and be more consistent.”
Kentucky (3-4, 0-4 Southeastern Conference) has the 10th-best rushing offense in the league at 100.7 yards per game. Its ground game has suffered since freshman tailback Josh Clemons suffered a season-ending knee injury.
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