STARKVILLE — In college football, there’s no rest for the weary.
But this week, there is rest for the No. 1 team in the country.
One week after defeating No. 2 Auburn to complete the fastest rise from unranked to No. 1 in the history of The Associated Press poll, Mississippi State’s football team will enjoy its second and final open date of the season Saturday in advance of six-straight games to close the year.
“It’s good to be able to get back to our fundamentals,” said MSU coach Dan Mullen, who has his team at 6-0 and 3-0 in Southeastern Conference play. “We will use this week to get reps for a lot of guys, a chance to maybe see some things we don’t always see during game weeks because of preparation and scheming.”
MSU’s first bye week, on Sept. 27, was a buffer between a 34-29 victory against then-No. 8 LSU and back-to-back wins against then-No. 6 Texas A&M and then-No. 2 Auburn. This one, three weeks later, will provide a chance to relax before having to play next weekend at Kentucky, which will enter 6-1 or 5-2 depending on the outcome of its game at LSU.
Asked where he plans to spend his off day Saturday, Mullen said, “I’ll be on the couch with my kids. It will be fantastic.”
Mullen isn’t the only one who has plans away from the football field. MSU quarterback Dak Prescott, one of the leading candidates for the Heisman Trophy, said he plans to “go to Georgia for the weekend, maybe take a trip to Six Flags.”
Defensive coordinator Geoff Collins also plans to rest, but work won’t be far away.
Asked where he planned to be, Collins said, “At the crib. I’ll be at the house watching some football, maybe some English Premier League soccer. And then, if my wife isn’t looking, I’ll have my iPad close by so I can look at the Kentucky game plan a little bit. I’m never too far away from the game plan.”
MSU’s Thompson wins national award, will be honored by ICC
Mississippi State baseball associate head coach Butch Thompson will be inducted into the Itawamba Community College Athletic Hall of Fame, the college announced Wednesday. The induction ceremony will take place at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 25, at the David C. Cole Student Service Building on the ICC Fulton campus.
Currently in his seventh season with MSU, Thompson began his collegiate playing career as ICC’s closer from 1989-90 under coach Roy Cresap.
The announcement of Thompson’s induction came on the same day where Baseball America and the American Baseball Coaches Association named him the 2014 National Assistant Coach of the Year. Thompson was the first coach from the Southeastern Conference since 2011 and the first in MSU history to capture the award.
Dak Attack
One day after it was announced he’d appear on MSU’s second-consecutive Sports Illustrated cover, Prescott continued to attract accolades. For the fourth time this season, Prescott was named the Manning Award Quarterback of the Week, an honor announced by the Sugar Bowl on Thursday morning.
Prescott won the award courtesy of a 367-yard, three-touchdown performance in a 38-23 victory against then-No. 2 Auburn.
Earlier this week, the starting quarterback on the nation’s No. 1 team was named a midseason All-American by Sports Illustrated, ESPN.com, and Sporting News.
Smoot will represent MSU in SEC 2014 Legends Class
Former MSU cornerback Fred Smoot will represent MSU in the 2014 Southeastern Conference Legends Class, the league announced Thursday.
Smoot was a first-team All-SEC selection as a junior and as a senior at MSU. He was a consensus All-America cornerback as a senior in 2000. A finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, which is given annually to the nation’s top defensive back, he transferred to MSU from Hinds Community College and started all 23 games in his two-year career at the school and intercepted 10 passes.
Smoot was selected in the second round of the 2001 NFL draft by the Washington Redskins. He played nine NFL seasons — seven with the Redskins and two with the Minnesota Vikings.
The class includes All-Americans, All-SEC selections, Academic All-Americans, and NCAA and SEC record holders. The group represents teams that won national and SEC championships and are represented in state, school, and college football halls of fame.
The players will be honored Dec. 5-6 at the 2014 SEC Football “Weekend of Champions” in Atlanta, Ga. The SEC Legends Dinner will be Dec. 5 at the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta. The players also will be recognized prior to the SEC Football Championship Game, which will be Dec. 6 at the Georgia Dome.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brandon Walker on Twitter @BWonStateBeat
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