STARKVILLE — If the game needed to be played tomorrow, Mississippi State has every reason to believe it would be ready for it.
Former Mississippi State football coach Dan Mullen treated his bowl preparations that way, in which MSU would install its entire game plan for the bowl game before leaving for the bowl site and use the ensuing practices to refresh it. In his absence, MSU interim coach Greg Knox has done the same. No. 24 MSU (8-4) will meet Louisville (8-4) in the TaxSlayer Bowl 11 a.m. Dec. 30 (ESPN) at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Florida.
“The plan is in and I feel like we’re ready to execute it,” Knox said. “Now it’s just a matter of getting down to the bowl site, refresh ourselves on it and go play a big-time ball game.”
MSU’s team plane, which Knox said will contain most of the team, will leave Starkville for Jacksonville on Christmas Day in the afternoon; some players have been given the freedom to drive or fly themselves to the bowl site given proximity.
Knox admits the days of preparation in Starkville have been trying, as the new staff led by Joe Moorhead has grown with recent hires and some players have been hosting the recruits being pursued by the new staff. He’s laying his trust in the foundation of the program.
“It’s been a challenging deal because you’re managing the mentality of the team. They know they’re going to be under a new staff, so you’re managing their personalities and it’s a tough deal, but again, we’re family,” Knox said. “Once you have a foundation, they understand what we expect whether it’s Coach Mullen standing in front of them, me, Coach Moorhead they know what to expect and they’ve been working hard.”
Harris, Mixon in the mix
MSU has mostly gone through its bowl practices in Starkville without linebacker Dez Harris and wide receiver Keith Mixon. Knox said both have worked primarily with the training staff in recent days more than their position coaches and their statuses for the bowl game will be reevaluated once the team gets to Jacksonville.
Harris (quad) finished the season as the team’s fifth-leading tackler despite only playing 10 games. Mixon (ankle) has 18 catches for 275 yards and a touchdown but did not play in three of MSU’s final four games.
Future shining through
One of the biggest advantages of a bowl bid is the extra practice for players making their ways up the ranks, and MSU has seen that firsthand.
“(Defensive lineman) Chauncey’s (Rivers) done a good job. He’s been consistent all year,” Knox said. “(Defensive lineman) Aaron Odom’s and those guys, Tyler Williams. It’s a special group coming back next year, a very talented group.”
Rivers is in the midst of an academic redshirt year after transferring from East Mississippi Community College. Odom and Williams are redshirting in their first years with MSU out of high school, Odom coming from Callaway High School in Jackson and Williams from Lafayette High School in Oxford.
Signing Day Today
College football’s first early signing period begins today and it is expected to be an active one for MSU. The Bulldogs currently have 20 players committed to its class of 2018 and as many as a dozen or more could sign Wednesday.
Locally, West Point athlete Marcus Murphy signed his National Letter of Intent (NLI) Tuesday with plans of having it faxed in Wednesday; Starkville wide receiver will sign his on Wednesday, as well.
Outside of MSU’s current commits, the biggest undecided piece in play for MSU is wide receiver Devonta “Whop” Jason out of Landry-Walker High School in New Orleans, the same high school MSU quarterback Keytaon Thompson came from. The former Kansas commit is rated as the fifth-best player in Louisiana by 247 Sports and is considering MSU alongside LSU, Florida and others. MSU is also in play for Jerome Carvin, an offensive lineman from Cordova, Tennessee.
The Dispatch will have a live blog on cdispatch.com with updates on each signee as the National Letters of Intent arrive.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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