NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Mississippi State can only hope for similar postseason perfomance that they got last on New Year’s Day in the 2011 Gator Bowl.
Relf was named the Most Valuable Player of the contest won by MSU over Michigan in Jacksonville after accounting for 311 total yards and four touchdowns with most of them coming via the passing game finishing 18-of-23 for 281 yards.
It’s now becoming a trend that during the most important games of his career, the senior quarterback has the best performances.
“I’ll just treat this just like any other game and go out there and be myself,” Relf said. “I have to play my game and I know I’ll be fine.”
Relf, who owns the school’s second-best all-time winning percentage by a starting quarterback, will get the starting nod in the 2011 Music City Bowl Friday (5:40 p.m., ESPN).
“He’s done a great job of believing and buying into what we’re trying to do here,” MSU coach Dan Mullen said. “Chris is a guy that’s come in with a lot of different question marks of what the program is all about.”
The last time Relf was on the field he would end with 119 total yards (70 passing, 49 rushing) in his final game at Davis Wade Stadium during a 31-3 victory in the 2011 rivalry game against the University of Mississippi. The senior from Montgomery, Ala., owns a perfect 3-0 record versus the rival, going 24-of-33 through the air with 401 yards and seven passing touchdowns. He also ends three starts versus the Rebels with 263 rushing yards on 47 carries and one rushing touchdown.
Relf has thrown for 1,083 yards and nine touchdowns with seven interceptions this season in a roller coaster ride of a final season that’s even seen him lose the starting job halfway through the 2011 season.
Throughout a rocky season, Relf will still leave MSU in the Top 10 career wise in several categories including completion percentage (second, .578), passing yardage (eighth, 3,168), passing efficiency (fourth, 131.11) and touchdown passes (fifth, 27).
“It’s hard to tell because you don’t know till the lights are on which Chris will show up but the thing I’ve loved him for is simply not giving up because that’s not in his nature,” MSU offensive coordinator Les Koenning said. “Anytime you challenge him, he meets that challenge.”
Relf has forced Wake Forest’s staff to prepare for dual-threat option behind center with its scout team quarterbacks in practice.
“What it seems like to me is they have one guy that’s more of a passer (Tyler Russell) and one that is clearly more of a power runner type that can also throw it well at times (Chris Relf),” Wake Forest head coach Jim Grobe said. “Identifying who is on the field will be the first thing we have to do as a defense to figuring out how to stop them.”
Relf will likely see the majority of the playing time Friday with questions surrounding the health of sophomore quarterback Tyler Russell. Russell suffered what MSU officials are calling a strained medial collateral ligament to his left knee. Mullen described the former Parade All-American from Meridian High School as “pretty sharp.”
“He’ll probably be wearing a brace for another month or two with that (injury),” Mullen said. “He said he could be completely ready to play (Thursday) or Friday.”
Mullen said Wednesday that Relf’s best statistic that he’s most proud of has nothing to do with football and everything to do with the piece of paper the Montgomery, Ala., native earned last month when he finished his college courses.
“Most important thing is I’m proud he graduated from college a couple of weeks ago,” Mullen said. “That is important our guys get their degree and being a success the rest of your life. He’s the first person in his family to get a college degree and there’s no more successful thing to do than that.”
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.