Bulldogs make history
By By Austin Bishop / EMG regional sports director
Sept. 15, 2002
STARKVILLE The 47,456 fans at Scott Field Saturday night saw more than Mississippi State put a 51-13 whipping on NCAA Division I-AA foe Jacksonville State.
They also saw MSU history.
When Kevin Fant connected with a wide open Ray Ray Bivens for an 89-yard touchdown with 6:03 left in the third quarter it became the longest pass play in school history.
It broke the record of 87 yards set in 1969 by quarterback Tommy Pharr and Eric Hoggatt.
So close yet so far
Twice Mississippi State attempted on-side kicks in the first half and twice they came oh so close to getting the ball.
After taking a 19-6 lead with 8:01 left in the first half, MSU's Brent Smith hit a popup down the right sideline. It was caught by an MSU player in the air on the run and was advanced deep into JSU territory, but the officials ruled that ball was touched by State before it went the required 10 yards, giving the Gamecocks the ball at the MSU 45.
Jacksonville St. then drove in for a touchdown.
After going ahead 25-13 with 2:22 left in the first half, MSU kicked off from midfield because of a facemasking penalty against Jacksonville State on the scoring play.
MSU then tried a different kind of onside kick play with Smith rolling the ball straight ahead and then trailing in an effort to fall on it while the Bulldogs blocked for him. Just as the ball bounced the necessary 10 yards, it scooted away from him and JSU recovered.
Not so automatic
Instead of calling the point after touchdown an extra point in Saturday night's game, it was more of an amazing point.
The two teams combined for seven first-half touchdowns, but only converted two extra points between them.
MSU's John Michael Marlin missed his extra point attempt wide right after the Bulldogs first touchdown, and that set the table for State to attempt a pair of two-point conversions on its third and fourth touchdowns of the half. Both were passes and both failed.
After scoring its first touchdown of the game, Jacksonville also failed to convert on the point after when Steven Lee's kick was wide as well.
No tube this time
For only the fourth time in the last 15 games, MSU's game was not televised on Saturday night. But the Bulldogs won't be off the air for long. Their game Thursday night at Scott Field with Auburn will be televised by ESPN beginning at 6:45 p.m.
That's Fant, not Faint
Even though he had a poor start, missing several open receivers and making some bad decisions early on, MSU junior quarterback Kevin Fant bounced back to have a solid night. He hit on just two of his first eight passes, but then was 6-for-9 the rest of the half to pass for 202 yards and two touchdowns over the first two quarters of play. He finished the night 15-of-26 passing for 336 yards and three touchdowns.
Capping it off
After giving up 255 yards of total offense to JSU over the first three quarters, the Mississippi State defense got a little pleasure late in the fourth quarter.
With 3:25 to play a trio of MSU safety Josh Morgan dropped Gamecock running back Chris Kirk in the end zone for a safety, scoring State's last two points of the night.
