2010 Mississippi State Recruiting Class

Mississippi State Bulldogs 2010 ... Head Coach: Dan Mullen

2009 Schedule
CFN Prediction: 2-10
2009 Record: 5-7

9/5 Jackson St W 45=7
9/12 at Auburn L 49-24
9/19 at Vanderbilt W 15-3
9/26 LSU L 30-26
10/3 Georgia Tech L 42-31
10/10 Houston L 31-24
10/17 at Middle Tenn W 27-6
10/24 Florida L 29-19
10/31 at Kentucky W 31-24
11/7 OPEN DATE
11/14 Alabama L 31-3
11/21 at Arkansas L 42-21
11/28 Ole Miss W 41-27

2008 Schedule
CFN Prediction: 6-6
2008 Record: 4-8

8/30 at La Tech L 22-14
9/6 SE Louisiana W 34-10
9/13 Auburn L 3-2
9/20 at Georgia Tech L 38-7
9/27 at LSU L 34-24
10/4 OPEN DATE 
10/11 Vanderbilt W 17-14
10/18 at Tennessee L 34-3
10/25 Middle Tenn W 31-22
11/1 Kentucky L 14-13
11/8 OPEN DATE 
11/15 at Alabama L 32-7
11/22 Arkansas W 31-28
11/28 at Ole Miss L 45-0

Mississippi State
Bulldogs

The Top Five Prospects
DT	James Carmon	6-7	370	Perkinston, MS
WR	Michael Carr	6-1	192	West Point, MS
DE	Kaleb Eulls	6-4	255	Pickens, MS
OL	Damien Robinson	6-8	330	Olive Branch, MS
WR	Robert Johnson	6-0	196	Hattiesburg, MS
The Rest of the Class
RB	Vick Ballard	5-11	207	Perkinston, MS
LB	Ferlando Bohanna	6-0	232	Memphis, TN
OL	Blaine Clausell	6-7	295	Mobile, AL
DE	Paul Crawford	6-8	235	Lewisville, TX
OL	Dillon Day	6-4	237	West Monroe, LA
QB	Dylan Favre	5-10	180	Bay St. Louis, MS
RB	Nick  Griffin	5-11	193	New Augusta, MS
LB	Corvell Harrison	6-3	220	Laurel, MS
ATH	Brandon Hill	6-2	208	Crawford, MS
LB	Christian Holmes	6-2	235	Puckett, MS
OL	Jeff Howie	6-4	330	Fulton, MS
DB	Chris  Hughes	6-0	215	Mobile, AL
ATH	Jay Hughes	5-11	175	Hattiesburg, MS
WR	Malcolm Johnson	6-1	200	Tuscaloosa, AL
OL	Eric Lawson	6-6	320	Olive Branch, MS
DB	Jeremy Lee	5-10	170	Utica, MS
ATH	Jameon Lewis	5-9	175	Tylertown, MS
DB	Jamerson Love	5-11	175	Aberdeen, MS
OL	Archie Muniz	6-5	255	Houston, TX
DT	Curtis Virges	6-3	290	West Point, MS
ATH	Matthew Wells	6-0	190	Monticello, MS

Nov. 28
at Mississippi State 41 … Ole Miss 27
Backup quarterback Chris Relf ran for 131 yards and a ten-yard touchdown, and threw two third quarter scoring passes as Mississippi State stunned the Rebels in the Egg Bowl. Ole Miss got three touchdown passes from Jevan Snead, with Dexter McCluster taking a pass 52 yards for a touchdown and Markeith Summers scoring from 48 yards out, but he also threw three interceptions with Corey Broomfield sealing the MSU win taking a pick 64 yards for a late fourth quarter touchdown. MSU outgained Ole Miss 317 rushing yards to 90.
Player of the Game: Mississippi State QB Chris Relf completed 3-of-5 passes for 43 yards and two scores.
Ole Miss: Passing: Jevan Snead, 17-29, 275 yds, 3 TD, 3 INT
Rushing: Dexter McCluster, 16-82, Receiving: Shay Hodge, 60-96, 1 TD
Mississippi State: Passing: Tyson Lee, 5-9, 52 yds, 1 INT
Rushing: Anthony Dixon, 29-133, 1 TD, Receiving: Chad Bumphis, 3-52, 1 TD
What It All Means: For a first-year coaching staff at a program that has traditionally had to battle to be out of the conference basement, getting an Egg Bowl win means everything. Going 5-7 isn’t what Dan Mullen was hoping for, especially considering how close the Bulldogs were to beating LSU and Houston, but all anyone is going to talk about or care about in Starkville this offseason is how the program might be on the rise thanks to this one win. The running game worked, the defense forced mistakes, and this is as good, if not better than winning a bowl game. 

Nov. 21
at Arkansas 42 … Mississippi State 21
Ryan Mallett threw five touchdown passes including plays from 58 and 64 yards away to Cobi Hamilton, but Mississippi State wouldn’t go away until late thanks to Anthony Dixon. The Bulldog star tore off scoring runs from four and 70 yards in the third quarter to pull MSU within seven, but Mallett connected with Greg Childs from 11 yards out early in the fourth quarter and Broderick Green close things out with a two-yard scoring dash.
Player of the Game: Arkansas QB Ryan Mallett completed 18-of-34 passes for 313 yards and five touchdowns with two interceptions
Mississippi State: Passing: Chris Relf, 4-7, 27 yds
Rushing: Anthony Dixon, 24-176, 2 TD, Receiving: Marcus Green, 3-17
Arkansas: Passing: Ryan Mallett, 18-34, 313 yds, 5 TD, 2 INT
Rushing: Dennis Johnson, 11-50, Receiving: Cobi Hamilton, 3-131, 2 TD 
What It All Means: The bowl hope is gone after being unable to slow down Ryan Mallett and the Arkansas passing game, but that doesn’t mean that Dan Mullen’s first season at the helm can’t be a success with the right breaks. Anthony Dixon has to have another massive game, after running for 176 yards on Arkansas, to overcome the lack of a passing game against Ole Miss. The lack of a pass rush was a problem against the Hogs, and it could be a major issue against Jevan Snead if he chooses this game to finally get hot.

Nov. 14
Alabama 31 … at Mississippi State 3
Alabama had few problems as Darius Hanks scored on a 45-yard pass play and Mark Ingram ran for a one-yard score on the way to a 17-0 lead. MSU came up with a 34-yard Derek DePasquale field goal early in the fourth, but the Tide put it away with a 48-yard Julio Jones touchdown catch and a 70-yard Ingram scoring dash. The Bulldogs only gained 212 yards of total offense and turned the ball over three times with no takeaways.
Player of the Game: Alabama RB Mark Ingram ran 19 times for 149 yards and two touchdowns
Mississippi State: Passing: Tyson Lee, 9-17, 99 yds, 2 INT
Rushing: Anthony Dixon, 22-81, Receiving: Anthony Dixon, 6-59
Alabama: Passing: Greg McElroy, 13-18, 192 yds, 2 TD
Rushing: Mark Ingram, 19-149, 2 TD, Receiving: Julio Jones, 4-66 
What It All Means: MSU simply couldn’t get the offense going. The defense wasn’t awful against Bama, but it struggled against an accurate game from QB Greg McElroy and the offense couldn’t answer for the home runs from two big Tide pass plays and Mark Ingram’s 70-yard dash. Tyson Lee didn’t do anything to make the Tide back seven stop keying on Anthony Dixon, but to be fair, the Alabama defensive backs made some fantastic plays. There’s still hope for a bowl, but not the Bulldogs have to go to Arkansas and win before beating Ole Miss. That’s a tall task for a team with no passing attack.

Oct. 31
Mississippi State 31 … at Kentucky 24
Anthony Dixon ran for a Mississippi State record 252 yards with touchdown runs of one and three yards out, and O’Neal Wilder caught a 67-yard touchdown pass to keep bowl hopes alive. Kentucky got short touchdown runs from Derrick Locke, Morgan Newton, and Randall Cobb on the way to a 24-17 fourth quarter lead, but MSU outscored the Cats 21-7 in the third quarter. MSU ran for 348 yards, but only converted 1-of-9 third down chances.
Player of the Game: Mississippi State RB Anthony Dixon ran 33 times for 252 yards and two touchdowns, and he caught two passes for 14 yards.
Mississippi State: Passing: Tyson Lee, 10-17, 145 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT
Rushing: Anthony Dixon, 33-252, 2 TD, Receiving: O’Neal Wilder, 2-72, 1 TD
Kentucky: Passing: Morgan Newton, 11-18, 119 yds, 1 INT
Rushing: Derrick Locke, 17-103, 1 TD, Receiving: La’Rod King & Chris Matthews, 2-31 
What It All Means: That’s a simple plan: hand the ball off to Anthony Dixon and watch him rumble. He tore off big run after big run against Kentucky, and that made life easier for Tyson Lee as he didn’t have to press too hard for the passing game. Considering who well the running game played, MSU should’ve been able to put the game away earlier, but a win is a win, and now a bowl game is within reach. Forget about the game against Alabama two weeks from now, but if the Bulldog ground game can keep on cranking out big yards, there’s a chance to come up with wins over Arkansas and Ole Miss to end the regular season.

Oct. 24
Florida 29 … at Mississippi State 19
Tim Tebow tied Herschel Walker’s record for touchdown runs with a 26-yard dash in the second, and Caleb Sturgis connected on three field goals, but Florida struggled to get out with a win. Tebow threw two interceptions for touchdowns, with Johnathan Banks returning one 100 yards in the final minute of the first half and a 20-yarder for a score in the fourth, but Florida was comfortably ahead helped by a 23-yard Dustin Doe interception return for a touchdown.
Player of the Game: Florida DE Carlos Dunlap made five tackles and three sacks.
Mississippi State: Passing: Tyson Lee, 15-23, 145 yds, 3 INT
Rushing: Anthony Dixon, 15-53, Receiving: Anthony Dixon & O’Neal Wilder, 3-21
Florida: Passing: Tim Tebow, 12-22, 127 yds
Rushing: Chris Rainey, 12-90, 1 TD, Receiving: Riley Cooper, 4-63
What It All Means: The defense might have gotten rumbled on, but the two pick-sixes against Tim Tebow were nice, Marcus Washington came up with 15 tackles, and the game was still interesting in the second half. While the loss might be disappointing, it was a good effort against the nation’s No. 1 team. The three interceptions and the inability to keep things moving on third downs were the big problems, but Florida’s defense might be the best in the country. The offense will have to be error-free to win at Kentucky next week. 

Oct. 17
Mississippi State 27 … at Middle Tennessee 6
Anthony Dixon became Mississippi State’s all-time rushing leader with 135 yards and touchdown runs from 57 yards out in the second and from one-yard away in the third, and the defense held MSU to 248 yards with four interceptions. Johnathan Banks and Corey Broomfield each intercepted two passes while the Bulldog D allowed just two second quarter field goals. Tyson Lee started off the MSU scoring with a 39-yard touchdown dash.
Player of the Game: Mississippi State RB Anthony Dixon ran 27 times for 135 yards and two scores, and he caught two passes for 11 yards
Middle Tennessee: Passing: Dwight Dasher, 11-22, 129 yds, 3 INT
Rushing: Dwight Dasher, 13-47, Receiving: Garrett Andrews, 4-49
Mississippi State: Passing: Tyson Lee, 14-20, 155 yds
Rushing: Anthony Dixon, 27-135, 2 TD, Receiving: Arnil Stallworth, 4-71
What It All Means: RB Anthony Dixon, now MSU’s all-time leading rusher, was impressive as he carried the MSU offense to the easy win, while the defense did its job keeping Middle Tennessee to 248 yards and forcing four turnovers. The passing game didn’t take any big shots down the field, but Tyson Lee was effective and didn’t make any mistakes to allow the Blue Raiders into the game. This stopped a three-game losing streak, but the offense didn’t show anything to suggest it can hang around with Florida next week. Savor this win; it’ll be the last one of the year without a major upset. 

Oct. 10
Houston 31 … at Mississippi State 24
Case Keenum threw four touchdowns passes, hitting James Cleveland from five and three yards away, and connecting with Tyron Carrier from 16 and 18 yards out, but the Cougars had to hang on late. MSU started off the scoring with a 71-yard interception return for a touchdown from Charles Mitchell, and got touchdown runs from 50 yards out and one yard away, but the onside kick attempt late after the second score failed. MSU turned it over four times and was hit by eight penalties to Houston’s two.
Player of the Game: Houston QB Case Keenum completed 39-of-52 passes for 434 yards and four touchdowns with two interceptions.
Mississippi State: Passing: Tyson Lee, 15-23, 160 yds, 2 INT
Rushing: Anthony Dixon, 21-134, 2 TD, Receiving: Marcus Green, 4-37
Houston: Passing: Case Keenum, 39-52, 434 yds, 4 TD, 2 INT
Rushing: Bryce Beall, 15-94, Receiving: James Cleveland, 11-131, 2 TD 
What It All Means: MSU has some positives and is improved from last year, but it can’t afford to screw up if it wants to beat the better teams. The running game was great against Houston and the defense was more the adequate for a few stretches, even though it allowed 553 yards overall, but the eight penalties killed momentum and the four turnovers were devastating. The Bulldogs needed this win for a bowl game, and after next week's game against Middle Tennessee, things get tough with Florida coming to Starkville.

Oct. 3
Georgia Tech 42 … at Mississippi State 31
Georgia Tech crossed up MSU and made the offense move through the air. Josh Nesbitt threw for a career-high 266 yards hitting with a 26-yard touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas. The Yellow Jackets got up early on a 24-yard Stephen Hill touchdown run and a two-yard run from Jonathan Dwyer, but MSU answered with an 89-yard kickoff return for a touchdown from Leon Berry. Just when it seemed like MSU was going to make a big charge, Jerrard Tarrant took a fumble 40 yard for a Tech touchdown. MSU tried to fight back with a 69-yard Chad Bumphis touchdown catch, but turnovers, committing five on the day, killed the chances for the upset.
Player of the Game: Georgia Tech QB Josh Nesbitt completed 11-of-14 passes for 266 yards and a score, and he ran 23 times for 53 yards.
Mississippi State: Passing: Tyson Lee, 20-30, 278 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Anthony Dixon, 18-106, Receiving: Chad Bumphis, 6-123, 1 TD
Georgia Tech: Passing: Josh Nesbitt, 11-14, 266 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Jonathan Dwyer, 16-83, 1 TD, Receiving: Demaryius Thomas, 8-174, 1 TD
What It All Means: MSU battled well when Georgia Tech hit haymaker after haymaker, but five turnovers and an inability to keep drives alive turned out to be too much to overcome. Tyson Lee showed he could throw a little bit, while Anthony Dixon once again ran well to try to carry the attack. While this was a tough loss, the O showed it can produce in a firefight, and that’s what it’ll be in for next week against Houston. Dixon had better be ready to get rumbling after what UTEP did to the Cougar D. 

Sept. 26
LSU 30 … at Mississippi State 26
LSU needed a goal line stand to hold on against a game MSU. Patrick Peterson started off the scoring for the Tigers with a 37-yard interception return for a score, but Mississippi State battled back with two short Anthony Dixon touchdown runs, with the second helped by an LSU special teams miscue with a errant punt snap. And then the big plays kicked in with Brandon LaFell catching a 58-yard touchdown pass, his second score of the day, to seemingly give LSU a comfortable lead, but Marcus Green came up with a 50-yard scoring grab later in the third. Chad Jones gave LSU all the points it would need on a 93-yard punt return for a score, but the Tigers had to stop MSU four times from the one to save the win.
Player of the Game: LSU DB Chad Jones made seven tackles and returned a punt for the game-winning score
Mississippi State: Passing: Tyson Lee, 15-38, 172 yds, 1 TD, 3 INT
Rushing: Anthony Dixon, 27-106, 2 TD, Receiving: Marcus Green 5-100, 1 TD
LSU: Passing: Jordan Jefferson, 15-28, 233 yds, 2 TD
Rushing: Russell Shepard, 4-26, Receiving: Brandon LaFell, 6-101, 2 TD
What It All Means: How good is Dan Mullen? His team was overmatched by a far more athletic, far more talented LSU team, but his Bulldogs were more physical, overcame a slew of mistakes, and almost came up with the win. Of course, they weren’t more physical on the late LSU goal line stand, but that shouldn’t overshadow how the offense was better than LSU’s and how the pass rush did a nice job of generating pressure all game long. Going forward, the question will be if Tyson Lee is still the full-time quarterback. He got most of the work, but he threw three picks. This was a loss, but it showed that things are quickly moving forward.

Sept. 19
Mississippi State 15 … at Vanderbilt 3
Tyson Lee ran for a 22-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter and Sean Brauchle kicked field goals from 44, 27, and 49 yards away, and the defense held Vanderbilt to just a 20-yard Ryan Fowler field goal, to give Dan Mullen his first SEC  win as the MSU head coach. The Bulldog offense held on to the ball for over 38 minutes, while Vanderbilt struggled to get anything going on the ground with just 33 rushing yards and 157 yards of total offense.
Player of the Game: Mississippi State RB Anthony Dixon ran 21 times for 123 yards
Vanderbilt: Passing: Larry Smith, 12-32, 124 yds, 1 INT
Rushing: Warren Norman, 7-26, Receiving: John Cole, 3-32
Mississippi State: Passing: Tyson Lee, 8-14, 66 yds
Rushing: Anthony Dixon, 21-123, Receiving: Leon Berry, 3-17
What It All Means: MSU couldn’t convert on third down, successful on just 2-of-15 chances, and the passing game is non-existent, but the running game is fantastic, with Anthony Dixon and Christian Ducre each producing well against the Commodores. The running of Chris Relf and the mobility of Tyson Lee helped give the Bulldog attack enough of a dimension to make LSU a little bit concerned next week, but the passing game has to start cranking out more yards to have any hope of more SEC wins.

Sept. 12
at Auburn 49 ... Mississippi State 24
Auburn ripped off 390 rushing yards, but it was Kodi Burns who got the gravy with three scores and just 32 yards. The Tigers appeared to on their way to an early blowout on a one-yard Burns run and a 20-yard Antonio Coleman interception return for a score, but MSU came back with 17 straight points including a one-yard Anthony Dixon scoring run and a blocked punt for a score. And then it was all Auburn with Burns connecting with Philip Lutzenkirchen for a 13-yard score and Onterio McCalebb tearing off a 48-yard touchdown run as part of a 28-point run to put the game away.
Player of the Game: Auburn RB Ben Tate ran 20 times for 157 yards and a touchdown.
Auburn: Passing: Chris Todd, 10-23, 186 yds
Rushing: Ben Tate, 20-157, 1 TD, Receiving: Darvin Adams, 5-116
Miss State: Passing: Chris Relf, 5-11, 77 yds, 2 INT
Rushing: Anthony Dixon, 20-92, 1 TD, Receiving: Leon Berry, 4-60
What It All Means: The offense was supposed to take a little while to jell, and it will, but there has to be a major concern with LSU and Georgia Tech coming up soon that the run defense got gouged so badly. The Auburn spread attack worked perfectly no matter who was carrying the ball, and the linebackers will soon have to do far more or else there will be more blowout losses. On the plus side, Anthony Dixon ran well with 92 yards on 20 tough carries.

Sept. 5
at Mississippi State 45 ... Jacksonville State 7
It took a while to get the Dan Mullen era started, the game was delayed by lightning, but the results were fine for the Bulldogs. MSU converted a botched punt snap into a 15-yard Chad Bumphis touchdown catch, and the rout was on. The Bulldogs scored the first 38 points of the game with Chris Relf throwing two scoring passes and running for a touchdown, while Robert Elliot ran for a seven-yard score. JSU finally got on the board in the fourth quarter on a 16-yard Terrence Davis run.
Player of the Game: Mississippi State QB Chris Relf completed 7-of-10 passes for 75 yards and three touchdowns, and he ran 12 times for 82 yards and a score.
Jacksonville State: Passing: Trae Rutland, 8-19, 132 yds, 2 INT
Rushing: Trae Rutland, 14-46, Receiving: Keenan Tillman, 2-57
Miss State: Passing: Tyson Lee, 9-14, 97 yds
Rushing: Chris Relf, 12-82, 1 TD, Receiving: Marcus Green, 3-40, 1 TD
What It All Means: Everything went perfectly for the opening day. The defense stuffed Jacksonville State allowing just 194 yards of total offense and allowing just 2-of-11 third down conversions with five takeaways, while the offense, and especially Chris Relf, showed decent balance as the running game did enough to control the game from the start. Penalties were an issue committing 12 for 152 yards, but JSU got tagged for 15 penalties. Next week at Auburn will be far tougher, but this was a good first warm up to implement all the new wrinkles.