Mississippi State hired Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby. The Sooners led the Big 12 Conference in scoring, averaging over 40 points per game and in passing with an average of 314 yards. Lebby has worked as an offensive coordinator under Brent Venables at Oklahoma, under Josh Heupel at UCF and under Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss. His father-in-law is former Baylor coach Art Briles. Lebby's first order of business will be to convince quarterback Will Rogers to return for his final year as a Bulldog.
Number 11 Ole Miss defeated Mississippi State, 17-7, in a defensive slugfest in Starkville on Thanksgiving Night. The win puts the Rebels in position to claim their first 11-win season in school history if they win their bowl game. Ole Miss had 307 yards of offense while MSU gained 303 yards in the evenly matched contest. The Bulldogs (5-7, 1-7) led in passing yards 207-96 but the Rebels (10-2, 6-2) rushed for 211 yards. Looks like Mississippi State missed going to a bowl this year. The NCAA included James Madison (11-1) and Jacksonville State (8-4). Both are still in the process to full Division 1 status and would have not made a bowl game for another year but did because only 79 of the 82 D-1 teams won at least six games to be eligible for a possible bowl berth. Minnesota (5-7) made the cut because of their 992 Academic Progress Rate (APR) for the next and final spot. Mississippi State would have been next with a 985.
We are down to only five unbeaten Division 1 teams in the NCAA. Georgia, Michigan, Washington, Florida State and Liberty are all 12-0. All five will play in conference championship games this week.
Troy extended their winning streak to nine games with a 35-17 win over Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg on Saturday. The Golden Eagles' Frank Gore Jr. was the highlight for Will Hall's offense rushing for 95 yards, including a 57-yard touchdown. Gore finished the season with 1,131 yards--good enough for 13th in the country. He also became the third USM rusher to go over 4,000 career yards. USM (3-9) will open the 2024 season against the Kentucky Wildcats. It was also announced this week that Golden Eagle head coach Will Hall will return for a fourth year. Will Hall also let three of his assistant coaches go over the weekend.
Valdosta State scored ten points in the final 2:42 of the game to edge Delta State, 38-31, in the NCAA Division II playoffs played in Cleveland, Saturday. Valdosta (12-1) scored on a 24-yard pass play with :09 left in the contest. Delta State ends another successful season with a 10-2 record.
The Mississippi High School Activities Association will host their state football championships in Oxford this week. The fun begins on Thursday at 4 p.m. when Biggersville (11-1) will battle Velma Jackson (13-0) for the Class 1-A title. The 5-A championship game will follow at 7:30 p.m. with West Point (10-3) facing Laurel (8-6). The 2-A championship tilt will have Charleston (12-2) facing Heidelberg (11-3) at 4 p.m. followed by the 6-A championship game at 7:30 p.m. with West Jones (13-0) battling Grenada (11-3). The games conclude Saturday with three games as a pair of unbeaten teams in Columbia (14-0) and Louisville (14-0) face off at noon. The 3-A championship game will follow at 3:30 p.m. with Winona (14-0) battling Noxubee County (10-4). The final game will have Starkville (10-3) meeting Oak Grove (12-1) at 7 p.m.
The state JUCO football champions the East Mississippi Lions (9-2) have earned a No. 4 ranking and will take on top-ranked and unbeaten Hutchinson Community College in the 2023 NJCAA Division 1 playoffs on December 2 in Hutchinson. The other semifinal matchup will have second-ranked Iowa Western hosting No. 3 Kilgore College (TX) on December 3. Both games will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Dale has been writing sports in Mississippi since 1973. Listen to Dale and Marshall Wood on the Brouhaha Sports Show each Tuesday at 6 p.m. on WABO FM 105.5 in the Waynesboro area. To listen to the broadcast on your computer or smart phone anywhere in the world, go to Google Chrome, go to wabo105.com and click listen live. You may also go to The Brouhaha on YouTube and listen to archived shows.
