Mississippi

Michael Van Buren Jr. accounts for 3 TDs, Mississippi St. beats UMass 45-20

Published

2 years ago

November 2, 2024

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Michael Van Buren Jr. accounts for 3 TDs, Mississippi St. beats UMass 45-20

Associated Press

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Following two-months worth of losses, Mississippi State found pay dirt once again.

Michael Van Buren Jr. accounted for three touchdowns and led the Bulldogs back from an early deficit in a 45-20 win over Massachusetts on Saturday.

“Just a happy locker room,” head coach Jeff Lebby said. “Could not be more proud of our togetherness, the team we are creating, the foundation that’s being built. For those guys, being able to feel victory is important so proud of that.”

Mississippi State answered a 10-0 start to the game by UMass by scoring 35 consecutive points in the second and third quarters.

After the Bulldogs surrendered over 100 yards on the first two drives and had negative nine offensively, Mississippi State would hold UMass scoreless on five straight drives while scoring touchdowns to cap five of its six possessions.

A six-play, 97-yard drive midway through the second quarter helped Mississippi State get the lead for the first time. A 35-yard run by Johnnie Daniels started the drive and Seydou Traore finished it with a 19-yard touchdown reception.

Van Buren finished the night 14 of 25 for 222 yards and a touchdown and added two touchdowns on the ground. He led an offense that had 463 total yards with 241 of those coming on the ground on 30 carries.

It was the first win for freshman Van Buren as the quarterback after taking over for senior Blake Shapen when the starter went down with a season-ending injury during the Florida game back on September 21.

“I’m just playing calm and playing my game. Coach Leb never lets me get too high or too low. He’s always going to challenge me and make me get better in all aspects. We don’t try to get better at one specific thing, just trying to get better at being a quarterback.”

Daniels had six carries for 92 yards and a touchdown, Davon Booth rushed 11 times for 76 yards and a score and freshman Xavier Gayten had two carries with a 72-yard score.

Jordan Mosley finished with four catches for 107 yards for the Bulldogs.

UMass (2-7) had 335 total yards with 199 on the ground. The Minutemen were 9 of 17 on 3rd downs and had a time of possession of 40:49 but committed nine penalties for 99 yards.

Brandon Campbell had 10 carries for 64 yards and a score to lead the way for the Minutemen.

Stone Blanton had 14 tackles for the Bulldogs (2-7) on defense while Nic Mitchell finished with 10 tackles. Brylan Lanier had an interception.

“Certainly, proud of how we came back. The way that we started was not what we wanted at all on both sides of the ball,” Lebby said. “I was incredibly proud of our guys continuing to play the next play and create some momentum and then keep momentum.”

Up next

Mississippi State travels to Tennessee on November 9.

UMass will host Liberty on November 16.

Big Picture

Mississippi State: It’s been a grueling season for the Bulldogs but the team was finally able to enjoy some success for the first time since week one. The victory over the Minutemen ended a seven-game losing streak.

UMass: Saturday dropped the Minutemen to 2-7 on the year with losses to SEC teams Missouri and Mississippi State on the list. One more game against the conference remains with a matchup at No. 2 Georgia coming on November 23.

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Mississippi

Your Mississippi forecast for Friday, May 15 – SuperTalk Mississippi

Published

4 hours ago

May 15, 2026

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Your Mississippi forecast for Friday, May 15 – SuperTalk Mississippi

It will be a beautiful start to the weekend with sunny skies and highs in the 80s. Here’s your statewide forecast from the National Weather Service.

Northern Mississippi

It will be a sunny Friday with highs in the mid-80s. Friday night will be mostly cloudy and warmer with lows in the mid to upper 60s.

Central Mississippi

Friday will be sunny with highs in the mid to upper 80s. Friday night will be mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-60s.

Southern Mississippi

It will be a sunny Friday with highs in the mid-80s. Friday night will be partly cloudy with lows in the lower 60s.

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Mississippi

Golden Spikes watchlist features players from Mississippi State, Ole Miss – SuperTalk Mississippi

Published

16 hours ago

May 14, 2026

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Golden Spikes watchlist features players from Mississippi State, Ole Miss – SuperTalk Mississippi

Two pitchers representing Mississippi universities are up for the 2026 Golden Spikes Award.

USA Baseball announced Thursday the 25 semifinalists for the award, which is presented annually to the most prolific college player in the nation. Both Mississippi State’s Tomas Valincius and Ole Miss’ Cade Townsend cracked the list. It’s the latest award each was announced to be up for after Valincius and Townsend became Ferris Trophy finalists earlier this week.

Valincius, a left-hander who followed first-year Bulldog head coach Brian O’Connor to Starkville from Virginia has been a star for Mississippi State this season. In 13 starts, the sophomore is 8-2 with a 2.52 ERA and 105 strikeouts, along with just 16 walks across 75 innings of work.

He has effectively limited opposing hitters to a .209 batting average on the year and ranks second in the SEC in strikeouts and wins, and is third in innings pitched and fourth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.56) and WHIP (0.99).

Valincius is the 10th Bulldog to earn a semifinalist distinction from the Golden Spikes Award and the first since Dakota Jordan in 2024. Will Clark is the program’s only Golden Spikes Award winner in 1985 while Rafael Palmeiro and Brent Rooker finished as finalists for the honor in 1984 and 2017, respectively.

For Ole Miss, Townsend is the first Rebel since Doug Nikhazy in 2021 and just the seventh ever to be named a semifinalist for the award. He is the first Ole Miss sophomore to ever be named a semifinalist as all six before him were juniors.

The right-hander boasts a 3.25 ERA and has struck out 77 batters while only allowing 20 earned runs in 55.1 innings. Townsend ranks fifth in the SEC in WHIP (1.01), strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.50), and strikeouts per nine innings (12.52). He leads the Rebels in all three categories as well as batters struck out looking (24) and wins and is second in opponent batting average (.202) and total strikeouts (77).

If Townsend is announced as a finalist, he will join Stephen Head and Drew Pomeranz in earning the honor. No Ole Miss player has ever won the Golden Spikes Award.

The full list of semifinalists can be found here. Finalists will be named on June 10, and this year’s Golden Spikes Award winner will be announced on the MLB Network on June 29. Fans can weigh in on which player is their favorite by clicking here.

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Mississippi State, Ole Miss baseball hosting scenarios for NCAA Tournament bracket

Published

1 day ago

May 14, 2026

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Mississippi State, Ole Miss baseball hosting scenarios for NCAA Tournament bracket

One series remains in the regular season and Ole Miss and Mississippi State baseball are in similar situations.

Both are locks for the NCAA Tournament but are on the bubble for hosting a regional.

The Tennessean’s latest bracket projections have both the Rebels and Bulldogs as two of the 16 national seeds, but that is not solidified yet.

Finding wins in the final series, and possibly the SEC Tournament too, are necessary. Both teams close the regular season on the road against ranked teams that are also projected to host regionals.

The No. 12 Bulldogs (38-14, 15-12 SEC) play at No. 10 Texas A&M (37-12, 16-10). The No. 19 Rebels (35-18, 14-13) play at No. 16 Alabama (35-17, 16-11). Both series begin May 14 (6 p.m., SEC Network+).

Here’s a look at the different scenarios for Ole Miss and Mississippi State to host NCAA Tournament regionals.

Mississippi State, Ole Miss hosting scenarios for NCAA Tournament

Ole Miss and Mississippi State getting swept could knock them completely out of the hosting conversation, barring a deep run in the SEC Tournament. However, SEC Tournament wins are not always viewed the same as SEC regular-season wins by the selection committee.

Mississippi State is in a slightly better spot than Ole Miss. The Bulldogs’ RPI is at No. 12, one spot ahead of Ole Miss. They are tied for sixth in the SEC standings, while Ole Miss is ninth.

The Bulldogs also went 4-0 against Ole Miss, which could give them the edge if the final hosting seed came down to those two teams.

The Tennessean projects MSU as the No. 12 national seed and the Rebels as the No. 13 seed. D1Baseball and Baseball America also project MSU to host, however they both have Ole Miss as a No. 2 seed.

That could mean Ole Miss needs two wins against Alabama, while MSU may be fine with just one win at Texas A&M. If Ole Miss wins one game at Alabama, it probably would need multiple wins in the SEC Tournament.

Mississippi State winning two games at Texas A&M could keep it in contention for a top eight seed. Ole Miss and Mississippi State sweeping their series obviously would, too.

Getting a top eight seed is advantageous because that means you are guaranteed to host a super regional.

Who Ole Miss, Mississippi State fans should root against

It will help Ole Miss and Mississippi State if teams near them in the projections lose, too. That would be teams like Oregon, West Virginia, Wake Forest, Nebraska, Oregon State and Kansas.

Oregon hosts Southern Cal, Nebraska plays at Minnesota, Kansas plays at BYU, Wake Forest plays at Duke, Oregon State hosts Air Force and West Virgina hosts TCU.

How NCAA Tournament history could be made in Mississippi

If everything falls the right way, there’s a chance Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Southern Miss all host NCAA Tournament regionals. That’s never happened.

The No. 9 Golden Eagles (37-14, 19-8 Sun Belt) are projected by The Tennessean as the No. 10 national seed, just ahead of MSU and Ole Miss.

Southern Miss plays a home series against Georgia Southern (15-37, 7-20) at Pete Taylor Park beginning May 14 (7 p.m., ESPN+).

Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for The Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@usatodayco.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.

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