Mississippi
After early signing period, what are Mississippi State’s biggest recruiting needs?
Mississippi State added 30 new players to its 2024 roster during last week’s early signing period, but head coach Jeff Lebby’s work is hardly complete.
Two verbal commits have yet to sign their national letters of intent, the Bulldogs are still in the running for at least two highly-touted prospects who have yet to commit, and more players will undoubtedly put their names in the transfer portal after bowl season. The Dispatch is taking a look at MSU’s biggest areas of need as recruiting season continues into the new year.
Linebacker
The Bulldogs are losing nearly all of the production from their 2023 linebacking corps as the stellar duo of Nathaniel “Bookie” Watson and Jett Johnson have declared for the NFL Draft, and DeShawn Page did the same on Wednesday. That leaves J.P. Purvis, John Lewis and Donterry Russell as MSU’s returning linebackers, as well as Ty Cooper, who started the final two games of the season.
MSU has three linebackers signed for the class of 2024 in Winona High’s Fred Clark and two junior college players — Branden Jennings of Hinds Community College and Marcus Ross of East Mississippi Community College. None of the 10 transfers the Bulldogs have brought in are linebackers, making the heart of the defense a position of need while the portal is still open.
Watson and Johnson are as close to irreplaceable as it gets, but Lebby needs to add another player or two who can rack up tackles in the middle of Coleman Hutzler’s first defense in Starkville.
Tight end
MSU reintegrated the tight end position into its offense in 2023 after moving away from the Air Raid with limited success, and Geor’quarius Spivey’s eligibility ruling two days before the season opener certainly did not help. With Ryland Goede in the transfer portal and Malik Ellis eventually switching back to the offensive line, the Bulldogs will need plenty of tight end help as they install yet another new offense.
JaCorey Whitted, a three-star prospect from McCalia, Ala., is MSU’s lone tight end in the class of 2024. The Bulldogs have also added brothers Cameron and Justin Ball, from Buffalo and Vanderbilt, respectively, in the transfer portal. MSU has locked down an excellent group of wide receivers, but adding another tight end sure would not hurt.
Defensive back
Nearly the entire Bulldogs’ starting secondary will be gone — Shawn Preston Jr. and Marcus Banks have declared for the NFL Draft and Decamerion Richardson and DeCarlos Nicholson have transferred. Safety Corey Ellington also put his name in the transfer portal but opted to return to MSU, so he and cornerback Brice Pollock will be the lone returners with significant playing time under their belts.
Lebby managed to flip cornerback Elijah Cannon from Florida Atlantic on signing day, and the Bulldogs also added the top junior college safety in the class with EMCC’s Tyler Woodard. MSU was the only major conference offer for safeties Jatavious Johnson and Cyrus Reyes, both from Texas. So far, the Bulldogs’ only transfer portal addition in the secondary is Memphis cornerback Traveon Wright, who did not register any statistics for the Tigers as a freshman.
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There were several top performers across the state in boys high school sports, but only one can be voted athlete of the week for Sept. 2-7.
Fans may vote in the poll BELOW one time per hour per device. The poll closes at noon on Friday.
To nominate a future athlete of the week, email mchavez@gannett.com or message him on X, formerly Twitter @MikeSChavez.
To submit high school scores, statistics, records, leaders and other items at any time, email mchavez@gannett.com.
Nominations
Kendetryon Backstrom, Kemper County: Backstrom had 247 passing yards, going 13-of-16 on completions for with two touchdowns and had six carries for 45 yards and three touchdowns in Kemper County’s 46-8 win over Noxapater.
Ronde Baker, Terry: Baker produced 171 rushing yards on 12 carries with four touchdowns in Terry’s 57-6 win over Pure Academy.
Wyatt Bond, Lamar School: Bond recorded 320 passing yards, going 24-of-37 with three touchdowns, and had 43 rushing yards and two touchdowns in Lamar’s 35-34 loss to Winston Academy.
Coby King, Greene County: King was 24-of-35 passing for 418 yards with a touchdown and had 11 carries for 137 rushing yards with four touchdowns in Greene County’s 51-36 loss to George County.
Tray Kinkle, Holly Springs: Kinkle produced 10 carries for 300 yards and four touchdowns in Holly Springs’ 33-0 win over Byers.
Tyshun Willis, Velma Jackson: Willis had 15 carries for 203 rushing yards with a touchdown, four receptions with 59 receiving yards, and a touchdown. On defense, he recorded four sacks, 8.5 tackles and three tackles for loss in Velma Jackson’s 24-22 win over Yazoo County.
Michael Chavez covers high school sports, among others, for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at mchavez@gannett.com or reach out to him on X, formerly Twitter @MikeSChavez.
GRENADA COUNTY, Miss. (WJTV) – A Mississippi woman was killed during a two-vehicle crash in Grenada County.
Officials with the Mississippi Highway Patrol (MHP) said the crash occurred on Highway 7 just after 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 7.
Mississippi woman killed in head-on crash in Louisiana
According to MHP, a 2002 Toyota Sequoia was traveling north on the highway when the vehicle collided with a Mercedes van that was also traveling north.
The driver of the Mercedes, 53-year-old Loretta Hopkins, of Winona, died at the scene.
This crash remains under investigation by MHP.
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Outside of Mississippi State, Arkansas and Auburn, the SEC had a very successful Week Two of the college football season. The latest AP Top 25 poll reflects the strength of the SEC with 6 of the top 7 spots belonging to SEC teams.
Here’s a recap of how the ranked SEC teams fared in the second full week of the college football season:
Click here for a recap of the unranked SEC teams.
With the exception of giving up three points, this was probably exactly how Georgia expected this game to go. Carson Beck threw five touchdowns and the defense held Tennessee Tech to less than 150 yards of total offense. Anything less would be a surprise.
More than 100,000 people saw Texas come into Ann Arbor, Mich. and leave with a huge win. The Longhorns looked like the better team from the first drive of the game where they easily marched down the field. That Oct. 19 game in Austin against Georgia is looking better and better.
It was a lot closer than Alabama would’ve liked, but it’s a win that will fend off the “Nick Saban is gone, we’re doomed” crowd. At the same time, though, there were some things that crowd could point to at a later time.
Two games against inferior competition and Ole Miss has outscored its opponents 129-3. They’ll take a slight step up in competition next week against Wake Forest, but the Rebels are still about a month away from playing a team that will truly test them.
Missouri’s schedule just took an unexpected bump in its level of difficulty with No. 24 Boston College joining the top 25. Bill O’Brien is brilliant at game planning and calling plays (not so much with making trades, but that hasn’t reached the college ranks yet). Missouri needs to be on upset alert (and ready to stop the run).
This happens every year. Tennessee looks really good to start the season and by the end Volunteer fans are saying next year is their year. But maybe this year is their year with the way Nico Iamaleava has been playing.
Of the two SEC newcomers, Texas is getting most of the attention which makes sense based on the current teams. But folks, don’t sleep on the Sooners. They ruined many of my own childhood memories growing up in Texas. This week’s way-too close game doesn’t help that argument, but think long term.
LSU was one of three SEC teams to play FCS schools after playing top 25 teams last week. The Tigers and Texas A&M both lost, while Georgia won. So, it’s not surprising to see each of them play FCS teams and neither were any of the results.
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