Mississippi
How Mississippi State football failed to capitalize on Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava’s injury
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The way this Mississippi State football team is constructed, it needs to catch a big break in order to win an SEC game. That’s the harsh truth of this season’s winless-in-conference-play Bulldogs. It’s news that isn’t new, either.
Some games, that break might happen. In others, it never comes.
Mississippi State (2-8, 0-6 SEC) caught a chance in Saturday’s 33-14 loss at No. 6 Tennessee (8-1, 5-1). Nico Iamaleava, the Volunteers’ young star quarterback, didn’t return from the locker room after halftime and was ultimately ruled out of the game with an upper-body injury. Tennessee led 20-7 at the time with Gaston Moore inserted at quarterback — a redshirt senior with zero career starts.
The Bulldogs never took advantage.
“We just have to make the best of our opportunities,” running back Davon Booth said. “I feel like we let this game go easily and it could’ve been the other way around.”
Mississippi State had a chance to capture momentum in second half
With Moore at quarterback, Mississippi State took care of business on the first drive of the half. It forced a three-and-out and punt from the Volunteers. An MSU touchdown would’ve cut the lead to one possession.
“I think that was a big momentum starter for us,” safety Isaac Smith said after setting a career high with 20 tackles.
Mississippi State turned the ball over six plays later when quarterback Michael Van Buren Jr. was strip-sacked in Tennessee territory. The Vols kicked a 51-yard field goal after MSU committed consecutive pass interference penalties, then scored a touchdown and another field goal on their next two possessions to put the game out of reach.
Mississippi State needed a better first half, too
The Bulldogs wouldn’t have needed to capture momentum had they done so in the first half. It has been an issue all season. They’ve held only two halftime leads in 10 games.
MSU once again had to fight back into the game. Tennessee led 14-0 early in the second quarter and outgained MSU 285 yards to 144 in the first half.
Take a lead into halftime, then Moore has to stage the comeback.
“I think for us, it’s a missed opportunity because we ended up on the wrong side of it, regardless of what was going on on the other side,” coach Jeff Lebby said. “We had the ability to make some plays and give us the opportunity to go win a football game. Tennessee did an unbelievable job of continuing to find ways to run the football in the second half. That, for us, was where we could not find ways to get momentum and keep momentum on offense.”
Michael Van Buren Jr. didn’t play well
It was inconvenient for Van Buren to have his worst game since becoming the starter.
The true freshman has had strings of moments in his six starts where he has looked uncomfortable. Typically, he has been able to recover. That never happened on Saturday.
“We were off,” Lebby said. “We did not do a good job of pitching and catching. I thought we had the ability with some guys in the first half to create some huge chunk plays where we had some missed opportunities. Being able to connect at times and then, from the decision standpoint, having the ability to make really clean decisions, I got to continue to put him in better spots so we have the chance to go create some explosives.”
Van Buren completed 10-of-26 passes for 92 yards and one interception. It set lows in completions, completion percentage and passing yards in his six career starts.
He had only one drive, the touchdown drive in the second quarter, where he completed consecutive passes.
“There’s this great expectation for him to go play really, really well, not just from me, but from himself,” Lebby said. “He understands that, he’s fighting for that and he’s straining for that. The young man is going to be a great player.”
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
Despite scoring 33 runs in its final three-game series, Mississippi State baseball didn’t leave College Station, Texas, with a series victory.
No. 10 Texas A&M beat the visiting No. 12 Bulldogs 7-6 on May 16. It was the rubber match of the three-game series. MSU (39-16, 16-14 SEC) won the first game 18-11 and Texas A&M (39-13, 18-11) took the second game 11-9.
The Bulldogs are still entering the postseason in good position. MSU will be anywhere between the No. 8 and No. 10 seed in the SEC Tournament and has a case to be awarded a top-16 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
MSU can hit and does it well. The Bulldogs entered May 16 with the No. 2 batting average in the SEC (.314) and the third-most runs (471). Pitching was more hit-or-miss.
Here’s what stood out regarding MSU’s pitching in the regular season finale as the Bulldogs head into the postseason.
Ryan McPherson is back, but can he find peak form?
Getting star sophomore Ryan McPherson back in any capacity is big for MSU, but the Bulldogs need him to look like his old self to have their best chance at a deep postseason run.
McPherson started Game 3 against Alabama. He pitched 2⅓ innings, allowing one earned run on 44 pitches. He got into some trouble in the third inning and was pulled.
McPherson has only pitched one other time since March 20, when he suffered a forearm strain against Vanderbilt. That was on May 9 vs Auburn, but he only threw 1⅓ innings before he injured his ankle after tripping behind home plate while backing up a potential throw in the second inning.
At his best, McPherson has lights-out stuff that can win a postseason game. He was 5-1 with a 2.45 ERA before getting injured.
Ben Davis quietly shined in bullpen
The MSU bullpen got plenty of action against Texas A&M. Senior reliever Ben Davis pitched all three days.
Davis threw one inning in the first game, 2⅓ in the second game and 1⅓ in the finale. Across the 4⅔-inning span, Davis allowed four hits and no earned runs. He struck out three.
It’s the first time this season Davis pitched three consecutive days.
Walks, not hits, cost Mississippi State the series
The Bulldogs outhit the Aggies 11-7 in Game 3, but the discrepancy in walks was too much to overcome.
MSU walked 13 batters and drew just one.
Four of the walks went on McPherson’s ledger, but the bullpen struggled with control as well. Five of the six relievers who pitched after McPherson walked at least one batter. Only 96 of the 176 pitches MSU threw were in the strike zone.
Sam Hutchens covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at Shutchens@gannett.com or reach him on X at @Sam_Hutchens_
Easy ways to identify snakes
Depending on where you are, snakes are inevitable. Here’s how to identify if the snake is venomous or not.
Can you kill a snake in your yard in Mississippi? As the weather heats up and people spend time outdoors, run-ins with snakes are increasingly likely.
It is legal to kill most snakes found in Mississippi. But there are rules about when you need a license. Some species have federal protection.
Mississippi is home to more than 50 types of snakes. A small number are venomous.
Most snake-related interactions can be avoided by just walking away or letting them slither to safety. Still, there are times when you might need to keep kids and pets safe.
Here’s what we know about the rules protecting wildlife, venomous snakes that live in Mississippi and which species are protected.
Can you kill a snake in your yard in Mississippi?
Yes, Mississippi residents can kill a snake in their yard. Mississippi landowners, or people who live on the property, can kill a snake on their property, whether it’s venomous or not.
It’s one of a few specific exceptions when the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks allows killing a snake without a hunting or fishing license.
Nongame snakes and animals that have come inside a resident’s building, damage plants and yards or hurt pets or livestock can be killed. Nonresidents are allowed to kill wildlife that enters a building they lease or rent.
If a venomous snake poses “a reasonable danger to human life,” MDWFP regulations allow people to kill it.
In any of these cases, the animal’s body has to be disposed of or allowed to decay in nature. You can’t keep it as a trophy or sell it.
Mississippi landowners, or people who live on a property, can kill a snake on their property, whether it’s venomous or not.
When you need a license to kill a snake
The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks oversees regulations for hunting and the management of nongame species in the state.
Everyone needs the appropriate hunting/fishing license to harvest snakes for personal use, according to MDWFP information. No more than 20 nongame snakes and lizards can be taken a year. No more than four specimens of a species or subspecies should be taken from the wild in a year.
Venomous snakes found in Mississippi
The Mississippi Poison Control Center via the University of Mississippi Medical Center lists venomous snakes and other animals, like spiders, stingrays and jellyfish.
The list of dangerous snakes includes:
- Timber rattlesnakes
- Pygmy rattlesnakes
- Eastern diamondback rattlesnakes
- Water moccasins (also called Cottonmouths)
- Coral snakes
- Copperheads
Snake Snap lists eight snakes with venom. The site includes specific variations of some species: Western Cottonmouth and Northern Cottonmouth, along with the Dusky and Western variations of Pygmy Rattlesnakes.
Snakes you cannot legally kill
The Endangered Species Act helps protect native wildlife and plants from dying off entirely. The MDWFP lists several animals that are protected, including the black bear, Florida Panther and gopher tortoise. All sea turtles, sawback turtles and two kinds of bat are also protected.
These snakes are protected because they’re listed as an endangered species:
- Black pine snake
- Eastern indigo snake
- Rainbow snake
- Southern hognose snake
The Eastern Indigo Snake hasn’t been seen in decades in Mississippi. It’s now considered rare in the state or extirpated, meaning locally extinct.
Bonnie Bolden is the Deep South Connect reporter for Mississippi with USA TODAY Network. Email her at bbolden@gannett.com.
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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