Texas

Legalized marijuana supporters hope voters in this Texas city will send a message to state lawmakers

Published

1 year ago

May 2, 2024

Legalized marijuana supporters hope voters in this Texas city will send a message to state lawmakers

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In conservative Killeen, it was apparently the veterans. In eclectic Denton, the college community. In left-leaning Austin, most likely the white liberals.

But who will show up at the polls to decriminalize marijuana in staunchly right, rural-adjacent, fiercely independent Lubbock?

The slow green wave of voter-driven marijuana decriminalization in Texas hits the largest city in the South Plans this weekend, as Lubbock residents vote on a proposed ordinance that would decriminalize small amounts of marijuana.

It’s a test, not just for the movement, but for direct democracy in the Lone Star State.

The proposed ordinance — if approved — would instruct Lubbock police to stop arresting adults for possession of less than 4 ounces of marijuana in most cases.

Texas is one of 26 states that has not fully legalized marijuana. The 24 states that have include both liberal California and conservative Montana. For an issue like pot — which is nearly impossible to label politically — support in this city of 265,000 could come from anywhere.

“We have people who would classify themselves as far right who are for this,” said Adam Hernandez, a candidate for mayor and communications director for Lubbock Compact, the organization behind the local effort. “We’ve got people obviously on the other side of the spectrum, and everybody in between, and they’re from every profession, every age group.”

The opposition is easier to identify.

The outcry against Proposition A, as it’s called, appears to be pipelined largely through the megachurches and hard-right, pro-law enforcement GOP state leaders.

Where Hernandez sees evidence of widespread support — signatures for the ballot initiative came from all over the city, he said — his opponents carry huge bullhorns.

State Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, has come out strongly against the effort.

Burrows released a video recently calling Proposition A “part of a nationwide effort by the left to undermine our public safety laws” and saying they were funded by liberal mega-donor George Soros “to change the fabric of our great nation and put our neighborhoods and values under siege.”

“Next we’ll see local ordinances proposed to defund the police, to decriminalize shoplifting, to allow squatters to stay in houses rent free, and even Green New Deal ordinances to shut down our oil and gas industry,” Burrows says in the video. “Let’s send a clear message that Lubbock is still a conservative beacon of hope in a country that is losing touch with morality and the rule of law.”

State Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, examines a document at his desk on the House floor during a session at the state Capitol in Austin on April 25, 2023. Credit: Evan L’Roy/The Texas Tribune

Similar ordinances have passed in six other cities: Austin, Killeen, Harker Heights, Denton, Elgin and San Marcos. In some cases, city officials have resisted putting the voter-approved ordinances in place. And Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has taken steps to block them from going into effect.

Passage in Lubbock would signal support among the same voters who overwhelmingly banned abortion — by the same direct-democracy mechanism — in Lubbock even before Texas lawmakers did. It would illustrate favorable opinion for the issue in the same county that overwhelmingly turned out for President Donald Trump in the 2020 election.

And it would run counter to the stances of — and maybe even lay pressure on — most of the anti-marijuana GOP politicians the region sends to Austin, whom advocates have been unable to convince after years of awareness and lobbying campaigns.

“We’re building local movements that put pressure on City Hall to comply with the will of voters about marijuana reform,” said Mike Siegel, political director for Ground Game Texas, which is pushing for similar ordinances across the state.

Perhaps, Hernandez said, if enough cities adopt such policies, state lawmakers will follow the will of their constituents.

That’s why decriminalizing marijuana in such a hard-to-crack conservative stronghold could dramatically boost the movement to pass similar voter-driven ordinances in other regions of Texas outside the liberal metropolitan areas, supporters say.

“We think that Lubbock is a bellwether, if you will, or that it will at least be a wake-up call if it passes,” Hernandez said. “It would help the overall movement for sure. Because the state has ignored the citizens on this issue for several years.”

That’s key to any effort to decriminalize weed across the state, because there is no process in Texas for a voter-driven statewide referendum that would let voters from the Rio Grande Valley to the Panhandle decide what they want their marijuana laws to be.

There is little hope for a law in favor of marijuana decriminalization or outright legalization while hard-right social conservatives are in charge of the state. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who presides over the Senate, and his allies have blocked legislation that would relax marijuana laws in the past.

There’s even less hope for a constitutional amendment, which would be the only way to put the question to voters across the state. Only lawmakers can pose a statewide question and to do that, it would need two-thirds support from a historically unenthusiastic Texas Legislature.

Support for varying levels of marijuana reform polls upwards of 65% statewide. The Texas House signaled its support for expanding access to medical marijuana by overwhelmingly supporting legislation last session that would have added a host of conditions allowed by the state’s medical marijuana program, including depression and anxiety.

But proponents have not been able to find enough support in the Texas Legislature to get anything to the governor’s desk.

“That’s a breakdown of the democratic process,” said Siegel, a candidate for Austin City Council. “Texans want some sort of marijuana reform but a minority of Texas Republicans, led by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, are preventing this from happening.”

Texas does allow direct democracy — voter-driven lawmaking, as opposed to politician-driven lawmaking — in municipal elections. Voters can collect signatures to force ballot measures that create or strike down city ordinances.

Historically, that right has been frequently exercised without pushback from legislative leaders, in cities large and small, on a host of issues ranging from texting bans to paper bag restrictions.

However, state leaders have begun to push back. During the last legislative session, the Legislature approved a law that effectively prohibits cities from putting in place certain policies that might go beyond state law, such as requiring employers to have paid sick leave. Burrows, the Republican House representative from Lubbock, led the effort to pass the bill. The law, while in effect, is being challenged in court.

More recently, Gov. Greg Abbott stopped short of taking a position on the Lubbock ordinance but took aim at the effort, saying the issue of cities trying to supersede state law was “really bigger than just the issue about marijuana on the ballot.”

“They don’t have the authority to override state law,” Abbott told a KAMC reporter last week. “If they want to see a different law passed, they need to work with their state legislators.”

Abbott added: “If we have every city in the entire state of Texas picking and choosing which laws the state has passed that they are going to enforce, that would lead to chaos legally in the state of Texas and so it’s an unworkable system.”

State leaders took a similar position when city governments themselves began enacting ordinances to create sanctuary cities for undocumented immigrants, saying that cities may not enact statutes in direct opposition to state law.

“We have had a lot of situations where cities have passed ordinances, but the state can come in and pass laws that supersede them and say, ‘No, you can’t do that,’” said Sherri Greenberg, an assistant dean at the University of Texas at Austin LBJ School of Public Affairs and a former state representative. “So you have this issue of local control versus state preemption.”

Usually, the state wins.

Paxton is suing five of the cities that have voted to decriminalize marijuana — Harker Heights’ ordinance was immediately repealed by the city council — and has threatened Lubbock with similar legal action if it follows suit.

To sidestep potential legal action, supporters included a section in Proposition A that ratchets it down to a budgetary suggestion — prioritize other crimes over marijuana violations — if courts decide that Lubbock can’t decriminalize a substance without the blessing of state lawmakers.

But the proponents of marijuana decriminalization are determined to make a statement, even if it means that they’re testing the legal limits of what voters can demand of the laws in their communities.

The new ordinances, Siegel said, are about the voters telling the cities how to allocate their resources. The permissive laws around low-THC cannabis, known as hemp, in Texas offer a strong argument for allowing the ordinances to stick, he said.

“The Texas Constitution allows for home-rule cities, and home-rule cities are allowed to set priorities of prosecutorial discretion,” he said.

Unlike the discourse over similar propositions in places like Austin, where marijuana had already been unofficially decriminalized for years before it was voted on in 2022, the battle in Lubbock has been divisive, emotional, and personal.

Epithets hurled on social media, marquee politicians hitting the airwaves, and signage in front of megachurches highlight the intensity of the fight. Hernandez was even accused, by a pastor in the pulpit of a large local church, of trying to turn Lubbock into “a sanctuary city for the cartel.”

The City Council has already rejected a similar proposal. The mayor and the sheriff have come out against it. Locals are at powerful odds with each other.

Voters are hitting the polls early at double the rate they did in the 2022 municipal elections, and while it’s unclear at this point what’s driving them, Hernandez and others who are watching the election say it’s likely Proposition A that’s stirring up unusual interest.

Only about 10% of Lubbock registered voters have, for the past four decades, regularly turned out to municipal elections.

Residents in the city’s more affluent southwest neighborhoods are voting early at a higher rate than those in Lubbock’s lower-income east side communities, data from the Hernandez campaign shows.

Supporters point to statistics that show that while marijuana is used by a broad swath of people in all demographics, white and affluent included, arresting people for small amounts of marijuana creates huge disparities in the justice system and has bigger implications in the lower-income communities of color.

In Lubbock, for example, Black residents account for 8% of the population but 29% of the marijuana arrests, according to a report by Ground Game Texas. Similarly, Latinos make up 37% of the population but nearly half the arrests. Only one in five people arrested on marijuana charges in Lubbock are white.

Hernandez, who has been involved in community politics for years in Lubbock before his run for mayor, said Lubbock has plenty of challenges more important than marijuana — which he said criminalizes people for minor crimes.

“We’ve got serious issues that we deal with here that are much more serious than somebody having a joint in their car or being in possession,” he said. “Property crime, sex trafficking, gang activity, gun violence, domestic violence. … And we don’t have unlimited police resources.”

Opponents say that Lubbock should stop the movement in its tracks.

Staff writer Jayme Lozano Carver contributed to this report.

Disclosure: University of Texas at Austin and University of Texas at Austin – LBJ School of Public Affairs have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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College football Week 10 streaming guide: Vanderbilt-Texas, ‘GameDay’ in Utah, chaos awaits

Published

12 hours ago

October 29, 2025

Press Room

College football Week 10 streaming guide: Vanderbilt-Texas, ‘GameDay’ in Utah, chaos awaits

Another upside-down weekend for a shaken-up FBS season. Vanderbilt’s quarterback is drawing Heisman hype. Utah’s campus hosts “College GameDay.” Power conference coaches are getting midseason pink slips as the sport’s intelligentsia tries to model Indiana’s sideline. When the going gets weird, the weird get … into shotgun with Trinidad Chambliss.

This weekend has entertainment value and chaos potential on its horizon. Both befit the unhinged trip that is 2025. Come Saturday, Diego Pavia’s Commodores are the main attractions at Texas Memorial Stadium, while Georgia has a marshy trap game within the Gainesville swamp. Nos. 1 and 2 are both active in the Big Ten slate. Two rising ACC programs go on the road to risk undefeated conference records. There’s a possible “Mr. November” lacing up from Berkeley to Denton.

Week 10 lines up games from Tuesday through Saturday. As we’ve done all season, we’re sorting the broadcast windows by headliner status (“best on paper”), weirdness in the air (“chaos potential”) and low-key appeal (“sleeper pick”).

All times ET, and all odds via BetMGM.

Week 10 viewing guide

Watching in person? Get tickets on StubHub.

Game	Time (ET)	TV
Tulane at UTSA	7:30 p.m., Thurs.	ESPN
Memphis at Rice Advertisement	7 p.m., Fri.	ESPN2
Vanderbilt at Texas	Noon, Sat.	ABC Advertisement
Penn St. at Ohio St.	Noon, Sat.	Fox
Navy at North Texas	Noon, Sat. Advertisement	ESPN2
Georgia at Florida	3:30 p.m., Sat.	ABC
Virginia at Cal Advertisement	3:45 p.m., Sat.	ESPN2
Mississippi St. at Arkansas	4 p.m., Sat.	SECN Advertisement
South Carolina at Ole Miss	7 p.m., Sat.	ESPN
Oklahoma at Tennessee	7:30 p.m., Sat. Advertisement	ABC
Cincinnati at Utah	10:15 p.m., Sat.	ESPN

ABC and Fox are free over the air. Fox also streams on Fox One. All ESPN network content, including ABC and SECN telecasts, is available on ESPN Unlimited.

Thursday

The light stretching: Tulane at UTSA, 7:30 p.m. on ESPN

According to The Athletic’s College Football Playoff projections, Tulane has boosted its postseason tournament chances up to 36 percent. There is no room for slippage in the American Athletic Conference, especially with Navy’s unbeaten mark and Memphis’ national profile. More on that below. We’d expect to see Jon Sumrall’s 6-1 Green Wave comfortably favored versus the 3-4 Roadrunners. Nothing makes sense this year, though, so the spread has shed down to just -3.5 as of Monday. There’s a reason to hop inside the Alamodome on Thursday. And wait … could it be? … yup, another McCown quarterbacking in a remote corner of the football multiverse. Let’s put our hands together for UTSA’s Owen, son of Josh, who has 13 touchdowns to four interceptions in seven games.

Friday

The warmup: No. 25 Memphis at Rice, 7 p.m. on ESPN2

After waiting for the Wave to crest Thursday night, 7-1 Memphis will take a different Texas field in a similar trap spot. Senior QB Brendon Lewis was born upstate in Melissa. He can show out under Friday night lights, before his Tigers host a decisive Tulane tilt next week. The Athletic’s CFP model has Memphis at 7 percent odds of crashing the bracket.

We’re not deprived enough to recommend North Carolina at Syracuse (7:30 p.m. on ESPN). But it is Halloween night, and Bill Belichick keeps finding cursed ways to take uniquely-tailored Ls. Something eerie probably awaits those brave enough to watch.

Saturday, early window

Best on paper: No. 9 Vanderbilt at No. 20 Texas, noon on ABC

“On paper” are the operative words here. Paper can be awesome — sometimes it has kind words written by a close friend, or for the real sentimentalists, a section and row assignment for the Longhorns game. But paper also rips.

Texas quarterback Arch Manning didn’t practice Monday, after taking a tough hit in last weekend’s Mississippi State comeback. His absence would spoil the cool draw of a promised sensation in Manning versus a distant vision actualized in Pavia. Vanderbilt, unaccustomed to being here, has its best AP ranking since 1937. Texas, worlds away from preseason No. 1 props, at least has its talent-rich, burnt-orange defense (10th in points allowed per game thanks to LB Anthony Hill Jr. and CB Malik Muhammad). Pavia has a deceptively tough matchup. These are the storms that one Texas superfan tried to chase down. If Manning can’t suit up, Matthew Caldwell will get the nod. He audibled into the game-winning fade throw on Saturday.

Best potential chaos agent: Penn State at No. 1 Ohio State, noon on Fox

How did we arrive at this call? The ultra-scientific method of wondering, “What’s the most deranged thing that could happen in this nonsensical season?” This was supposed to be a Big Ten title game preview, or heck, a possible national title game preview. Instead, Penn State is going for its first conference win — the Nittany Lions lost to UCLA after it fired its coach and to Northwestern despite it still being Northwestern.

Fine, a sliver of real analysis on how this could get close. In recent years, Penn State has turned OSU week into a ceremonial rock fight, and defensive coordinator Jim Knowles was with the Buckeyes for their 2024 championship run. He knows Ryan Day’s tendencies and preferred game scripts. That’s about all we can put forth in good faith. Jeremiah Smith had 97 yards against Wisconsin last outing, but he’s still seeking his first triple-digit day in conference play.

Sleeper pick: Navy at North Texas, noon on ESPN2

Can we interest you in some points? So many points, the kind of feast that requires a tucked-in napkin and loose-fitting jeans. North Texas leads the nation in scoring, averaging more than 46 points so far. It airs out behind Drew Mestemaker, who starts the week at No. 6 in passing yards per game. Navy hits the scoring potluck with more than 37 points per outing. It paces the nation on the ground with its usual religious devotion to funny formations (the “flexbone” these days). We’ve got 7-0 versus 7-1, a meaningful game for a fun American Conference campaign.

Saturday, afternoon window

Best on paper: No. 5 Georgia at Florida, 3:30 p.m. on ABC

The Okefenokee Oar is brought into the jaguar den. Per usual, Georgia and Florida split the difference by meeting in Jacksonville. One of college football’s fiercest series (and top tailgates) gets renewed. Admittedly, the Bulldogs have owned this of late with four consecutive wins, and coach Kirby Smart is 7-2 against the Gators since his 2016 takeover. At least Florida has a serviceable defense, one that should test Georgia’s Gunner Stockton (10 TD, 1 INT, sixth in Heisman odds). Maybe it’s coasting a bit on legacy, but this rivalry gets main billing for the afternoon audience.

Best potential chaos agent: No. 15 Virginia at Cal, 3:45 p.m. on ESPN2

This is UVA’s highest ranking since 2004. The Cavs now have to hold it on a long flight over to California. Saturday marks the very first head-to-head between these two programs. Also consider the Cavs’ last three finishes: won by 1 (UNC), won by 2 (Washington State), won by 3 (Louisville). Let’s get weird. Chandler Morris is grinding toward campus legend, even if this is his fourth school stopover (Oklahoma, TCU and North Texas). Golden Bears running back Kendrick Raphael is a high-volume lead option, and good things are happening with California Kendricks right now.

Sleeper pick: Mississippi State at Arkansas, 4 p.m. on SEC Network

Two sides with a combined 0-8 conference record? Rock with us for a second. Oddsmakers have set a total of 67.5 points, which is either low-stakes cool or much-needed comic relief. Mississippi State is coming off the 45-38 overtime thriller with Texas, and it took Tennessee to an OT ending four weeks ago. Arkansas gave Texas A&M a jump scare in Week 8 (45-42), and it also lost to Tennessee by a field goal. There’s not much to lose down in Fayetteville.

Saturday, evening window

Best on paper: No. 18 Oklahoma at No. 14 Tennessee, 7:30 p.m. on ABC

This should be a blast for all unaffiliated viewers: Tennessee is a three-point home favorite, which indicates a near-even pairing, and Bill Connelly’s SP+ model has the Sooners winning with a 28-27 final score. The Vols have a blow-by gadget in Chris Brazzell II (four grabs for 138 yards last Saturday) and a chance-taker in Joey Aguilar (fourth in the nation at 2,344 passing yards). Sooner counterpart John Mateer has not looked right since injuring his hand in late September, but he will face an inconsistent secondary and can rely on a strident defense. Oklahoma is fifth in scoring defense, and edge flexer R. Mason Thomas has 5.5 sacks in his prior five games. We’re rooting for a close and compelling finish, which basically makes us Rob Lowe in the NFL shield hat, but whatever.

Best potential chaos agent: South Carolina at No. 7 Ole Miss, 7 p.m. on ESPN

Like Vanderbilt-Texas, this is about an unusual and poetic quarterback duel. Trinidad Chambliss was playing in Division II last fall. The reluctant transfer has become college football’s overachieving inspiration of 2025, running through the SEC with a smile. His Rebels are riding high, but no one is safe in this year’s chaos vortex. On the other sideline, LaNorris Sellers entered the season with Heisman chances and top-line hype, only to lose five of his first eight starts. There’s ample room for improvement in his decision-making, but Sellers does have the frame and size to ball out once everything clicks. South Carolina led Alabama last Saturday before it allowed a fourth-quarter Tide rally.

The Lane Kiffin-LSU rumors are rustling already, because of course they are.

“Sleeper” pick: No. 17 Cincinnati at No. 24 Utah, 10:15 on ESPN

A “sleeper” in name only because of its late start, this game kicks off more than two hours after the rest of the evening window. The only slot behind it is the insomniac’s Hawaii action. And just saying, that Hawaii-San José State has its own Mountain West chaos energy.

Still, this matchup itself is fantastic. That’s why “College GameDay” is coming to Salt Lake City. Utah quarterback Devon Dampier missed his team’s Week 9 win over Colorado (53-7, sheesh) due to an ankle issue. In his place, Byrd Ficklin cruised to 140 passing yards, 151 rushing yards and three total scores.

On the other side, DE John Henry Daley enters with 9.5 sacks, with at least half a sack in every Utes game thus far. He’s a 6-foot-4 game-wrecker who somehow had just one sack in his first two collegiate seasons, and he leads all FBS defenders with 13.5 tackles for loss. Daley has to chase down Brendan Sorsby, who has looked eminently cozy at a 20:1 TD-INT rate. The Bearcats lost a three-point teeth-grinder to Nebraska at Arrowhead Stadium, and have since ripped off seven straight Ws. Cinci is tied with BYU atop the Big 12, and the Cougars have a bye this weekend.

It should be a worthwhile watch, so long as your caffeine intake of choice is available.

Updated Week 10 college football odds

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Texas

Fall cold front brings high wildfire threat to Austin

Published

1 day ago

October 28, 2025

Press Room

Fall cold front brings high wildfire threat to Austin

Because of gusty winds and low humidity expected behind a cold front blasting through Texas on Tuesday, a fire weather watch is in effect for Wednesday across most of Central Texas and it could be upgraded to a red flag warning if conditions worsen, the National Weather Service said.

The strong cold front that is moving through Central Texas on Tuesday will bring a quick shift in winds and usher in much cooler, seasonable temperatures for the rest of the week.

Although the front will pass through mostly dry, aside from a few spotty showers north and east of Austin, it will be easy to tell when the front arrives because wind will quickly shift to the north and become quite blustery, with some gusts reaching 35 to 40 mph, close to triggering wind advisories from the weather service.

Despite the weekend rainfall, Central Texas soil remains dry, with Austin cumulative rainfall for the year still running about five inches below normal.

Unfortunately, the air behind this front will be even drier, setting the stage for critical fire weather conditions. Gusty north to northwest winds and low humidity values between 15% and 25% will create an increased risk of rapid wildfire spread and an elevated fire danger through midweek.

Currently, 146 counties across Texas are under burn bans, including all counties in Central Texas and the Hill Country.

In Travis County, the burn ban means that all outdoor burning is prohibited, including:

Practicing wildfire safety will be key over the next several days and Texans need to remain vigilant and report any signs of smoke or fire immediately.

• Avoid outdoor burning or welding when winds are strong. Sparks can easily ignite dry grass and brush.
• Properly dispose of cigarettes, never throw them out of a vehicle window.
• Park vehicles on paved or gravel surfaces, not on dry grass, as hot exhaust systems can ignite fires.
• Secure trailer chains to prevent them from dragging and creating sparks on roadways.
• Keep a defensible space around your home by clearing away dry leaves, brush, and debris within at least 30 feet of structures.
• Have an emergency plan and know multiple evacuation routes in case wildfire threatens your area.

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The decision Jeff Lebby regrets most from Mississippi State’s blown 17-point lead vs Texas

Published

2 days ago

October 27, 2025

Press Room

The decision Jeff Lebby regrets most from Mississippi State’s blown 17-point lead vs Texas

STARKVILLE — Two days after Mississippi State football’s blown 17-point lead against Texas, coach Jeff Lebby has one decision he’d like to redo.

The Bulldogs had a third-and-6 at the Texas 42-yard line with 50 seconds remaining and the game tied. Lebby, MSU’s second-year coach, wishes he would’ve called one of his two timeouts before the third down after quarterback Blake Shapen rushed up the middle for a 4-yard gain.

The Bulldogs (4-4, 0-4 SEC) lost 45-38 in overtime to the Longhorns (6-2, 3-1) on Oct. 25 after leading by 17 points in the fourth quarter.

“It was incredibly conservative not wanting to give the football back to them,” Lebby said at his Oct. 27 news conference. “It’s not who I am, and that’s the one I’m going to hang on to and learn from more than anything. I probably should’ve taken a timeout, bring them over and talk about it.”

The third-down play ended in a loss of 8 yards after Shapen fumbled. Mississippi State was forced to punt, before ultimately losing.

It resulted in MSU’s fourth straight loss and 16th consecutive SEC loss before its Week 10 game at Arkansas (2-6, 0-4) on Nov. 1 (3 p.m., SEC Network).

“I loved our third-down call,” Lebby said. “You go back and you watch the tape, it’s frustrating. Blake’s going to throw a check down in the flat to Davon (Booth) and the tip of the ball hits his thigh pad and the ball comes out. He’s going to complete a ball from me to you, and we were going to gain 20-25 yards, call a timeout and go kick a field goal. That’s this game. Those moments are crushing, but I want that back in a big way.”

How Jeff Lebby assessed his timeout strategies

Despite the regret from the Texas game, Lebby said he thinks he’s overall done a good job with decision-making regarding timeouts.

It’s a fair question for the first-time head coach who was an offensive coordinator for five seasons before being hired by MSU. The Texas loss was the second straight game where Mississippi State failed to take the lead while possessing the ball in opponent territory with under two minutes to play.

“I think where people see things a little differently is guys who have been coordinators and calling plays, you’ve always had to deal with the situations because you have the ball and you’re in control,” Lebby said.

“Whether you’re calling a timeout, trying to gain 6-8 yards from a field-position standpoint going back now two weeks ago, whatever it is, you’ve been in control of the football. You’ve had to deal with the situation.

“So from a situational standpoint, I think we’ve been really clean. I hate that I didn’t take the timeout after second down because it was way too conservative.”

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

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