By By Danny P. Smith / special to The Star
Sept. 15, 2002
STARKVILLE It was a triumphant return to the starting lineup for Mississippi State junior quarterback Kevin Fant and he helped the Bulldogs win their home opener at Davis-Wade Stadium Saturday night.
Fant completed 15-of-26 pass attempts for 336 yards and three touchdowns as Mississippi State defeated the Jacksonville State Gamecocks 51-13 in front of a crowd of 47,456.
The successful debut for Fant comes after a tough two weeks for the signal caller. He had to sit out a one-game suspension at Oregon.
flowing too much."
The Bulldogs evened their record at 1-1, while the Gamecocks have the same record.
Mississippi State head coach Jackie Sherrill said the game allowed several players to get action and work on many things.
and we are really trying to play the younger people."
Sherrill was glad to see Fant throw for over 300 yards after being shut out in the first half.
Fant got the offense jump started, but it was not with his arm. Fant had a 25-yard scramble in the first quarter to ignite the first scoring drive for the Bulldogs.
Mississippi State drove 75 yards on nine plays all on the ground and Justin
Griffith found the endzone from 5 yards out with 5:37 left in the first quarter.
The Bulldogs never trailed in the game. Mississippi State struck defensively with 1:51 remaining for its second touchdown. Jacksonville State quarterback Reggie Stancil was hit by Mario Haggan, then fumbled. Richard Ball picked up the loose ball and returned it 50 yards for the score.
It was the first defensive touchdown for the Bulldogs since Josh Morgan returned a fumble 23 yards for a score at Arkansas last year.
After John Michael Marlin missed the first extra point, Brent Smith was
brought on to try the second and despite being penalized 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct, Smith drilled the PAT through the uprights.
Mississippi State led 13-0 after the first quarter.
Despite Jacksonville State getting 13 points in the second quarter, the
Bulldogs also kept scoring, mainly due to the passing of Fant.
Fant completed a 50-yard strike for a touchdown to Terrell Grindle, then
tossed a 13-yard touchdown pass to Fred Reid. Reid also scored on a 3-yard
run as MSU established a 32-13 advantage at halftime.
The longest pass play in Mississippi State history took place in the third
quarter when Fant found Ray Ray Bivines for an 89-yard catch and run.
The Bulldogs capped the victory with a 12-point fourth quarter.
After leaving the game briefly due to a bruised knee, senior tailback Dontae Walker came back to score on a 1-yard run at the 8:44 mark, then Brent Smith booted a 27-yard field goal with 3:44 remaining and Morgan tackled Chris Kirk in the endzone for a safety with 3:25 left.
Two receivers went over the 100-yard mark for MSU as Grindle had three
catches for 118 yards and Bivines had two grabs for 109 yards.
Walker was the leading rusher for the Bulldogs with 62 yards on 17 carries.
Mississippi State will have a short week in getting ready for Thursday's SEC
opener against Auburn.