September 19, 2004
Maine Stuns Miss. State
A game that everyone expected to just be a $350,000 payday for the Black Bears turned into a nightmare for Sy Croom and the Bulldogs in Starkville Saturday night as Mississipi State lost their first game ever to a I-AA opponent. Maine's last I-A game was a loss to Rutgers in 1991. The game was one the Bulldogs picked up after Baylor backed out of a home-and-home. It was their first I-AA game since a win against Jacksonville State in 2002.
Mississippi State led 7-0 at the half but it could have easily been 24-0 had they gotten some breaks in the first half. Maine scored on a FG in the second half and then completed a touchdown drive with 2:55 left in the game to go ahead 9-7. The extra point was blocked by State and the the Black Bears stopped the Bulldogs short of field goal range twice in the final minutes.
The Bulldogs had 3 turnovers deep in Maine territory during the course of the game.
Maine QB Ron Whitcomb threw for 124 yards and the game-winning touchdown while Marcus Williams led the Black Bears in rushing with 58 yards. Omar Connor threw for 250 yards passing and the one touchdown for MSU while Fred Reid rushed for 72 yards. Will Prosser led the Bulldog receivers with 4 grabs for 117 yards.
Maine was ranked 15th in the I-AA rankings before the game.
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Comments & Trackbacks
From Signifying Nothing
pinged on Sep 19, 2004 8:17 PMThe interesting thing about Mississippi State’s Saturday loss to division I-AA Maine isn’t that it happened—it’s that I had to learn about it from the Clarion-Ledger. Surely ESPN, only two weeks out from its hagiographic profile...
