2009 TEAM STATS
Photo by Mississippi Sports Magazine
they were supposed to be. Now, it’s about teaching them how to do it and how to be successful.” With several key starters back on both sides of the ball, MSU will seek to reach a second bowl game in the last 10 years. And like all teams in the SEC, the Bulldogs will be tested early and often. The schedule features home tests with Auburn and Georgia in September as well as a road trip to LSU. OFFENSE In 2009, Mullen brought his spread look to the MSU offense, and witnessed mixed results. While many fans consider a spread offense throwing the ball 50 times all over the field, that wasn’t Mullen’s style of spread offense in 2009. The Bulldogs remained a run-first offense, and showed dramatic improvements from the previous years. MSU averaged 25.7 points a game, and 371 yards of total offense a game. Both were big leaps from a struggling unit in the past. But yet, the Bulldogs still struggled at the quarterback position. Former MSU quarterback Tyson Lee and Chris Relf only combined to throw nine touchdowns and had 17 interceptions. Relf, however, was productive down the stretch and often displayed his knack for running the option. In the season-ending Egg Bowl triumph over Ole Miss, Relf rushed for 131
PRE-SEASON CONERLY NOMINEE: Chad Bumphis returns after an amazing freshman season. Bumphis led all receivers with 32 catches for 375 yds. and 4 TDs in his debut. yards and one score, and also tossed a pair of touchdowns. On the season, Relf was State’s second leading rusher with 500 yards on the ground. His biggest focus this offseason, though, was improving his passing. Relf, a redshirt junior, completed 22of-41 for 283 yards with five touchdowns and three picks in 2009. “I think I made a lot of strides throwing the ball,” said Relf. “That was my biggest improvement and I know I had to improve in that area. I also have to be a better leader this year, and become more of a vocal leader on the field.” And the MSU coaches also saw his improvement throwing the football. “Chris got better because he’s had another year in the system,” said quarterbacks’ coach Les Koenning. “It was the difference in night and day with him throwing the football. I think Chris proved himself as the starter this spring. But that competition will continue all fall and that’s what will also make him better.” This spring, MSU fans also got their first glimpse of 2009 highly-touted signee Tyler Russell. The Meridian native sat out last year as a
..................................................MSU OPP SCORING.................................... 307 321 Points Per Game.......................25.6 26.8 FIRST DOWNS............................ 229 219 Rushing.................................... 140 98 Passing...................................... 78 108 Penalty...................................... 11 13 RUSHING YARDAGE.................. 2731 1752 Yards gained rushing............... 3072 2054 Yards lost rushing..................... 341 302 Rushing Attempts..................... 555 442 Average Per Rush......................4.9 4.0 Average Per Game..................227.6 146.0 TDs Rushing.............................. 21 18 PASSING YARDAGE................... 1732 2640 Att-Comp-Int...................... 153-266-17 187-332-17 Average Per Pass.......................6.5 8.0 Average Per Catch....................11.3 14.1 Average Per Game..................144.3 220.0 TDs Passing................................ 9 18 TOTAL OFFENSE........................ 4463 4392 Total Plays................................ 821 774 Average Per Play.......................5.4 5.7 Average Per Game...................371.9 366.0 KICK RETURNS: #-Yards..........61-1514 57-1253 PUNT RETURNS: #-Yards..........15-151 13-173 INT RETURNS: #-Yards..............17-417 17-147 KICK RETURN AVERAGE.............24.8 22.0 PUNT RETURN AVERAGE...........10.1 13.3 INT RETURN AVERAGE...............24.5 8.6 FUMBLES-LOST.........................23-13 22-8 PENALTIES-Yards......................67-590 67-517 Average Per Game....................49.2 43.1 PUNTS-Yards...........................51-1986 60-2372 Average Per Punt......................38.9 39.5 Net punt average.....................34.0 35.0 TIME OF POSSESSION/Game.....31:46 28:13 3RD-DOWN Conversions..........53/159 56/154 3rd-Down Pct...........................33% 36% 4TH-DOWN Conversions...........14/25 9/18 4th-Down Pct.......................... 56% 50% SACKS BY-Yards........................18-88 20-130 TOUCHDOWNS SCORED............. 37 41 FIELD GOALS-ATTEMPTS...........16-21 12-16 ON-SIDE KICKS........................... 0-2 0-1 RED-ZONE SCORES...............33-44 75% 32-39 82% RED-ZONE TOUCHDOWNS....21-44 48% 22-39 56% PAT-ATTEMPTS..........................35-35 39-41 ATTENDANCE.......................... 376544 264578 Games/Avg Per Game...........7/53792 5/52916 Neutral Site Games...................0/0 SCORE BY QUARTERS....1st 2nd 3rd 4th Total Mississippi State...............55 84 89 7 9 - 307 Opponents....................... 68 105 51 97 - 321 Mississippi Sports Magazine - 49