Clarion-Ledger from Jackson, Mississippi • Page 39

Sunday, Noverriber 15, 1998 TheOaricfhLedger B7D MJ ff 3 nn 41 "rf xr nJLs ii i in I li fc.i nam ill I i a jL-rL- 5 Rushing yards SYiOrO Sill OVBT SSCp IIR' Alabama 3 39 (31 carries) I Mississippi State 264(53 carries) State failed to reach SEC championship in same situation last year By Rick Cleveland Clsr Columnist Passing yards A Alabama 13. i Mississippi State Irdi Total yards Alabama 1 295 tZ Mississippi State Mi3 456 'l I I i I .11 First downs Third downs last season with J. Johnson; running for 198 yards. The following Arkansas held Johnson to just 55 yards on 18 carries. That Razorback team entered the game with a 3-6 record.

This year, the No. 10 Hogs, 8-1 after Saturday's heartbreaking defeat at lead the Bulldogs by one game in the SEC standings. "We'll have to play even better than we did today to have a chance to win next week," Allen said. "We'll have to play our best game to win." J.J. Johnson remembers what happened in 1997, too.

"We lost our focus," Johnson said. "That's what we can't do this year. We have to stay focused. Enjoy this game today and tonight, then focus on Arkansas starting tomorrow. We don't want to get in that situation again." "We'll have to play even better than we did today to have a chance to (beat Arkansas)." MSU center Eric Allen the Bulldogs lost first to Arkansas 17-7 and then to Ole Miss 15-14.

The Bulldogs not only didn't go to Atlanta, they didn't go to a bowl game at all. "That hurt," center Eric Allen said. "I don't think any of us will forget that feeling. I know I won't. I couldn't even watch the bowl games.

It hurt too much." If you're looking for omens, try this one: Just like last year State enters the Arkansas game coming off a 12-point victory over Alabama. The Bulldogs beat Alabama 32-20 i STARKVILLE Just like this time last year, Mississippi State's Bulldogs need victories in their final two games to advance to the Southeastern Conference Championship Game in Atlanta. Just like last year, Arkansas and then Ole Miss stand in the way. "Last year will help us," Jackie Sherrill said following State's 26-14 victory over Alabama Saturday. "Experience always helps.

We'll benefit from having been in this situation before." State failed miserably last season. Heading into the final two games with a 7-2 record, fa I Mississippi State 5 of 13 38.5 A Alabama 4 of 13 30.8 Miss. St. Alabama JtonLyUaTris Associated Press Bama QB Andrew Zow flings a pass that went for an 1 8-yard completion to Clarksdale native Michael Vaughn under pressure from Conner Stephens. 11-14-98 1 2 3 4 Alabama 0 0 14 0 14 MSU 0 17 3 6 26 State's Alabama players will enjoy next trip home --y 1 VllBssaar" ml ByMlkeKnobler Ctorlon-LKlgw Sport Editor MSU: Kenny Smith and Jamie Carter stopped MSU fullback Dennis McKinley just short of the goal line on fourth down from the 1 to end the game's opening drive.

ALABAMA: Andrew Zow threw an interception to MSU's Robert Bean on third-and-goal from the 6. MSU: J.J. Johnson leaped 2 yards with 14:56 left to cap an eight-play, 80-yard drive that took 4:13. Brian Hazelwood kicked the PAT. Key play: A i Wayne Madkln completed a 19-yard pass to Kelvin Love on third-and-8 from the State 48.

MSU 7, Alabama 0. I MSU: Hazelwood kicked a 21 -yard field goal with 7:59 left to CI cap an 1 1 -play, 82-yard drive that Key play: Madkin's 28- Lai vard Dass to Johnson took State Mississippi's Alabamians outplayed Alabama's Mississippians on a day when both teams got great efforts from the other's home-state players. J. J. Johnson of Mobile made the headlines Saturday with 237 rushing yards and 75 receiving yards in State's 26-14 victory.

But he had some company. Bulldog quarterback Wayne Madkin looks forward to returning to Huntsville now that he has swept Auburn and Alabama. Said Madkin, "Don't nobody want to get shot by their own bullets." But Madkin said the joy of beating his home-state team came only after the game, not during it. "Once I'm on the field, I'm not thinking about that," Madkin said. "I let that happen to me in the Auburn game.

In the first half, I got kind of anxious. In the second half, I relaxed." Bulldog defensive end Cornell Menafee of Opelika recovered a fumble and stopped Shaun Alexander for a 5-yard loss. Alabama's Mississippians came up big on State's first possession. Kenny Smith of Meridian and Jamie Carter of Philadelphia stopped Dennis McKinley on fourthr and-goal from the 1. Freddie Milons of Starkville and Michael Vaughn of Clarksdale each caught three passes, and Milons had kick-off returns of 53, 39 and 20 yards.

Johnson ,0 tne Alabama 28. MSU 10, Alabama 0. MSU: Madkin scored on a 3-yard run with 4:08 left to cap a six-play, 66-yard drive that took 2:41. Hazelwood kicked the PAT. Key play: Dlcenzo Miller ran 38 yards to the 7.

MSU 1 7, Alabama 0. ALABAMA: Ryan Pflugner's 34-yard field goal attempt was blocked by MSU's Bean and recovered by MSU's Adesola Badon with 1 :00 left. 3 Rogello SoMsTh Asaodatxl Press State's J.J. Johnson and Alabama's Steve Stanley lock onto and save a TD on the last play of the first quarter. Alabama was each others' facemasks as Stanley fights to tackle Johnson penalized 1 5 yards, and Johnson scored on the next play.

State fans ignore SEC's cowbell ban MSU: Hazelwood's 3 1-yard field goal with 7: 1 5 left capped a 1 0-play 67-yard drive that took 4:51. Key play: Kevin Cooper pushed for a first down after catching a pass on third-and-9 from the State 21. MSU 20, Alabama 0. ALABAMA: Shaun Alexander leaned across from the 1 to cap an 1 1-play, 64-yard drive that took 5:06. Pflugner kicked the PAT.

Key play: Alexander caught a 35-yard pass from Zow on third-and-27 from the Alabama 40. MSU 20, Alabama 7. ALABAMA: Alexander caught a 40-yard pass from Zow with 14 left on the only play of the 8-sec-ond drive. Pflugner kicked the PAT. Key play: The snap flew over MSU punter Matt Wyatt's head, and he fell on the ball for a 23-yard loss.

MSU 20, Alabama 14. What: Jackie Sherrill Show When: Today, 2 p.m. Where: WAPT Channel 16 Sherrill claims other SEC schools are getting away with artificial noisemakers ByMikeKnobUr CIrkn-Ldof SporU Editor STARKVILLE Cowbells returned to Scott Field Saturday in large numbers, despite the Southeastern Conference ban on "artificial noisemakers." "What cowbells?" Mississippi State coach Jackie Tw MSU: Johnson scored on a 4-yard run with 13:06 left to cap a six-play, 64-yard drive that took 1:59. Madkin's two-point conversion pass failed. Key play: Love caught a 40-yard pass to the 10 on third-and-1 1 from midfield.

MSU 26, Alabama 14. The SEC banned cowbells after Auburn coaches complained about them more than 20 years ago. Loud noise can make it difficult for a quarterback to audible or for his team Sherrill asked with mock incredulity. "We leave it up to the athletic department to administer it," McCullough said. "It's so difficult to control the fans." Bowl consideration Representatives from the Florida Citrus, Peach, Music City, Independence and Liberty bowls attended Saturday's game.

Television State has been told Saturday's game against Arkansas will be televised either by CBS or by Jefferson-Pilot. An announcement is due today. With the Ole Miss game slated for ESPN on Thanksgiving night, State will have nine of its 1 1 regular season games televised. The old school record for a regular season: Seven, set last year. Old records J.J.

Johnson erased Wayne Jones' 1973 record of 1,193 yards in a season, Kevin Bouie's 1994 record of 217 (against Kentucky) and David Smith's 1969 record of 265 all-purpose yards (against LSU). Sherrill i Alabama MSU Passes 32 17 Completions 16 10 Had intercepted 1 0 Fumbles-lost 2-1 1-1 Punts-avg. Penalties-yards 7-75 9-76 Time of possession 28:57 33:03 Then he made his case for them, a case near and dear to the hearts of many in the crowd of 40,517 that saw State beat Alabama 26-14. Sherrill said other schools make noise artificially, too. "When you have 100-and-some-odd thousand at Tennessee and you have 14 Peavey speakers, and I'm not talking about small speakers, when you have fireworks going and you have sirens going (at Kentucky), don't tell us we can't have our cowbells," Sherrill said.

mates to hear the snap count. That didn't seem to be a problem for either team Saturday. "If if too loud, have the quarterback turn around (to the referee) and say, 1 can't Sherrill said. "Cowbells never won a ball game." Jim McCullough, the SEC representative at the game, said the noise maker rule hasn't changed. RogeHo SollsTrw Associated Press Dicenzo Miller sprints around end during a 38-yard second-quarter run.

He finished with 55 yards on 8 carries. MSU Johnson 2 run (Hazelwood kick); MSU FG Hazelwood 22; MSU Madkin 3 run (Hazelwood kick); MSU FG Hazelwood 31; ALABAMA Alexander 1 run (Pflugner kick); ALABAMA Alexander 40 pass from Zow (Plugner kick); MSU Johnson 4 run (pass failed). Attendance: 40,517. Dogs: Madkin performs superbly, completes 10 of 17 passes for 192 yards 1 RUSHING Alabama, Alexander 20-60, Madden 4-20, Zow 7 -(minus 41). Mississippi State, Johnson 36-237, Miller 8-55, Madkin 6-0, McKinley 1-0, Gibson 1 -(minus 1).

PASSING Alabama, Zow 16-32-1-256. Mississippi State, Madkin 10-17-0-192. RECEIVING Alabama, Alexander 5-110, Vaughn 3-54, Milons 3-39, Jackson 3-28, Hall 1-13, Locke 1-12. Mississippi State, Johnson 3-75, Cooper 3-32, Love 2-59, McKinley 1-15, Prentiss 1-11. Bulldog quarterback Wayne Madkin had his best game, completing 10 of 17 passes for 192 yards.

The highlight: A 28-yard pass to Johnson that set up the first of Brian Hazel-wood's two field goals. Madkin eluded a pass rush by dodging left, then rolling back to his right. He then jumped and threw to Johnson. "That was one of those backyard plays," Madkin said. Madkin's 3-yard TD run helped State take a 17-0 half-time lead.

But it was early in the fourth quarter, after Alexander scored two touch-1 From ID "He kind of made a challenge out to J.J.," Sluder said. "He said it was going to be a man-to-man challenge, and the best man would win. The best man did win." Johnson set the season rushing record (1,277 yards) and the single-game all-purpose yardage record (312) in addition to the single-game rushing record. He credited his linemen. They credited him.

"It doesn't matter if he's got 50 (carries) or 1, he's going to play as hard as he can every time," center Eric Allen said. downs in less than two minutes to make it 20-14, that Madkin really showed his stuff. Alabama was remembering last week, when it scored 15 points in the final 2:24 to beat LSU. Some State fans were remembering last week, too, when their team couldn't hold a lead at Kentucky. But facing third-and-11 from the 50, Madkin made a bold prediction.

"I told the guys, We're going for two after we he said. "The main thing I had to do was keep my poise and get the team to keep its poise." On the next play, Madkin hit Kelvin Love with a 40-yard pass over the middle, setting up the final touchdown. "We ran a zone blitz, and they converted a big play," DuBose said. "That took a lot of air out of us. Until then I had the same feeling as a week ago against LSU." State's defense stopped Alabama despite the absence of preseason All-SEC linebacker Barrin Simpson, nursing a knee injury that has bothered him much of the season.

Larry Campbell took over the defensivejignal calling, and freshman Conner Stephens started. The whole defense seemed to step up, led by Edward Smith, who sacked Andrew Zow twice and made five tackles for loss. Attentive fans saw early evidence it was State's day. WTien Alabama got first-and-goal at the 5 in the first quarter, State had just 10 men on the field. Edward Smith hit Shaun Alexander for a 2-yard loss.

"They cooperated with us and ran away from where we were missing a guy," Bulldog linebacker coach Jim Tomp-kinsaid. The opponent: Arkansas, 8-1, 5-1 SEC Where they're playing: Starkville Game time: To be determined today Bulldogs' record vs. opponent: 4-3-1 Last meeting: Arkansas 17, MSU 7 (1997).