Sun Herald from Biloxi, Mississippi • 43

'SPOFTTS WEEKENDSafljrdav' NOVEMBER' 28 1992 THESUNHEXAU) 4 COLLEGE FOOTBALL No 24 Rebs host No 16 today prise to an already Cinderella season Most preseason polls had the Rebels picked to finish at the bottom of the SEC West The Bulldogs were expected to wrestle Alabama for a berth in the first-ever championship -game but key injuries took their toll football team has overcome a lot of Sherrill said frankly a very good position for us to have the opportunity to be in that in at this One of the woes that Sherrill still sings is the loss of starting quarterback William Robinson who suffered a season-ending knee injury against Florida "This football team started out with an opportunity to accomplish an awful lot of Sherrill said "We fell short of them because of losing players the biggest worry we had to stay healthy And we do A win today would still accomplish a lot for the Bulldogs It would give them their first eight-win season since 1981 But it be easy The Rebels are 5-0 at home this year and are on a three-game winning streak Junior Greg Plump will start at quarterback for the Bulldogs and will look for another good performance Plump was effective hitting 14 of 28 passes for 193 yards in a 30- 21 loss to Alabama two weeks ago He had completed on 31 of 80 passes before that seemed to have steadied their course (at Ole Miss head coach Billy Brewer said last football game he (Plump) played very The Rebels will have fifth-year senior Russ Shows at quarterback Shows has come on strong of late and ranks fifth in the conference in passing efficiency "I think Russ Shows has had a very solid Brewer said work harder and has more leadership qualities about Joining Shows in the Ole Miss backfield will be senior tailback Cory Philpot (887 yards) and junior fullback Marvin Courtney (316 yards) The leading receiver is junior wide receiver Eddie Small (37 catches for 516 yards) offensive skill people are ranked right there with Knight said far as making things happen by far one of the better groups we will Ole Miss averages just over 307 yards and 213 points per game The Bulldogs eat up 331 yards per game while scoring at a 225 dip Senior tailback Kenny Ray Roberts leads a trio of Bulldog runners with 587 yards Willie Harris is top receiver with 31 catches for 529 yards Defensively the Rebels are giving up a stingy 270 yards which ranks third in the SEC and seventh nationally The Bulldogs allow 337 yards per game but are giving up fewer points (159 per game) than the Rebels (164) getting ready to play a very good football team Sherrill said coached very well and done an excellent job positioning themselves and By WESLEY WELLS THE SUN HERALD Vt OXFORD been a long time 1972 to be exact since Ole Miss and Mississippi State have tangled at Vaught-Heming-way Stadium until 11:40 am today when the two teams hook up in front of a sellout crowd of better than 42000 and a regional television (Jefferson-Pilot) audience in the 89th meeting of the Battle for the Golden Egg Ole Miss leads the series 51-31-6 including a 15-7-3 edge in Oxford Sr Both teams come in with identical records (7-3 overall 4-3 in the Southeastern Conference) and postseason bowl bids already wrapped up marking the first time that has happened since 1963 The winner will also finish second in the SEC West behind No 2-ranked Alabama Henry tackles many challenges MSU defensive end overcomes tough times By WESLEY WELLS missed the first three games of the ONUHEfAIR Who: Mississippi State at Ole Miss When: 1 1 :40 am today TV: WXXV Channel 25 WALA Channel 10 Radio: WVMI-AM 57 WGUD-AM 1460 WROA-AM 1390 WGUD-FM 1059 down to the last one of the MSU head coach Jackie Sherrill said' "This year has gone very very The 16th-ranked Bulldogs won last meeting 24-9 in Starkville but claimed back-to-back victories over the Rebs since 1976-77 And those wins were later forfeited "We want to end the season on a good MSU free safety Kelvin Knight said very important that we beat them for our The No 24-ranked Rebels are listed as a 2-point favorite a sur- season after undergoing knee surgery He says it easy coming back I came back I was placed in a Henry said was kind of hard mentally to accept that the brace would help me I was always thinking what if the brace gives out But talking to the doctors and everything they said it was no way that I could hurt it any worse than I already had brace was going to help it a lot It gave me a lot of support and after a while I felt comfortable wearing the Henry says he now wears just a knee sleeve He says the knee is fine The bad knee is only one of the many challenges' Henry says had to face After being redshirted his freshman season (1988) he was ruled ineligible and sat out' the 1989 season experienced a lot of Henry said was a dream in my heart to play Henry who signed with MSU out of Mound Bayou-John Kennedy High School says going to predominantly white school was probably his toughest challenge wanted to prove something to THE SUN HERALD Mississippi State senior defensive end Kevin Henry knows where football games are won and lost "The game is won in the he said Maybe why Henry likes the 16th-ranked chances today at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium against No 24 Ole Miss The Bulldog defensive front has suffered its share of injuries this season but will be intact today in the regular-season finale "The stronger your front line is the better your team Henry said got some people back that can help Henry is all smiles now that his bookend senior defensive end Jerome Brown is back on the field Brown suffered a separated shoulder she weeks ago and has played sparingly since feel real comfortable playing with Henry said a big asset to our team a good pass rusher and plays the run very welL I think when out there together our team is It will be only the third game of the season that Henry and Brown have played together Henry Miss State defensive end Kevin Henry No 91 was sidelined early this TIM ISBELLTHE SUN HERALD season because of knee surgery game important to me because I know this will be my last year playing college football "This is going to be a very important game to all our Henry says he as aware of the Ole Miss-MSU rivalry in high school as he is now But glad to be a part of it one of the biggest games I could ever play he said of to he said never had a player from my hometown to play for a predominantly white school day I signed it was a big thing coming from an all black.