The picks; or how the Egg breaks

The two old-timers picked some pretty clean cotton this past week. Orley Hood was 13-2, including that Stanford over Oregon pick, while Rick Cleveland went 12-3, despite ignorantly picking USM over UTEP. Hood and Cleveland head down the stretch all tied with 94-37 records.

Orley's picks 

Mississippi State at Ole Miss: Rick called earlier, asked me who I thought was going to win. Uh … I don’t know, I told him. Still don’t. So, I’m going to do the other games first. Maybe inspiration will strike by the time I get to the Saints.

Southern Miss at Memphis: Memphis has won three conference games. The Tigers scored a ton last week. And they’re at home. So … It’s 0-12 for the Golden Eagles after 12-2 last season. Unbelievable. Memphis 30, USM 20.

LSU at Arkansas: Can the Tigers recover from the Ole Miss game to kick around the Hogs on the road? You laugh, but I’m not kidding. OK, they do and they do. LSU 38, Arkansas 21.

Georgia Tech at Georgia: Lots of these BCS analyzers seem to have forgotten Tech, which has a big-time triple option running game and will play for the ACC championship against Florida State because Miami is trying to duck NCAA wrath. What if Tech beats Georgia and Georgia beats Alabama in the SEC championship? Fugeddaboutit: Bulldogs 42, Jackets 31.

Auburn at Alabama: Parents, don’t let your children watch. Tide 52, Auburn 17. Call if you get work, Gene.

Archie had to choose two Egg Bowls

(Writer's note: This is the third in a series of Egg Bowl memories from the players, both from State and Ole Miss, who have made the game so special.) 

When it comes to picking his most memorable Egg Bowl, Archie Manning can't choose just one.

No, he has to pick one as a player and another as a father.

Interestingly, both were played in Starkville. And both games were played in rain.

“In 1969, my junior year, we had to beat Mississippi State to go to the Sugar Bowl,” Archie says. “I remember we played on Thanksgiving Day and I remember that it rained pretty steadily all game long. If you look, I think you'll see we were tied at halftime.”

They were, 14-14.

“And then we put it on them pretty good in the second half,” Archie says. “I can't remember how many we scored but it was a bunch.”

Final score: Ole Miss 48, State 22. Manning threw two touchdowns and scored two on the ground. Ole Miss scored the first 34 points on the second half, including 27 in the fourth quarter.”

Here's the unedited version. . .

(Writer's note: Here's the unedited version of the column that ran on The Clarion-Ledger op-ed page today. Thanks again to editors for the space:



Hello, old friends. Nice to visit with you again. More than half a year has passed since my columns appeared on these pages. I'd like to begin with a sincere thank-you to the editors of The Clarion-Ledger for allowing me to tell you a small bit about my new job.

For more than four decades I wrote sports stories and columns about Mississippi's sports heroes, who also happen to be some of the planet's most marvelous athletes. As executive director of your Misssissippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, my job is to preserve those sports legends for this and future generations.

The Magnolia State has a sports legacy second to none. Let's put it this way: Just during my sports writing career, I covered pro football's all-time leading scorer and receiver Jerry Rice, pro football's all-time leading passer Brett Favre, pro football's second all-time leading rusher Walter Payton and the patriarch of America's first family of football, Archie Manning. All hail from small-town Mississippi. And that's just one sport. Mississippians have excelled at many others.

If you're like me, you read all the time about Mississippi being the poorest, least educated and fattest state. At the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, we display what Mississippians do better than anyone. We celebrate what Mississippians do best.

I want to pick up where my good friend, the late Michael Rubenstein, left off. This is, I have discovered, a daunting task. On July 4, 1996, the museum opened, a $4 million treasure chest of Mississippi's sports history. It was billed as Mississippi's first museum for the 21^st century, and it was.

More than 16 years later, what was once cutting edge technology is now nearly obsolete. Just look at your cell phone. Look at what it does now, and remember what your cell phone was like back in 1996 if, indeed, you had one.

Glen Collins and 'that quarterback'

This is the second of a series of Egg Bowl memories of Ole Miss and State greats from yesteryear.

Jackson's own Glen Collins, one of Mississippi State's all-time great defensive linemen, played in four Egg Bowls, all in Jackson.

“Seems like we always played them on a dreary or rainy day,” Collins says. “It was always gray.”

And the games, says Collins, always were competitive.

His favorite?

“That's a tough one, but it's got to be my junior year (1980),” Collins says. “That was the year we beat Alabama and went to the Sun Bowl. As I recall, Ole Miss wasn't having that good a year, but they always played us tough.

“Funny what I always remember most about playing against Ole Miss was playing against that quarterback,” Collins says.

John Fourcade?

“You got it,” Collins says, chuckling. “I just call him that quarterback. Never heard a guy talk so much trash on the field. Man, that guy talked trash to his own teammates, but he made the games interesting, I will say that.”

Fourcade led the SEC in total offense in 1980 and led the Rebels to a fourth quarter touchdown that gave them a 14-13 lead. This was the first Egg Bowl played in expanded Veterans Memorial Stadium, before 62,500 fans, and half of them were going wild.

But John Bond then took State on a touchdown drive for a 19-14 victory.

“I remember hitting that quarterback so many times but it was always after he had thrown the ball,” Collins says. “He'd throw it in the stands and then get up laughing. But I finally got him, and The Clarion-Ledger ran a picture of it. I've still got that paper somewhere.”

Egg Bowl memories: Deuce leads off

Today we'll begin a week-long Egg Bowl series, involving former players on both sides of the rivalry, and their favorite memories from Egg Bowls past.

We begin with Deuce McAllister, who almost became a Mississippi State Bulldog before he went to Ole Miss.

"My cousin, Michael Davis, was a great player at Mississippi State, and I had a good relationship with Coach Sherrill," McAllister said Sunday. "I probably visited Mississippi State and spent more time of their campus than I did Ole Miss."

But McAllister chose Ole Miss and became one of the Rebels' all-time greats, before going on to a productive career with the New Orleans Saints.

His best Egg Bowl memory?

"Got to be the last one (a 45-30 Ole Miss victory in 2000)," McAllister said. "That was the last time I ever walked off my homefield at Ole Miss and I walked off knowing we had won, we had beaten our arch-rivals and that I had left everything I had on the field."

Boy, did he . . . McAllister rushed for three touchdowns and passed for another to lead Ole Miss to a  Thanksgiving night victory. On Senior Night at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, McAllister hit his good friend and fellow fourth-year Rebel Romaro Miller on a 20-yard halfback option touchdown pass and  finished with 121 yards rushing on 24 carries. State had won the previous two Egg Bowls.

"I've got so many memories from those games," said McAllister, who finished 2-2 in his career against State. "My first one was when Cory Peterson caught the two-point conversion and we won."

Tomorrow: Mississippi State great Glen Collins.

C Spire Conerly nominees shine

Six of the 10 C Spire Conerly Trophy nominees played Saturday and all played well. In alphabetical order:

Mississippi State cornerback Johnthan Banks: All American candidate Banks had another outstanding game in State's 45-14 crushing of Arkansas. In man-to-man coverage, he gave up only one catch for five yards and that was to Biletnikoff semifinalist Cobi Hamilton. (Hamilton had six catches for 83 yards and a touchdown otherwise.) Banks was also a force against the run, recording five tackles.

Alcorn State offensive lineman Cornelius Brown: “Had another really solid game for us,” said Alcorn coach Jay Hopson said after the Braves' 37-11 loss to Jackson State. “Our staff voted unanimously he was our most outstanding player for the season.”

Southern Miss defensive end Jamie Collins: Make seven solo tackles, one assist, two tackles for losses and one quarterback sack in USM's 34-33 loss to UTEP. Collins continues to lead C-USA in both sacks and tackles for losses.

Jackson State wide receiver Rico Richardson: Caught four passes for 54 yards and a touchdown and recovered a blocked punt for a touchdown in JSU's 37-11 victory over arch-rival Alcorn State.

Mississippi Valley State defensive tackle Robert Simpson: Had six tackles, two for losses and 1.5 sacks in Valley's 34-3 victory over Texas Southern.

Ole Miss quarterback Bo Wallace: Ran 11 times for 54 yards and two touchdowns and completed 15 of 35 passes (three intercepted) for 310 yards and two touchdowns in Rebels' 41-35 loss to LSU.

The other four C Spire Conerly nominees — Delta State offensive tackle Kendall Hunter, Millsaps quarterback Garrett Pinciotti, Missisisippi College defensive back Keith Villafranco and Belhaven cornerback/kick returner Isiah Wiley — were off Saturday.

Ballots will go out early this week to a panel of more than 50 statewide media members. The C Spire Conerly Trophy Awards Banquet will be held Nov. 27 at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum. For tickets, call 601 982-8264. Banquet tickets are $100. Mezzanine seating will be available for $25.

Un-team always will be remembered

The Un-team from Lake (undefeated, unscored upon)...Photo Courtesy of Chris Allen Baker, Scott County Times

(Author's note: In the summer of 2011, I went to Lake to do a column on the 1974 lake football team that not only went undefeated but was un-scored upon. That's right: They didn't give up a point. I was amazed that there was no sign or anything to commemorate such an amazing feat. That omission was corrected recently when the team was recognized with a plaque at the new ticket booth.)

Here's the piece from July 3, 2011, courtesy of The Clarion-Ledger.

A team to remember

In the tiny town of Lake, they are known and revered simply as the UN-team. They were the 1974 Lake High School football Hornets, UNdefeated, UNtied, UNchallenged and UNscored upon.
That's right. Thirty-seven years ago, a band of 29 mostly lean, raw-boned, rough-as-a-corn-cob country boys - led and inspired by a bright, cocky and maniacally demanding 26-year-old coach, Granville Freeman - finished 11-0. They scored 321 points, allowed zero. None. Nada. Null set.

The Hornets trounced 10 straight opponents and then discretion won out over valor and the 11th opponent, French Camp, opted not to play. Can you blame them?

"When I went to Lake in 1973, I told them we were going to have a team that when opponents got ready to play us, they were going to be shaking in their shoes," Freeman says. "I'd say we accomplished that in 1974."

That Lake team was led by linebacker/offensive tackle Freeman Horton, recruited by every college in the state and Alabama and Bear Bryant, as well. And this will tell you something about Granville Freeman. Ken Donahue, Bryant's right-hand man and defensive coordinator, stopped by Freeman's office one day to watch film on Horton, who played right outside linebacker, and later started four years at Southern Miss.

"Coach, I have one question," Donahue said. "Why would you not take your best and biggest athlete and put him at middle linebacker instead of on the outside?"