NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Mississippi State goes for its third straight victory when it meets Louisville of the Atlantic Coast Conference in the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl today from Nashville’s Nissan Stadium. ESPN will televise the contest, which kicks off at 3 p.m. CT. Tom Hart (play-by-play), Jordan Rodgers (analyst) and Cole Cubelic (sideline) will call the action.
Storylines
» Graduate transfer senior Tommy Stevens is set to start at quarterback for the Bulldogs (6-6) in place of freshman quarterback Garrett Shrader. Stevens, a graduate transfer from Penn State, has started eight games this season and completed 80 of 135 passes for 934 yards and nine touchdowns against five interceptions.
» Head coach Joe Moorhead, who has produced 14 on-field victories, is one of just two State coaches to lead the program to bowl games in his first two seasons on the job joining Jackie Sherrill (1991-92). Moorhead is also the second Bulldog coach since the end of World War II to own on-field wins in each of his first two Egg Bowls. His 14 victories are tied for the most by an MSU coach in his first two seasons since 1941.
» MSU is making its 23rd all-time bowl appearance and will conclude the decade as one of only five SEC programs to go to a bowl every season from 2010-19, joining Alabama, Georgia, LSU and Texas A&M.
» The Bulldogs own a 13-9 bowl record, and it will be the second time that State plays in the Music City Bowl. The 2011 season saw Vick Ballard rush for 180 yards and two touchdowns in a 23-17 win over Wake Forest on Dec. 30 of that year.
» First Team All-SEC RB Kylin Hillannounced on Dec. 12 that he will forego his senior season and enter the 2020 NFL Draft. One of the most dynamic running backs in MSU history, Hill intends to play his final game for the Bulldogs on Monday. Hill leads the league in rushing yards (1,347) and 100-yard rushing games (8) and ranks fifth in rushing touchdowns (10). He is one of seven Power 5 running backs with 1,300-plus rushing yards and 10-plus rushing touchdowns this season.
» Defensive linemen DT Nathan Pickeringand DE Chauncey Rivers were the other Bulldogs who earned postseason All-SEC honors. Rivers was named to the Associated Press’ second team, while Pickering garnered All-Freshman status from the league’s coaches. The last three MSU defensive linemen to be named SEC All-Freshman are Pickering, Jeffery Simmons in 2016 and Chris Jones in 2013. With Rivers’ selection, State has had at least one defensive lineman on the first or second team each of the last three years.
By The Numbers
45 – Hill has 1,347 rush yards this year and needs 45 more to break former running back Anthony Dixon’s program record for the most in a single season.
13 – MSU is one of 13 FBS schools to go to a bowl game every season this decade.
26 – State’s 2019 roster features 26 student-athletes who are college graduates.
203.4 – The Bulldogs have had one of the most dominant rushing attacks this decade, averaging 203.4 yards per game since 2010 (3rd in the SEC).
37 – Team captain C Darryl Williams will make his 37th career start on the o-line in the Music City Bowl, the final game of his college career
