SMITH KICKS WAY TO MSU RECORDS, ALL-SEC VOTE
Senior place-kicker Brent Smith (Byhalia, Miss.) converted on his
two field goal attempts at Arkansas this past weekend, successes from
30 and 33 yards. Smith has made 24 field goals in his career, good for a
sixth place tie on the school's all-time field goal chart, surpassing Kinney
Jordan (23; 1975-76) and matching Chris Gardner (24; 1989-92). Smith
has now made 18 of his last 20 field-goal efforts, dating to Week 7 of the
2002 season. Smith also has a string of 35 straight points after touch-
down in his two-year Bulldog career. The MSU career record for consec-
utive PATs converted is 37 (Kinney Jordan, 1975-76).
PK NAMED SECOND-TEAM ALL-LEAGUE AFTER LEADING SEC IN FG PERCENTAGE
Smith was named second-team, all-Southeastern Conference last
fall in a vote of the Associated Press sportswriters who cover the league
regularly. He burst
upon the Mississippi
State football scene
in 2002, and ended
the season not only
as one of the
school's most prolific
place-kickers, but as
an all-Southeastern Conference selection at his specialty. Smith convert-
ed 16-of-20 field goal attempts and all 16 extra-point tries last year after
winning the starting job during Week 3. His 80 percent field goal success
ratio in 2002 led all SEC place-kickers.
SMITH HAS TWO OF THE SCHOOL'S SEVEN LONGEST FIELD GOALS
Not only has Smith been an accurate kicker, two of his 16 connec-
tions last fall are among the seven longest in school history. His 52-yard
boot against LSU (9/28/02) matched Brian Hazelwood's 52-yarder
(Vanderbilt, `98) for the seventh-longest ever. His 53-yard bomb against
Tennessee (11/16/02) was just 1 yard short of the school record (54, Artie
Cosby vs. Memphis State, `85). Smith made a 62-yard field goal under
scrimmage conditions during `03 two-a-days.
MISSISSIPPI STATE'S PLACE-KICKER HAS BEEN A MODEL OF CONSISTENCY
The senior place-kicker has now made 24-of-30 (.800) field goal
tries in his career, and has not missed a kick under 40 yards. In fact,
three of his six misses have come from 50 yards or more.
HE HAS BEEN NOMINATED FOR THE SEC FOOTBALL SCHOLAR-ATHLETE AWARD
Not only has Smith been a success on the playing field, he has
worked for success in the classroom as well. Smith carries a 4.0 grade
point average in general business administration and has been named to
the SEC Academic Honor Roll for his excellence with the books. He is
Mississippi State's nominee for the SEC Football Scholar-Athlete Award.
SMITH HAS REGAINED HIS DEEP KICKOFF ABILITY
Smith has kicked off for the Bulldogs since the first game of his jun-
ior season. Although he has been hampered by back miseries during his
brief career, he has been a very dependable touchback kicker when
healthy. During the first five weeks of the `02 season, he was eight-of-15
(.533) on touchbacks. As his back ailments flared during the final seven
weeks of the year, he was six-of-26 (.231) on kickoffs for touchback. In
the first four games of the `03 season, he was just one-of-nine (.111) on
kickoffs, and was sidelined temporarily by his back ailment. During the
last seven games, however, Smith has regained his form, drilling 13-of-21
(.619) for touchbacks. These numbers represent full-field kickoffs only.
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STATISTICAL COMPARISON
MSU vs. UM
(2003
PER
-
GAME AVERAGES
)
MSU
UM
Overall Record ......................................................................................2-9
8-3
Conference Record ..................................................................1-6
6-1
Total Offense.....................................................................................332.4
438.5
Rushing Yards........................................................................120.3
147.6
Passing Yards .........................................................................212.1
290.8
Yards Allowed...................................................................................483.9
392.0
Rushing Yards Allowed ......................................................198.5
101.9
Passing Yards Allowed........................................................285.4
290.1
Points Scored ......................................................................................20.5
34.6
Points Allowed....................................................................................40.0
23.4
First Downs ..........................................................................................17.2
22.8
Time of Possession .........................................................................28:19
31:41
3rd Down Conversion Pct. ............................................................ .331
.455
STATISTICAL COMPARISON
MSU vs. UM
(2003 per-game averages)
RUSHING YARDS
PASSING YARDS
RECEPTIONS
POINTS SCORED
INTERCEPTIONS
TACKLES
MSU
Turner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59.1
Norwood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53.5
Reid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14.3
MSU
Fant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .187.3
York . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45.5
MSU
Jenkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5.5
Bivines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2.6
Scott . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2.4
MSU
Jenkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5.1
Turner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.9
Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.8
MSU
Bradley, Fuller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.2
Dockery, Griffith . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.1
MSU
Mawhinney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8.9
Williams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7.3
Dockery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7.1
UM
Turner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55.1
Pittman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42.8
McClendon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41.4
UM
Manning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .280.1
Spurlock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59.0
UM
Collins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5.5
Flowers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.1
Espy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2.4
UM
Nichols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10.0
Collins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.3
K.Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2.9
UM
Hutchins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.4
T.Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.4
five others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.1
UM
Oliver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8.2
Wade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5.5
Blanchard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5.4
H
OT
F
OOT
...
· Brent Smith has been true on 18 of his
last 20 field goal tries...The only misses dur-
ing that string were from 50 (vs. Oregon,
`03) and 54 (at Tennessee, `03) yards out.
