Mississippi St wins first game since coach Mike Leach’s death

TAMPA, Fla. — Massimo Biscardi made a 27-yard tiebreaking subject objective with 4 seconds left, Marcus Banks returned a fumble 60 yards for a landing on the game’s final play and No. 24 Mississippi State rallied to beat Illinois 19-10 on Monday within the ReliaQuest Bowl within the Bulldogs’ first game since coach Mike Leach’s death.

“Obviously, Mike Leach has been leading this program for three years, and he was out there leading us today,” mentioned Zach Arnett, who was promoted from defensive coordinator to go coach three days after Leach’s death. “Emotional game, clearly.”

Banks’ rating got here on Illinois’ fifth lateral following a accomplished move after the Fighting Ilini acquired the ball at their very own 29. There was a scrum on the sector because the game ended, however order was restored after a few minutes.

Will Rogers was 29 of 44 yards for 261 yards and one landing for Mississippi State (9-4, No. 22 CFP). Simeon Price had 68 speeding yards, together with a key 28-yard sprint on the go-ahead fourth-quarter drive, on seven makes an attempt.

“Football isn’t always a pretty game,” Rogers said. “I know Coach Leach would probably be a little upset at some of the decisions, but we fought hard and stayed together as a team. He was with us all the way. He’s been with me all the way. I really, really miss him.”

Tommy DeVito accomplished 23 of 34 passes for 253 yards for Illinois (8-5).

“A defensive battle that just really, probably, came down to who had the ball last,” Illinois coach Bret Bielema mentioned. “Who was able to execute. Unfortunately, we came up short.”

Reggie Love III rushed for 40 yards on 11 carries for Illinois. Fighting Illini operating again Chase Brown, the nation’s second-leading rusher within the common season with 1,643 yards, sat out to arrange for the NFL draft.

Illinois misplaced all 5 of its video games by 9 factors or fewer. The faculty hasn’t had a nine-win season since the Rose Bowl crew in 2007 went 9-4.

“This is going to be, hopefully, a spring board into bigger and better things,” Bielema mentioned.

Mississippi State was held with no landing till the first play of the fourth quarter, when Rogers linked on an eight-yard throw to Justin Robinson that tied the game at 10.

Robinson had seven receptions for 81 yards. Illinois’ Isaiah Williams picked up 114 yards on 9 catches.

The Bulldogs averaged 32.7 factors through the common season.

Illinois, which entered permitting 12.3 factors and held six opponents to fewer than 10 factors, performed with out defensive backs Devon Witherspoon and Sydney Brown. Both opted out forward of the NFL draft.

DeVito put Illinois up 7-0 on a two-yard run with 2:49 left within the second quarter.

Mississippi State responded with a 38-yard subject objective by Biscardi with 9 seconds to go within the first half.

IIlinois went up 10-3 on a 52-yard subject objective by Caleb Griffin halfway by the third.

Mississippi State was restricted to 50 yards on its first three possessions, whereas the following two ended on interceptions by Matthew Bailey and Kendall Smith.

Illinois tops the nation with 24 interceptions.

Among the tributes to Leach, who died on Dec. 12 as a consequence of issues from a coronary heart situation, was “MIKE” with a pirate brand as a part of the “I” painted between the 20 and 30 on one section of the sector.

The Mississippi State band spelled out “LEACH” earlier than a second of silence was held previous to the game.

The Bulldogs had a pirate flag as a substitute of the college brand on their helmets. Leach’s nickname was “The Pirate.”

Mississippi State: Opens the 2023 regular-season on Sept. 2 towards Southeastern Louisiana.

Illinois: Hosts Toledo on Sept. 2.