By Staff
Nov. 24, 2000
By Robbie Robertson and Colby Dickson/The Meridian Star
OXFORD Kevin Fant has waited patiently behind junior Wayne Madkin all season, getting prepared for when his time came.
That time was Thursday night for the redshirt freshman from Moss Point.
Fant entered the contest on the game's second series and led the Bulldog offense the rest of the game.
Starter Wayne Madkin was suffering from the flu but did start the game, completing 3-of-5 passes for 49 yards, including a 39-yard score to Terrell Grindle.
Fant finished the game 10-of-21 passing for 135 yards. But an early interception led to an Ole Miss score and two fumbles by the State signal-caller on a slippery night stalled MSU drives.
MSU coach Jackie Sherrill was quick to come to the aid of his freshman quarterback.
With his 49 yards passing in the game in limited action, Madkin ended the 2000 season ranked sixth on MSU's single-season chart with 1,908 yards through the air, surpassing himself (1,884, 1999) and Tony Shell (1,884, 1988) for that spot
Madkin improved on his school-record passing yardage total, now with 5,324 career yards.
With his 3-for-5 passing mark in the game, Madkin finished the year 138-for-246 passing, a .5610 percentage. That ranks third all-time on MSU's single-season chart, behind Dave Marler (.5679, 1978) and Rockey Felker (.5660, 1973).
With his 49 yards passing, Madkin also finished in sixth place on MSU's single-season total offense chart with 2,095 yards, surpasssing Tommy Pharr (2,046, 1968).
Sophomore Dontae Walker's 121 rushing yards in the game marked his fifth 100-yard game of the year and the 12th 100-yard game by MSU backs this year (six by Dicenzo Miller, one by Madkin).
It was also Walker's sixth career 100-yard contest. His 73-yard touchdown run in the third quarter was MSU's longest rush this season. Walker's three touchdown rushes in the game mark the first time since 1997 that an MSU back had three or more rushing TDs in a game (James Johnson, four vs. Central Florida).
Junior Dicenzo Miller's 60 yards rushing in the game gave him 996 for the year, the sixth-best output at MSU all-time. Miller now has 1,524 yards for his career, ranking 16th.
Combined with his rushing stats, Miller's 17 yards receiving and 3 yards on punt returns Thursday gave him 80 all-purpose yards which gave him 1,504 all-purpose yards this season. That's second on the single-season chart behind only Kevin Prentiss (1,546, 1998). It moved him ahead of James Johnson (1,481, 1998).
Colby Dickson is a sports correspondent for The Meridian Star. E-mail him at cwdickson@olemiss.edu. Robbie Robertson is the sports editor of The Meridian Star. E-mail him at rrobertson@meridianstar.com