HOOVER, Ala. -- Mississippi State receiver Fred Ross, who was sporting a haircut with a dyed-blond top and dark fringes at SEC media days last week, said his 55-yard one-hand catch-and run touchdown in the Bulldogs' 51-50 victory over Arkansas clearly stands as his best.
The play was given the ESPN Sport Science treatment, just as Arkansas' fourth-and-25 conversion with a wild lateral in the Razorbacks' 53-52 overtime victory at Ole Miss did two weeks earlier.
Ross made the catch on a crossing route with Arkansas defensive back Kevin Richardson in solid position behind him and swatting at the ball on its arrival. After catching the ball, Ross juked Richardson and made an impressive cut to elude safety Josh Liddell while covering the final 35 yards for a 55-yard touchdown reception.
"I was really more fascinated with the juke after the catch than the catch itself," Ross said. "It might sound crazy, but right after it happened I wasn't thinking about the catch. I was so fascinated about the run after the catch."
Crash ahead
Arkansas defensive end Deatrich Wise gave a thumbs up to a reporter's description of tackling LSU running back Leonard Fournette being like a car crash.
"Yeah, in a sense," Wise said. "He's coming full speed downhill, and I'm coming around the corner and we meet each other, it's going to be pretty much a car crash."
When asked whether Fournette seeks out contact, Wise replied, "We look for contact, too. We're bigger than him. He's what, 6-2 or 6-3, but we're all that tall or taller, and we're much heavier than he is."
Fournette wins
When told that an LSU fan from Hot Springs had named his thoroughbred horse "Fournette" after him, the LSU running back had a short reply: "He better win."
Win Fournette did, capturing a $45,000 purse at Belmont Park in New York on Friday with jockey Luis Saez aboard.
Fournette, a 3-year-old from Kentucky owned by Staton Flurry, won by a nose in the sixth race as a 14-1 shot.
ESPN put together a graphic on the running back and the race horse, saying the thoroughbred runs the 40-yard dash in 2.13 seconds, compared to 4.35 for the tailback.
They're tight
Hunter Henry and Evan Engram were on opposite sides of the Arkansas-Ole Miss rivalry the past three seasons, but the tight ends are close friends.
Henry, a second-round NFL Draft pick by San Diego after winning the Mackey Award as the nation's top tight end, and Engram have known each other since they attended the same elementary school in Georgia.
"Even when Hunter moved to Little Rock, we always kept up with each other," Engram said at SEC media days. "He's a really good friend. I moved to his elementary school our fifth grade year, and we grew real close. At recess, we always played together."
Engram, a senior, said it's ironic both have become SEC tight ends who have earned all-conference and All-America honors.
"We've been blessed with the opportunity to showcase our talents," Engram said. "Being such close friends, I think that makes it even better."
Fleeing Katrina
Mississippi State linebacker Richie Brown and his family evacuated their home in Long Beach, Miss., and late returned to find splintered wood and rubble in 2005. Hurricane Katrina destroyed the Browns' second-story condo and forced his family to live in Tampa, Fla., before relocating with family friends in Pass Christian, Miss.
Brown's family, which had driven to Arkansas to wait out Hurricane Cindy earlier in the summer of 2005, stayed in southern Mississippi in late August as Katrina churned to the coast. They rode out Katrina's wrath at the home of church friends about 5 miles from the coast, north of Interstate 10.
"I think Hurricane Katrina put me through a lot of adversity early on, helped me mature very fast," Brown said. "Losing everything, having to move, doing a lot of different things, going through a lot of different exercises as a kid that you normally wouldn't have to go through, it taught me how to face adversity, which is something I face every day in football, especially during games.
Call him 'Dean'
LSU Coach Les Miles, asked what it felt like to be the dean of SEC coaches entering his 12th season with the Tigers, said he should probably get a robe.
"Right? And maybe a hat that maybe sits to the side and maybe my hanging cloth could be kind of dressed up some," Miles said. "That would be nice.
"I can tell you this, how fortunate I've been to be with really great teams and represent a wonderful institution in LSU. I certainly enjoy the membership and being a part of this group of SEC coaches."
No suspensions
While a handful of SEC coaches have had to deal with questions regarding suspensions and other forms of player discipline, Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema knocked wood and said that didn't apply to his program.
"You don't have to worry whether or not I'm going to suspend anybody for the first game," Bielema said. "It doesn't come up in our program. Not to say it won't. At some time it may rear its ugly head."
The number?
Mississippi State Coach Dan Mullen was quick to point out that the No. 36 jersey listed in the team's media guide for incoming defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons is not a final decision.
Simmons, the gem of the Bulldogs' recruiting class, is facing two misdemeanor charges and a one-game suspension for battering a woman who was on the ground during a fight with another woman.
The No. 36 jersey has special significance at Mississippi State because it was worn by Nick Bell, a promising defensive end who died in November 2010 from an aggressive form of cancer. Quarterback Chris Relf wore No. 36 in the 2011 Gator Bowl, and the Bulldogs have allowed team leaders to wear the jersey in honor of Bell, but no player has worn it full time since his passing.
"That's not finalized yet," Mullen said of Simmons' jersey assignment.
When a sports anchor from WBRC-TV in Birmingham, Ala., contacted Bell's mother, Linda, and told her Simmons was targeted to wear Bell's No. 36, her response was: "Oh, no."
One Spurrier
South Carolina Coach Will Muschamp praised former Florida and Gamecocks Coach Steve Spurrier.
"I am not as entertaining as him," Muschamp said. "You don't need to write an article on it for tomorrow. There is only one Steve Spurrier, and I'm not him."
0-51
Vanderbilt is 0-51 against opponents ranked in the top five of The Associated Press poll. The statistic was tweeted Tuesday by ESPN as part of its countdown to college football kickoff series. It is the most losses by one team without a victory in the poll era.
Around the SEC
New Texas A&M defensive tackles coach David Turner has joined his 11th college program, including his fifth SEC team.
Turner worked at his alma mater Davidson, North Carolina State, Indiana and James Madison during his first seven years before being hired at Kentucky in 1993. He served two stints at both Kentucky (1993-94, 2010-12) and Mississippi State (2007-09, 2013-15), as well as at Vanderbilt (2002-05) and Alabama (2006) before joining the Aggies.
Kelly injury
Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly is on the mend after undergoing surgery for a sports hernia.
"He's doing great. I have to slow him down," Ole Miss Coach Hugh Freeze told reporters. "He and Shea [Patterson], they're over the top. I walk in at 5 this morning, or 5:30, and they have workouts at 6:30 and they're already in there throwing. I love that about them."
Cub reporter
Jack Ronilo of Birmingham, Ala., was the youngest media member ever at SEC media days. The 11-year-old was credentialed through Sports Illustrated for Kids at the request of an editor at the publication.
"I've always wanted to come to SEC media days with my dad, but I'd never gone," said Jack, who asked questions of several coaches in the main print room at the Wynfrey Hyatt Hotel.
"We've never done anything like this before, so he would have to be the youngest," said Chuck Dunlap, SEC director of communications.
More change
Mississippi State has its third defensive coordinator in three years with Peter Sirmon following Geoff Collins and Manny Diaz, who left for Florida and Miami, respectively.
"It's been different, but at the same time, I've learned something different from all three of them," defensive end A.J. Jefferson said. "I've learned from coach Collins, coach Diaz, and I'm looking forward to learning a lot more from coach Sirmon."
Sirmon, who played linebacker with the Tennessee Titans, was linebackers coach at Southern California the past two years.
Network news
SEC Network broadcast 1,600-plus live events during its second year of operation, Commissioner Greg Sankey said, up from the approximately 1,000 live events it broadcast in its inaugural season.
Sankey said the network had about 350 students on campuses across the SEC engaged in television production.
Taking over
The annual SEC Network takeover starts Monday with Vanderbilt replays, highlights, school-produced content and special programming.
The two-week initiative began last year.
Arkansas will take over on Saturday, and the series wraps up July 31 with Alabama.
Sports on 07/17/2016