Good morning! Crazy stat of the day, did you know that State softball has hit 43% of their grand slams in program history under the direction of head coach Samantha Ricketts? Since arriving nine years ago, the Bulldogs have hit 21 bases-loaded homers, nearly equaling the total from the previous 23 years.

What else did we throw into the Brew today?

🥎 Hard Earned
🏈 Trusty Trio
🐶 And much, much more!

🎥 HAIL STATE PLUS

Mixin’ It Up. In this episode of Dear Ol’ State, hear from both sides of the ball as defensive back Marcus Banks and tight end Ryland Goede talk us through a wide range of topics with the start of training camp just around the corner.

🎧 Dear Ol’ State Preseason: Ryland Goede and Marcus Banks

🟢 Listen on Spotify

🍎 Listen on Apple Podcasts

With HailState+ you get to watch wherever you want to watch. Web, mobile, and (later this year) all major OTT streaming apps like AppleTV, Amazon FireTV, Roku, and Android. We got it all.

📈 STOCK UP

🔼 Trusty Trio. Three of our Bulldogs have been named to the 2023 Preseason All-SEC Teams as voted on by members of the media.

🏈 Will Rogers will enter into his final season with MSU with a chance to crack some SEC records.

🏈 Nathaniel Watson earned his spot fresh off the heels of his career year where he recorded 113 stops; the second most in the SEC

🏈 Lideatrick (Tulu) Griffin is set to return as one of the top return specialists in the SEC. Last season he racked up 613 kickoff return yards and was named as an All-American last year by Pro Football Focus.

📚 Read the full write up on the impact these three have had thus far in the Maroon and White

🔼 Hard Earned. One particular Bulldog alum is tearing it up in the pro ranks of softball. Fa Leilua earned her first Player of the Week honor with the OKC Spark in the WPF after hitting .500 at the plate with two home runs and six RBIs.

🔼 The Biggest Stage. A pair of former Bulldogs, Ruthny Mathurin and Catalina Perez, have made their debuts in this year’s Women’s World Cup representing their home countries.

⚽️ Mathurin came in as a super-sub in her debut with Haiti to help the back line against England in her country’s opening match.

⚽️ Perez was locked in and came away with three saves on the match to help Colombia get the win last night against South Korea.

🔼 Opponent Preview. Today, we’ll be previewing State’s final non-conference opponent of the season: the Southern Miss Golden Eagles!

Quick Hits

• Finished fourth in the Sun Belt - West division at 7-6

• Won first bowl game since 2016 after beating Rice 38-15 in the LendingTree Bowl

• Notable win: @ Tulane - finished top 10 in the nation

• Dating back to 1989, the Bulldogs have won five straight over Southern Miss

• Run, run, run; this team was built to run, especially with last year’s top two quarterbacks gone to the transfer portal.

• Sneakily, this team was among the best pass rushing teams in the country with 109 tackles for loss, and will return a chunk of that talent.

Southern Miss Players To Watch

🏈 RB Frank Gore Jr.: yes, we’re talking about that Frank Gore Jr. He can, and will, run hard and right through defenders. He’s coming off a 1,382 yard, nine touchdown campaign last season.

🏈 S Jay Stanley: Rogers needs to watch out for this guy. The leader of the team is coming off of a five interception season that also saw him get physical, forcing three fumbles and getting 4.5 tackles for loss.

🏈 LB Avarie Habas: moving into a hybrid role, Southern Miss’ new leader of the front seven is coming off a 12 tackle for loss and 49 tackle season.

What Happened Last Time?

The last time these two faced off was in the second game of the 2019 season.

State jumped out to a 28-0 lead through two and a half quarters thanks to a balanced offensive attack. After all was said and done, the Bulldogs took home the 38-15 victory.

Running back Kylin Hill had himself a day with 125 rushing yards and two touchdowns on the Bulldogs way to what was their 11th straight non-conference win.

🤔 BULLDOG TRIVIA

Record Breaking. Quarterback Will Rogers has a knack for breaking both Bulldog, and SEC records, and has done so for quite some time.

We mentioned earlier that Rogers has the chance this season to break an all-time SEC record, but do you know which one it is?

Think you know the answer? Scroll on down to the bottom to find out.

📬 STICK WITH US

Did someone send you the Bulldog Brew? Well, the first thing you should do is thank them. The next thing you should do is subscribe here and get it in your inbox every weekday morning just in time for your first cup of coffee!

🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: SEC All-Time Leading Passer!

Rogers sits just 2,478 yards away from breaking the passing yards record in the SEC. As it stands, he is currently eighth with a total of 10,689 yards through the air.

Have a great Tuesday, y'all.