Tennessee Is Stunned at Home : Mississippi State Surprises Volunteers

Mississippi State’s 27-23 upset of eighth-ranked Tennessee on Saturday finally should earn the Bulldogs a little respect in the Southeastern Conference, Coach Rocky Felker said after his team’s victory.

“I was asked yesterday when we first got here, ‘Do you really think you have a chance to win?’ To somebody as competitive as me, that is really a slap in the face,” said Felker, in his first year as coach of his alma mater.

Mississippi State’s come-from-behind victory was engineered by quarterback Don Smith, who capped a brilliant passing day by running 62 yards to put the Bulldogs ahead, 27-23, with 4:40 remaining.

“I never felt comfortable in the game,” said Volunteer Coach Johnny Majors, who had nothing but praise for Smith. “He is as good as I thought he was before the game, maybe better.”

On his game-winning run, Smith, a 6-1, 195-pound senior, ran an option to the left, turned upfield and outran defenders down the sideline.

“It was an option play to the short side. I just read it,” Smith said. “(Tennessee linebacker) Dale Jones took the running back, and the other linebacker just was not there.”

With 1:53 remaining, Tennessee missed a chance to score from the 16-yard line when Volunteer quarterback Randy Sanders overthrew flanker Terence Cleveland, who was wide open in the end zone.

Bruce Plummer intercepted Sanders’ next pass on fourth down to seal the victory and lift the Bulldogs’ record to 2-0, 1-0 in the SEC. The Volunteers fell to 1-1 overall, 0-1 in the SEC.

Smith finished with 105 yards rushing. He completed 15 of 30 passes for 231 yards, hitting touchdown passes of 43 yards to Fred Hadley and 12 and 5 yards to Louis Clark.

His performance offset three touchdown runs by Tennessee’s William Howard, a 225-pound fullback playing tailback for the injured Keith Davis. Howard gained 195 yards in 34 carries and scored on runs of 7, 6 and 4 yards.