Oct. 6, 2007

Final Stats| Photo Gallery 

STARKVILLE, Miss. ----- Mississippi State tailback Anthony Dixon rushed for 152 yards and three second-half touchdowns Saturday as Mississippi State beat UAB 30-13.

Blazer quarterback Sam Hunt was 15-of-34 for 217 yards and wide receiver Frantrell Forrest caught seven passes for 122 yards.

The loss dropped UAB to 1-4 overall. The Blazers have played four of their first five games on the road. MSU improved to 4-2 with the victory.

UAB led 13-9 after three quarters. But the Blazers could not get a fourth-quarter stop as State scored three touchdowns in the final eight minutes. The Bulldogs took the lead, 16-13, on an Anthony Dixon 10-yard run with 8:00 remaining in the quarter. They capped off the scoring when Anthony Johnson returned an interception 30 yards for a TD with 1:49 left.

"I thought our kids competed extremely hard," said UAB head coach Neil Callaway. "The second half, they (Mississippi State) kind of came out and rolled their sleeves up and took it to us running the football. We're a young football team. You look out there and we have so many freshmen up front. I'm not mistaking excuses, just stating the facts.

Hunt and Forrest helped UAB build a 10-3 halftime lead by connecting on a 31-yard touchdown pass late in the second quarter. The score capped the only serious offensive series by either team in the first half.

"I thought we were playing fast," Callaway said of his team's first half success. "We always talk about coming out and making sure we play fast. We had two picks (by Kevin Sanders and Zach Britten) so turnovers were really good for us. We were making some plays offensively. We knew they would be tough to run against, but we were able to do a few things. More than anything (in the first half) I thought we played hard and played fast."

Freshman Wes Carroll led Mississippi State on its decisive touchdown drives after being lifted for Michael Henig in the first quarter. Carroll started the game for Henig, who was playing with a broken throwing hand.

Dixon, limited to 19 yards on six carries in the first half, ran 26 times for 133 yards and scores of 1, 1 and 12 yards.p>

Mississippi State scored on three of its first four possessions to open the second half and capped the comeback with a 30-yard interception return for a touchdown by Anthony Johnson in the final two minutes.

The Bulldogs managed only 50 yards in total offense and turned the ball over twice in the first half before turning to Carroll and Dixon.

UAB had three key starters sit out the game with injuries: QB/WR Joseph Webb; offensive tackle Adam Truitt, easily the Blazers' most experienced offensive lineman; and safety Will Dunbar, the nation's leading tackler.

UAB returns to Conference USA action next week when the Blazers play host to Tulane (6:00 p.m. CDT) in their 2007 Homecoming Game at Legion Field.