How Mississippi State players found out about bowl game, scrambled back to campus
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STARKVILLE — Some Mississippi State football players were still in town when the team was surprisingly selected to a bowl game. Others had already gone home. Another player was chilling in bed.
The Bulldogs (5-7) thought their season was over the morning of Dec. 7 when bowl game placements were announced. They hadn’t reached the required six wins to clinch bowl eligibility.
After Kansas State and Iowa State declined bowl invitations, MSU swooped in. The Bulldogs will play Wake Forest (8-4) in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Jan. 2 (7 p.m. CT, ESPN).
“At first it was a lot of initial shock,” linebacker Nic Mitchell said on Dec. 17. “A lot of guys were out of town. Once we got the guys back, it was a lot of excitement. You get another opportunity to play football. Why would you not have fun with something like this?”
The news of Mississippi State’s bowl game came during finals week, so some players had already wrapped up their semesters and left campus.
Safety Jahron Manning had to come back to Starkville. He was in Philadelphia visiting his girlfriend when he got the news. Manning already had a flight booked for Dec. 9, so he came back then. But that meant he missed Mississippi State’s team meeting the day before.
“I was relaxing, getting back healthy and (assistant defensive backs) Coach (Evan) Harvey sent us a group text saying we’ll get selected to a bowl game,” Manning said. “I just got back as soon as I could.”
Freshman quarterback Kamario Taylor hadn’t left town. He said he was in bed when coach Jeff Lebby called him with the news.
Taylor, the former four-star from Noxubee County, will be MSU’s starting quarterback against Wake Forest after making his first career start in the Egg Bowl.
“He was like, ‘Make sure everyone stays in Starkville because we have an opportunity ahead of us,'” Taylor said. “‘We can’t say it’s set in stone yet, but it’s on the way.”
Running back Fluff Bothwell was at the football facility getting treatment when he found out about the Bulldogs’ bowl game.
“I was actually getting ready to go home then Coach Lebby had told me,” Bothwell said. “It gives us an opportunity to show what the future holds and how we can come back from where we’ve previously been through and really just get us ready for next season.”
Jahron Manning waiting on NCAA waiver for 2026
Manning, the team’s leading tackler, also said he is waiting on a pending waiver to potentially return on an extra year of eligibility.
He is out of eligibility after playing two seasons in junior college and the 2024 season at Old Dominion before transferring to MSU. He hasn’t used a redshirt but played five games at Tyler Junior College in 2022.
“Still waiting back to hear from it, so we’ll find out soon,” Manning said.
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for The Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@usatodayco.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi State, Kamario Taylor’s reaction to surprise bowl game
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