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This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
Note that any opinions expressed in legacy Jackson Free Press stories do not reflect a position of the Mississippi Free Press or necessarily of its staff and board members.

Mississippi State and Jackie Sherrill. After losing to LSU 41-6, Sherrill said he saw “improvement” on State’s defense. By improvement, does Sherrill mean giving up just 41 points instead of the customary 42? Put a fork in the Jackal, he’s done.
Ole Miss and David Cutcliffe and the Rebel defense and Eli Manning’s Heisman hopes: After losing to Texas Tech 49-45, Cutcliffe said he couldn’t pinpoint a reason why his team had to kick six field goals instead of scoring touchdowns, but football gets “tougher” in the red zone. Dr. S will pinpoint it for you, Cut: Your offense can’t run the ball and your defense can’t stop the run or the pass.
Mississippi Valley State: Jackson State rallied to beat the Delta Devils 21-17. The good news for the Tigers is that they’re 2-0 in the SWAC. The bad news is that the Tigers suck. The bad news for Valley fans is that the Devils suck more. Remember what Dr. S said before the season about this being a new era at Valley? Forget Dr. S said that.

Read all about it:
LSU 41, Mississippi State 6: Biloxi, Columbus, Natchez, Starkville and Tupelo.

Texas Tech 49, Ole Miss 45: Biloxi, Columbus, Meridian and Tupelo.

Jackson State 21, Mississippi Valley State 17: Greenwood.

Delta State 47, West Alabama 17: Meridian.

Stephen F. Austin 60, Alcorn State 7: Natchez.

Hinds 31, Pearl River 27: Biloxi.

Mississippi native Donna Ladd and partner Todd Stauffer founded the Jackson Free Press in 2002 in the capital city. The heavily awarded local newspaper did many investigations heralded across the state and nation and served as a paper of record due to its diversity, inclusion, in-depth reporting and deep connection to readers and dedication to narrative change in and about Mississippi. In 2022, the nonprofit Mississippi Free Press, founded by Ladd and JFP Associate Publisher Kimberly Griffin in 2020, purchased the journalism assets and archives of the Jackson Free Press. A Google grant through AAN Publishers enabled Newspack's integration of the JFP archives into the Mississippi Free Press website to become part of a more searchable archive of recent Mississippi history and essential journalism.