CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College football team will open Gulf South Conference play this Saturday when they travel to Florence, Ala. to face #13 North Alabama at 6:00 p.m. at Braly Municipal Stadium.
The Choctaws (1-0) and the Lions (1-0) will be featutred on the GSC-TV Game of the Week on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app. This will be one of two times MC will be the featured matchup as they will close the slate on November 14th when they host Delta State at 3:00 p.m. at Robinson-Hale Stadium.
This will be the 31st all-time meeting between MC and UNA with the Lions holding a 15-14-2 edge in the series. The Choctaws, however, are 8-5-2 all-time in Florence, but the last meeting came in 1994. MC is 103-83-11 all-time against teams from the State of Alabama, playing more games against teams from the Yellowhammer State than any other.
Sophomore quarterback
Kyle Smith led the Choctaws to a season-opening 61-6 win over Texas College last Saturday, racking up 205 total yards of offense and accounting for three touchdowns (2 pass, 1 rush).
The Choctaw offense tied a school record with seven rushing touchdowns, coming from seven different players in the contest. The record had not been touched for 40 years, as the mark was last achieved in 1975.
Junior wide receiver
Marcel Newson caught four passes for 89 yards with two touchdowns and also returned a punt for 36 yards against the Steers.
The Choctaw defense gave up just six points in the victory, the lowest output by an opponent since a 34-5 win over Texas Lutheran in 2007. The 55-point victory was the largest margin since a 56-0 win over Bethel (TN) in 1998.
Junior
JaQarius Scott led the defense with 2.0 tackles for loss, including a sack in the contest. Junior
Alexander Greer had a team-high six tackles, while sophomore
Chris Manning and freshman
Da'Quan Lewis each picked off a pass.
The Lions are led by senior running back Lamonte Thompson, who rushed for 173 yards on 22 carries with two touchdowns in a season-opening win over Miles College, 34-17.
NOTES:- The Choctaws are 1-5 all-time in games played on September 12th with the win coming in 1981 at Stephen F. Austin, 17-14. They lost to North Alabama on this date in 1992, 14-6.
- The Choctaws are 103-83-11 all-time against teams from the State of Alabama. They have only played West Alabama (41) and Samford (40) more times than North Alabama (31).
- The Choctaws are 12-10-2 all-time in Gulf SOuth Conference openers, dating back to September 15, 1973 with a 17-7 loss at Henderson State. They would win 11-of-14 GSC openers after going 0-5 in their first five contests.
- The Choctaws have faced North Alabama 11 times to open GSC play, going 6-4-1 in those contest. The Choctaws won four straight GSC openers against UNA from 1988-91, oustcoring the Lions by a combined score of 128-48.
