Sports - Colleges - Mississippi State

Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009

Lee looks for stand out moment at UK

Chris Relf took some snaps in relief of Mississippi State quarterback Tyson Lee on Saturday night and showed his ability to run the football.

But Lee, the undersized senior from Columbus, will continue to get the call for the Bulldogs, who are on the road Saturday night against Kentucky at 6 p.m.

Lee completed 15 of 23 passes for 145 yards in last week’s 29-19 loss to No. 1-ranked Florida. The key statistic, however, was his three interceptions, one of which was returned by Florida linebacker Dustin Doe for a disputed touchdown in the fourth quarter.

“The offensive line did a good job,” Lee said, “but I’ve got to find a lane and make a throw. (Tipped passes can) happen, but as a quarterback, no matter how short or tall you are, you’ve got to be able to find a lane and get the ball to your receivers.”

Mississippi State (3-5, 1-3 in the SEC) had trouble running the ball against Florida, but the Bulldogs are expected to give senior tailback Anthony Dixon plenty of carries against the Wildcats.

“You look at (UK’s defense) and you can say their statistics are average,” MSU coach Dan Mullen said. “They’ve given up a bunch of yards to Florida, Auburn and Alabama, but the other games they’ve had, they’ve held their own against the run game. Sometimes, statistically, you can get skewed on whe’re you’re ranked, because of who you’ve played.

“They’re always a sound and physical defense.”

State’s Pernell McPhee, formerly of Itawamba Community College, has emerged as one of the SEC’s premier defensive linemen. He made life difficult for Florida quarterback Tim Tebow and could do the same against UK’s triumvirate at the position — Morgan Newton, Will Fidler and Randall Cobb.

UK coach Rich Brooks has used all three players at quarterback while Mike Hartline has been sidelined with a knee injury.

“Pernell McPhee brings a lot of leadership (to the MSU defensive line),” Mullen said. “As a new guy, he really elevates all the other players’ efforts. He walks in thinking, ‘I’m a new guy, too, and if I can play at this level, you can play at this level too.’

“The younger guys on that unit have responded to that challenge.”