Memphis vs. Mississippi State

Memphis and Mississippi State have 46 meetings on file, the first in 1951; officially, Mississippi State leads 34–⁠12; as played, 35–⁠11 in the games on file. Over the last 10 meetings it’s Mississippi State 9–⁠1. Mississippi State forfeited the 1976 game. This page counts every game as it was played. Share

Scheduled 2034 at Mississippi State. As the programs’ Wikipedia articles list them (CC BY-SA).

Official series: Mississippi State leads 34–⁠12
Memphis wins on file: 11
Mississippi State wins on file: 35
Ties: 0
Earliest on file: 1951
Longest streak: 12 Mississippi State
Current streak: 1 Mississippi State
Last 10 meetings: Mississippi State 9–⁠1
Most recent: 2022

The series at a glance

Every meeting by decade, colored by the winner
	’0	’1	’2	’3	’4	’5	’6	’7	’8	’9	W–L
1950s											0–⁠7
1960s											3–⁠2
1970s											2–⁠4
1980s											3–⁠7
1990s											2–⁠8
2000s											0–⁠4
2010s											0–⁠2
2020s											1–⁠1

Average margin: 14.5 points; 18 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At Memphis: 6–⁠18 Memphis’s record at home
At Mississippi State: 17–⁠5 Mississippi State’s record at home
Shutouts: 2

Every meeting on file, as played. Ranks are the AP poll’s going in.

Games that tell the story

Memphis’s biggest win1988: Memphis 31, Mississippi State 10by 21 points
Mississippi State’s biggest win2011: Mississippi State 59, Memphis 14by 45 points
Upset1961: Mississippi State 23, Memphis 16Mississippi State had a 22% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
Upset1991: Memphis 28, Mississippi State 23Memphis had a 32% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
Upset1979: Memphis 14, Mississippi State 13Memphis had a 33% chance, by our ratings before kickoff

Coach against coach

Years	Memphis	Series	Mississippi State
1958–⁠1961	Billy Murphy	0–⁠4	Wade Walker
1962–⁠1965	Billy Murphy	3–⁠0	Paul Davis
1975–⁠1978	Richard Williamson	1–⁠3	Bob Tyler
1981–⁠1983	Rex Dockery	1–⁠2	Emory Bellard
1986–⁠1988	Charlie Bailey	1–⁠2	Rockey Felker
1991–⁠1994	Chuck Stobart	2–⁠2	Jackie Sherrill
1995–⁠2000	Rip Scherer	0–⁠6	Jackie Sherrill
2001–⁠2003	Tommy West	0–⁠3	Jackie Sherrill

Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from Memphis’s side (Murphy 0–⁠4 against Walker). A season split between coaches goes to the one credited with the game.

Both programs through the years

Our Elo rating at the end of each season, a measure of how strong a team was, not a forecast; 1500 is an average FBS team.

Stars of the series

Biggest days

Will Rogers Mississippi State

38 of 49, 450 yards, 5 TD, 1 INT

2022 Passing

Biggest days: the week’s best individual games by our big-days rule, from box scores (2004 on).

From the newspapers

1951 · Evening star, Nov 11, 1951
1953 · Evening star, Sep 20, 1953
1954 · Evening star, District of Columbia, Sep 19, 1954
1957 · Evening star, Washington, D.C., Sep 29, 1957

Public-domain newspapers from the Library of Congress’s Chronicling America, found through the American Stories dataset (Dell and Harvard, CC BY 4.0). The earliest meetings with a story on file; each game’s page has the full text.

Every game

Sep 3, 2022	Mississippi State 49, Memphis 23	at Mississippi State
Sep 18, 2021	Memphis 31, Mississippi State 29	at Memphis
Sep 1, 2011	20Mississippi State 59, Memphis 14	at Memphis
Sep 4, 2010	Mississippi State 49, Memphis 7	at Mississippi State
Oct 11, 2003	Mississippi State 35, Memphis 27	at Mississippi State
Oct 19, 2002	Mississippi State 29, Memphis 17	at Memphis
Sep 3, 2001	20Mississippi State 30, Memphis 10	at Mississippi State
Sep 2, 2000	Mississippi State 17, Memphis 3	at Memphis
Sep 11, 1999	Mississippi State 13, Memphis 10	at Mississippi State
Sep 12, 1998	Mississippi State 14, Memphis 6	at Memphis
Aug 30, 1997	Mississippi State 13, Memphis 10	at Mississippi State
Sep 7, 1996	Mississippi State 31, Memphis 10	at Memphis
Sep 2, 1995	Mississippi State 28, Memphis 18	at Mississippi State
Sep 3, 1994	Mississippi State 17, Memphis 6	at Memphis
Sep 4, 1993	Memphis 45, 23Mississippi State 35	at Mississippi State
Sep 19, 1992	24Mississippi State 20, Memphis 16	at Memphis
Oct 19, 1991	Memphis 28, Mississippi State 23	at Mississippi State
Nov 10, 1990	Mississippi State 27, Memphis 23	at Memphis
Oct 21, 1989	Mississippi State 35, Memphis 10	at Mississippi State
Oct 1, 1988	Memphis 31, Mississippi State 10	at Memphis
Oct 3, 1987	Mississippi State 9, Memphis 6	at Mississippi State
Oct 4, 1986	Mississippi State 34, Memphis 17	at Memphis
Oct 5, 1985	Mississippi State 31, Memphis 28	at Mississippi State
Oct 20, 1984	Memphis 23, Mississippi State 12	at Memphis
Nov 5, 1983	Memphis 30, Mississippi State 13	at Mississippi State
Sep 18, 1982	Mississippi State 41, Memphis 17	at Memphis
Sep 5, 1981	14Mississippi State 20, Memphis 3	at Mississippi State
Sep 6, 1980	Mississippi State 34, Memphis 7	at Memphis
Sep 8, 1979	Memphis 14, Mississippi State 13	at Mississippi State
Sep 23, 1978	Mississippi State 44, Memphis 14	at Memphis
Oct 15, 1977	Memphis 21, Mississippi State 13	at Memphis
Oct 16, 1976	Mississippi State 42, Memphis 33forfeited	at Memphis
Sep 6, 1975	Mississippi State 17, Memphis 7	at Memphis
Oct 19, 1974	Mississippi State 29, Memphis 28	at Memphis
Oct 16, 1965	Memphis 33, 10Mississippi State 13	at Memphis
Oct 26, 1963	Memphis 17, Mississippi State 10	at Memphis
Oct 27, 1962	Memphis 28, Mississippi State 7	at Mississippi State
Oct 28, 1961	Mississippi State 23, Memphis 16	at Memphis
Oct 22, 1960	Mississippi State 21, Memphis 0	at Mississippi State
Oct 24, 1959	Mississippi State 28, Memphis 23	at Mississippi State
Oct 11, 1958	Mississippi State 28, Memphis 6	at Mississippi State
Sep 28, 1957	Mississippi State 10, Memphis 6	at Mississippi State
Oct 1, 1955	Mississippi State 33, Memphis 0	at Mississippi State
Sep 18, 1954	Mississippi State 27, Memphis 7	at Mississippi State
Sep 19, 1953	Mississippi State 34, Memphis 6	at Memphis
Nov 10, 1951	Mississippi State 27, Memphis 20	at Memphis

Every game is listed as played on the field; a game one side later forfeited is marked “forfeited”; the official series above counts them the NCAA’s way.