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1994 Mississippi State

8–⁠4 (5–⁠3 Southeastern Conference), coached by Jackie Sherrill, finished No. 24 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Mississippi State in 1994, game by game: won at Memphis 17–6; lost at LSU 24–44; won vs. No. 23 Tennessee 24–21; won vs. Arkansas State 49–3; lost vs. No. 9 Auburn 18–42; won at South Carolina 41–36; won vs. Tulane 66–22; won at Kentucky 47–7; won vs. Arkansas 17–7; lost vs. No. 6 Alabama 25–29; won at Ole Miss 21–17; lost vs. No. 23 NC State 24–28+46−24Won 17–6 at Memphis+11MemphisLost 24–44 at LSU-20LSUWon 24–21 vs. No. 23 Tennessee+3No. 23 TennesseeWon 49–3 vs. Arkansas State+46Arkansas StateLost 18–42 vs. No. 9 Auburn-24No. 9 AuburnWon 41–36 at South Carolina+5South CarolinaWon 66–22 vs. Tulane+44TulaneWon 47–7 at Kentucky+40KentuckyWon 17–7 vs. Arkansas+10ArkansasLost 25–29 vs. No. 6 Alabama-4No. 6 AlabamaWon 21–17 at Ole Miss+4Ole MissLost 24–28 vs. No. 23 NC State-4No. 23 NC State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 3atMemphisW 17–⁠637%
Sep 10atLSUL 24–⁠4454%
Sep 24vs23TennesseeW 24–⁠2138%
Oct 1vsArkansas StateW 49–⁠381%
Oct 8vs9AuburnL 18–⁠4237%
Oct 15atSouth CarolinaW 41–⁠3642%
Oct 22vsTulaneW 66–⁠2282%
Oct 29atKentuckyW 47–⁠761%
Nov 5vsArkansasW 17–⁠766%
Nov 12vs6AlabamaL 25–⁠2937%
Nov 26atOle MissW 21–⁠1751%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs23NC StatePeach BowlL 24–⁠2848%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to NC State 28–⁠24 in the Peach Bowl; No. 24 in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 34th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 11: 24
  2. Wk 12: 20
  3. Wk 13: 23
  4. Wk 14: 19
  5. Wk 15: 16
  6. Wk 16: 16
  7. Final: 24

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1994.

Led the nationEric Moulds: kickoff return average (32.8)

Record
8–⁠4
Conference
5–⁠3 tied for 4th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 24 peak No. 16
Points
373–⁠262
Coach
Jackie Sherrill
Elo
1565 +73 this season
SP+ rating
7.6 No. 35 of 106; offense No. 30, defense No. 52
SRS
7.1 No. 29 of 107 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Bruce Arians
Defensive coordinator
Bill Clay

Drafted in 1995

The 1995 draft
Rd 2Kendell Watkins TEDallas Cowboys
Rd 2Jesse James OTSt. Louis Rams
Rd 4Melvin Hayes OTNew York Jets
Rd 6Fred McCrary RBPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 7Kevin Bouie RBPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 7Wesley Leasy LBArizona Cardinals

All-SEC

3 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1994 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1994 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama8–⁠012–⁠15
Florida7–⁠110–⁠2–⁠17
Auburn6–⁠1–⁠19–⁠1–⁠19
Tennessee5–⁠38–⁠422
Mississippi State5–⁠38–⁠424
South Carolina4–⁠47–⁠5
Georgia3–⁠4–⁠16–⁠4–⁠1
LSU3–⁠54–⁠7
Vanderbilt2–⁠65–⁠6
Ole Miss2–⁠64–⁠7
Arkansas2–⁠64–⁠7
Kentucky0–⁠81–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.