MSU News & Notes | Tuesday, November 6, 2012

I don't want to know who you vote for, and I'm certainly no political guru myself. Nor do I wish to influence your decision on who you want to run this country for the next four years. But I do encourage you go out and vote today. Voting is one of the most unappreciated rights we carry as American citizens, and should be taken more seriously, even as a duty more than a privilege. Go vote people: because if you don't vote, but complain about your favored candidate losing the election, then your argument carries no weight in my eyes. Now, enough with politics, let's move on to sports.

Today will kind of be a light News and Notes, but there is some important stuff to take a look at today to kick off your Tuesday:

• Yesterday was Dan Mullen's weekly press conference to kick off a game week. Check out what Mullen had to say about this upcoming Saturday's game in Baton Rouge against LSU:

• If you're a reader, check out the transcript from Mullen's presser below, via HailState.com:

Opening Statement

"This week will be a big challenge going to play a night game down at LSU. It is always one of the toughest places in the country to play when you're playing them normally, and I know that they get a little tougher when you're playing them at night down there. So, it will be a great challenge for our team with the talent that they have-the talent that they have across the board. They have tremendous talent on the defensive side of the ball. When they [NFL] list the top draft picks by position, a lot of LSU defensive players seem to be on that list. They are young, and that only makes them a little scarier with the youth that they have on that side of the ball. They are just one of the top teams in the country. We will have our hands full offensively. Everyone knows that they have a stable of running backs. Their giant offensive line pounds you and continues to pound you play after play. Last week, we did a good job throwing the ball on top of that. We're going to have to come out and play. This is even more so important here in Southeastern Conference play and out here in the West. You have to bring your A game every single week."

On halftime adjustments

"We did some good things at halftime obviously not enough. It was not enough to come back and win the game. I think that we did a nice job in the last two games making a tweak or two to put us in a position to be successful, but not enough to win the games."

On red zone offensive changes

"Some games we have been good, and some games we have been poor. I think overall it is just about your game execution. I think in a couple of games we've been excellent in the red zone on both sides of the ball and sometimes we've been poor. To me, it's a lack of consistency. That is what I'd attribute it to, and we have got to be more consistent."

• For further analysis and recap of Mullen's Monday press conference, be sure to check out Bob Carskadon's recap, as well as Brandon Marcello's. Also included in Bob's link are video interviews with several assistant coaches, including both Chris Wilson and Les Koenning.
• It looks like former MSU basketballers Jarvis Varnado and Renardo Sidney have both been drafted in the latest NBA D-League draft, which took place last Friday.
  
• As we told you yesterday, MSU will play on ESPN for the third straight week and fourth time overall this weekend against LSU. And for the third weekend in a row as well, Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge, and Holly Rowe will be the commentary group for our game. Have to think they're tired of watching State get blown out, ha.
• Forgot to include updated bowl predictions in yesterday's News and Notes, but frankly, not much has changed in the way of bowl predictions for State. ESPN has State in either the Gator or Chick-Fil-A Bowl, CBS has us in the Gator as well (against Michigan State this time), Phil Steele has us in the Gator Bowl as well, as does SBNation.
• If you're into watching construction take place, especially when it's on the new Davis Wade Stadium endzone expansion, then you're in luck. It appears the construction cam is back up, via a Scott Stricklin tweet last evening.
• Spilly recipes, don't try this at home, kids.

That's all for today's News and Notes, folks. As always, if I missed anything important, make sure to leave the link in the comments. Thanks, and have a good one!