Find out more. "He was spooky the way he could pick out players, I'll tell you, and he spotted him that Saturday night sitting in the hotel room.". The team had scored more than 22 points once, with four games in single digits, including a 3-0 shutout loss to D-II Kentucky State. The result was a raw scheme that relied overwhelmingly on passing a good foundation, it would seem, for whenever Cooley got a promotion. His 27 touchdown receptions in that 1984 season set the NCAA mark for all divisions. Stadiums Regular Season. You could be forgiven if you passed through the tiny town of Itta Bena, Miss., without even knowing you were there. "To this day I get people talking about the game, and it was just remarkable. "We didn't worry about all the attention that was coming," Rice told FOX Sports of the '84 MVSU team, which went 9-2 and averaged 640 yards and nearly 61 points per game in the regular season. But when Cooley got his first head coaching job in 1980, he took over an ineffective, run-heavy MVSU program that had attempted 133 total passes the entire 1979 season. In the third quarter, Valley was able to close the gap, and tied the score at 28-28 on the first play of the fourth, but in the end, it was Totten's propensity for interceptions that did the Devils in. Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS, Copyright 2023 Mississippi Valley State University, Rice-Totten Stadium at Chuck Prophet Field. (); : The game was in such high demand that it was relocated from Itta Bena to Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium in Jackson and rescheduled from Saturday, Nov. 3, to Sunday, Nov. 4, to accommodate for the crowd, which would end up topping 63,000 people to this day one of the largest crowds to fill that stadium. So if Jerry wanted to stay after practice and catch balls, then we stayed after practice and we'd throw and catch balls. Or write about sports? "That was the first time I ever in my life had complete, total body cramps," Totten said of training camp before the '84 season. It was a lot of fun and a lot of people said we were running scores up, but it wasn't that. The SPORTS REFERENCE and STATHEAD trademarks are owned exclusively by Sports Reference LLC. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. Pitts, Ryan ", Said Rice: "It was standing-room-only and that place was just electrifying. He scored five touchdowns twice that year. Mississippi Valley, Alcorn State and The Game of The Century For Cooley, though, the lack of recognition isn't an issue. We ask that you consider turning off your ad blocker so we can deliver you the best experience possible while you are here. Totten had already thrown for 3,500 yards and a division-record 43 touchdowns, and Rice had nearly 1,400 yards and 21 scores of his own. A few formations would call for receivers in both slot positions. In what was known then as Division I-AA, the Valley's Cinderella season didn't end with a celebration, such as BYU's at the I-A level. "But we still just felt like we needed to keep tuning that offense, that system and that speed of play, and we felt we'd be able to do great things on the football field.". "We weren't trying to set records or get the national attention. Griffin. See our list of forfeits and vacated games for more details. Williams, Ty'Jarian Wt. Mississippi Valley State wasn't in the hunt for a national title in 1984, as its neighbors at Ole Miss and Mississippi State are today. Gant, Paul Coach made a statement that we needed to get off the bus throwing, and that was actually true. He didn't mind working, and Totten didn't mind either. Through seven games of the '84 season, Rice wasn't just the best player on the field, but perhaps the best receiver in football, his name suddenly being thrown into conversations about more prominent wideouts like Al Toon, Eddie Brown and Jessie Hester. Led by fifth-year head coach Archie Cooley, the Delta Devils played their home games at Magnolia Stadiumnow known as RiceTotten Stadiumin Itta Bena, Mississippi. Rice's work ethic would go on to become the stuff of legend during his 20 seasons in the NFL, but the first real glimpse into the type of student of the game and gym rat he was came at MVSU. That meant one training camp from hell in the Delta, as Cooley implemented his new offensive scheme and the breakneck pace all at once, for multiple hours at a time, multiple times per day. REWIND | Bulldogs vs. MVSU, Nov. 24, 1984 - LA Tech Athletics 4 Alcorn State, a fellow undefeated that boasted one of the best defenses in I-AA. "In terms of evaluating players, if Bill Walsh liked him, then we would pull the trigger," McVay said. Success was predictably hard to come by early on, as Cooley's players struggled to adjust to such a radical shift in the team's offensive approach and the Delta Devils went 4-4-1 in Cooley's first year. Unfortunately, there wasn't a whole lot Rice or anyone on the Delta Devils offense could do early, as Alcorn State was able to pressure Totten a rarity with Mississippi Valley's gigantic "Tons of Fun" offensive line usually giving him plenty of room and time to work. Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? : View Full Bio, Javier I got what I knew I would receive if they kept working like they worked.". All of the sudden, after a win over one of the conference's traditional powers in his pocket, Cooley and his offense weren't seen as so gimmicky anymore. ", The defeat was even tougher on Rice, who finished the 1984 season with 112 catches for 1,845 yards and 27 touchdowns. 2020-2021 Football Roster - Mississippi Valley State University Athletics Mississippi Valley State University Athletics THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS Main Navigation Menu Sport Navigation Menu Spring 2021 Football Roster Go To Coaching Staff Print Download Stat Crew Roster (FRO) Roster Layout:
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