Evans, Thompson giving Mississippi State big-play energy

Of all the improvements Mississippi State made to its football team from last year, the biggest may be at wide receiver.

Mississippi State’s Brenen Thompson and Anthony Evans III have made big splashes in their first seasons in Starkville. They both rank in the top 10 amongst SEC receivers.

The duo has a combined 1,369 receiving yards (Thompson has 716, Evans has 653) and 10 touchdowns. It’s the second-most receiving yards by a duo in the SEC behind Tennessee’s Chris Brazzell and Braylon Staley and third-most touchdowns.

“They're both fast, and they can run, and I like guys that are fast,” Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby said on Monday. “That will be a trend for us for a long, long time here. We’ve got to have great foot speed. You can't live with a ton of little guys, but if you got little guys that are electric and got incredible top end and play tough, you're going to be just fine. So both those guys can really run. They're about the right things. They play tough when they have the football, and I think you win with that.”

They’ve both also caught game-winning touchdown passes with less than a minute in the game. Thompson had a 58-yard touchdown to beat Arizona State and Evens had an 18-yard touchdown to beat Arkansas.

It was the second touchdown of the game for Evans, who earlier had a 45-yard touchdown catch from freshman Kamario Taylor. Like Taylor, Evans earned some recognition for his performance against the Razorbacks.

Evans earned honorable mention honors for the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award for week 10 of the college football season.

“(Evans) has just gotten better and better. He's more and more comfortable inside the scheme. And when he's had the ball in his hands, man, good things have happened. And so, I'm proud of how he's continued to develop.”

The Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award, announced in 2012 by the Tyler Chamber and SPORTyler, recognizes the top offensive player in Division I football who also exhibits the enduring characteristics that define Earl Campbell: integrity, performance, teamwork, sportsmanship, drive, community, and tenacity; specifically tenacity to persist and determination to overcome adversity and injury in pursuit of reaching goals.

In addition, the nominee must meet one or more of the following criteria: Played football and  graduated from a Texas High School and/or playing at a four year D1 Texas college.