Dixon's huge day helps Miss. St. inch closer to bowl goal

Presented with Kentucky's porous rushing defense stats early last week, Anthony Dixon smiled and gave a confident-yet-diplomatic answer: He said he could "make it happen" on any defense.
Did he ever.
The Mississippi State tailback rushed for 252 yards Saturday, setting a school single-game record for rushing yards and leading State to a 31-24 victory over UK in front of an announced 67,953 on a chilly Halloween homecoming night at Commonwealth Stadium.
"I guess it's just another one of those goals I made, a dream come true," Dixon said. "I was just out there grinding for my team tonight. I'm really trying to get to that bowl game. That's the No. 1 thing that's on that list of goals this year. We inched a little closer to that, and for that, I'm happy."
State had to hold back a would-be tying drive in the final two minutes. UK drove to the MSU 16 before the Bulldogs flushed Kentucky's Morgan Newton from the pocket and linebackers Jamar Chaney and Jamie Jones dropped him for a 2-yard loss.
Dixon also passed the 1,000-yard mark for his season. Considering that he entered the game with 749 yards, that's quite an accomplishment. In last week's loss to Florida, Dixon was held to 53 yards on 15 carries - snapping a streak of five consecutive 100-yard games.
Against UK, which entered with the Southeastern Conference's worst rushing defense, statistically, he passed the 200-yard mark for the first time. And for the second time this month, he passed the Atlanta Falcons' Jerious Norwood for an important milestone.
Before Saturday, Norwood's 247 yards against Houston in 2005 was the MSU record.
"Unbelievable game," MSU coach Dan Mullen said. "We needed every single one of those 252 yards."
Mississippi State (4-5, 2-3 SEC) kept alive its hopes of becoming bowl-eligible. The win gave the Bulldogs wiggle room of sorts - they now have to win two of their next three games, not run the table. State has an off weekend before hosting No. 2 Alabama on Nov. 14. The SEC Rocks!
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