[Tuck4Bama]

STARKVILLE, Miss. - Looking for their first win of the 2007 season, the Mississippi State Bulldogs (0-1, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) will travel to New Orleans Saturday to face off against Tulane University (0-0).

Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT at the Louisiana Superdome and will mark the Bulldogs’ first live appearance on Comcast Sports Southeast (CSS).

In a series that has seen 57 games over a 106 year-span, Mississippi State leads the series 29-26-2 and has won seven of the last 10 meetings between the two squads. Tulane leads the series in New Orleans 22-16-2 and took last year’s meeting 33-29 in Starkville. The latest meeting in New Orleans also ended in a Tulane victory in 2003, 31-28. Mississippi State’s last victory against Tulane was in 2005 in Shreveport, La., where the teams played due to Hurricane Katrina. Mississippi State is an impressive 5-2 in the Louisiana Superdome.

The Bulldogs look to rebound after last week’s loss to the nation’s second-ranked LSU Tigers with a strong offensive showing. Junior quarterback Michael Henig completed 11 passes last week to 11 different receivers. Sophomore running back Anthony Dixon rushed for 29 yards. Senior receiver Tony Burks paced the Bulldog receivers with a 45-yard catch in the third quarter that brought the fans to their feet.

Defensively, the Bulldogs played some of their best football against very tough competition. Junior linebacker Dominic Douglas led the team in tackles with nine last week. Douglas recorded a sack and also had 1.5 tackles for loss to pace the Bulldog attack. Junior defensive end Jimmie Holmes also recorded a sack to go along with his five tackles. Senior standout Titus Brown also tallied his first sack of the year and notched two quarterback hurries. Sophomore defensive back Anthony Johnson was second on the team in tackles with eight on the night.

For first-year coach Bob Toledo, Tulane will return 13 starters (five on offense, eight on defense) but none will be more important than senior running back Matt Forte who ran for a remarkable 859 yards last year on just 163 attempts (5.3 ypr) in an injury-stricken season. Last season, Forte rushed for 170 yards and a touchdown in Starkville. Toledo will go to battle with junior quarterback Scott Elliot who will only be making his fourth career start.

Defensively, Tulane is led by former walk-on junior David Skehan. As a sophomore last season, Skehan led the team in tackles with 80 (55 solo), interceptions (4) and registered 6.5 tackles for lost yardage. With his efforts, Skehan was named to the all-Conference USA third team. Junior linebacker James Dillard was the Green Wave’s third-leading tackler last season with an impressive 55 tackles.

‘Dogs Look to Rebound Saturday at Tulane