Bulldogs look to rebound against ICC

PERKINSTON — The film breakdown from Mississippi Gulf Coast's first football game of the season had plenty of mistakes, as would be expected.

But the Bulldogs have hit the ground running for Week 2, another long road trip Thursday to play Itawamba.

"I'm very, very pleased with our kids' approach coming back from a long road trip at Northwest," Gulf Coast coach Jack Wright said. "We're ready to hit the road again and challenge our guys one more time."

The game kicks off at 6:30 p.m. at Eaton Field in Fulton. Listen to the Gulf Coast radio broadcast at SuperTalk 103.1 FM or online at https://mgcccbulldogs.com/watch. The video stream will be available at https://letsgoicctv.com/red/.

The Bulldogs took advantage of the Labor Day holiday to come in and practice Monday morning to give players a break that afternoon.

Gulf Coast lost its opener at No. 4 Northwest, and ICC lost its game at No. 11 Jones. Wright said in the first game of the season, most players make at least one minor mistake on every play. He and his staff have worked on those, but also on other areas to get their players in the right places to make plays.

"The thing we can do is get better between plays, between snaps," he said. "Cleaning up substitution, cleaning up communication, cleaning up things on the sideline, especially changing between each unit. That's a been a big focus this week."

He said Itawamba will spread the field and likes to feature the screen pass. Their scheme can scare you.

"The screens really cause you to hesitate defensively," Wright said. "They're really good at those, too. You can tell they put a lot of emphasis on them. Those are really, really tough to defend."

This is the first meeting between the teams since 2016, and Gulf Coast has won 10 of the last 11 meetings.

Gulf Coast quarterback Pat McQuaide (Fr., Solon Ohio/Solon) leads the country with 277 passing yards per game, and Ramone Bradley (Fr., Fairhope Ala./Fairhope) is third with 114 receiving yards per game.

Keymari Odum (So., Haines City Fla./Ridge) also had a big game at receiving, catching seven passes for 100 yards and a touchdown.

"I thought Keymari had a good game," Wright said. "This is his second year, and he didn't quite get as many touches as he probably should have last year as a true freshman. He's a dynamite player who made some guys miss in space. He did a good job on kickoff returns. He met our expectations when we brought him here, which were high."

Game #2

WHO: Gulf Coast (0-1) vs. Itawamba (0-1)

WHEN: Thursday, Sept 8, 6:30 p.m.

WHERE: Eaton Field, Fulton

WATCH: https://letsgoicctv.com/red/

LISTEN ONLINE: https://mgcccbulldogs.com/watch

LISTEN: SuperTalk 103.1 FM

The Series

Series record: Gulf Coast leads 35-16-1

First Meeting: 1952

Last Meeting: August 13, 2017, Gulf Coast 42, Itawamba 41

Notes: Gulf Coast has won 10 of the last 11 meetings, outscoring ICC 423-179 … Gulf Coast has six shutouts in its 35 wins, the last of which came in 1982 … Itawamba has one shutout in its 16 wins, a 19-0 victory in 1991 … Gulf Coast's longest win streak in the series is nine games between 2001-2015 … ICC's longest win streak is eight games between 1989-2000 … The biggest Gulf Coast win in the series was a 55-point win in 1973 (62-7), while Itawamba's biggest was a 45-7 victory in 1996 … Gulf Coast has outscored Itawamba 1,306-816 (25-1-15.7) … Gulf Coast faced Itawamba three times in a four-game stretch at the end of 2015 and start of 2016, with MGCCC winning the last game of the regular season 38-7 and the MACJC semifinal 49-17 and losing the first game of the next season 23-12 (For ICC, it was three consecutive games.)

For more information on MGCCC's 11 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.