Tyler Russell

Tyler Russell
Mississippi State No. 17
Position Quarterback
Career history
College
High school Meridian High School
Personal information
Date of birth December 6, 1990
Height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight 221 lb (100 kg)
Stats at ESPN.com

Tyler Ryan Russell (born December 6, 1990)[1] is an American football quarterback who is currently a free agent. He played college football from 2010 to 2013 for Mississippi State University, where he places third on the Bulldogs' career passing list with 5,441 passing yards, and his 42 passing touchdowns are a school record.

Early years

Russell attended Meridian High School in Meridian, Mississippi. As a senior in 2008, he led his team to the Mississippi 5A State Championship, where they snapped South Panola's 89-game winning streak dating back to 2003.[2] Russell was named 2008's Mr. Football by The Clarion-Ledger.[1]

Russell was rated as a four-star recruit by 247sports.com,[3] Rivals.com,[4] and Scout.com.[5] He chose to attend Mississippi State over offers from Alabama and South Carolina.[1]

College career

True freshman season (2009)

Russell redshirted in 2009. MSU head coach Dan Mullen almost inserted him in the Bulldogs' loss to Houston but decided against it preserving Russell's eligibility.[6]

Redshirt freshman season (2010)

Russell appeared in 9 games in 2010, serving as the primary backup to quarterback Chris Relf. In his debut, he threw for 256 yards and a school record-tying 4 touchdown passes in a 49-7 rout of Memphis.[7] His performance even earned him one vote in ESPN's Heisman Watch list.[8] However, as the backup, he played sporadically over the season, only throwing for over 100 yards one more time, in a 49-16 defeat of Alcorn State.

Sophomore season (2011)

Russell began the 2011 season again serving as Relf's backup and only appeared in two of the Bulldogs' first five games.[9] However, after the Bulldogs went into halftime down 3-0 to UAB, Russell played quarterback in the second half, throwing three touchdown passes and leading the Bulldogs to a 21-3 victory.[10] Russell played the entire game the next week, a 14-12 loss to South Carolina,[11] and split time with Relf over the rest of the season.

Junior season (2012)

Russell won the starting job in 2012 and played the majority of snaps in all 13 games. The season saw the Bulldogs start out 7-0 before limping to an 8-5 finish. Russell threw for a career-high 295 yards in a loss at LSU[12] and again tied the school record with 4 touchdown passes in a 45-14 win over Arkansas.[13] Over the 2012 season, Russell threw for 2,897 yards and 24 touchdowns, both of which are school records.

Senior season (2013)

Russell was named one of the captains for the Bulldogs' 2013 season.[14] He began the season as the starting quarterback, but left the opener against Oklahoma State after a concussion.[15] He was replaced by Dak Prescott and only played sporadically for most of the rest of the season, although he did start late-season games against Alabama[16] and Arkansas[17] after Prescott was sidelined with a shoulder injury. Russell left the Arkansas game after injuring his shoulder and did not appear in any more games during the season.

Statistics

Season GP Comp–Att Pct. Yards TD INT
2010 9 39-67 58.2 635 5 6
2011 9 69-129 53.5 1,034 8 4
2012 13 231-394 58.6 2,897 24 10
2013 7 71-109 65.1 875 5 3
Totals 38 410-699 58.7 5,441 42 23

Professional career

Russell was not drafted in the 2014 NFL draft.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Tyler Russell Bio". HailState.com. Retrieved 2014-08-27.
  2. ↑ "Meridian snaps South Panola streak, claims Miss. 5A title". USAToday.com. 2008-12-08. Retrieved 2014-10-08.
  3. ↑ "Tyler Russell". 247sports.com. Retrieved 2014-10-08.
  4. ↑ "Tyler Russell". Rivals.com. Retrieved 2014-10-08.
  5. ↑ "Tyler Russell". Scout.com. Retrieved 2014-10-08.
  6. ↑ "Mullen: Tyler Russell nearly played last year against Houston". Starkville Daily News Blog. 2010-09-08. Retrieved 2014-10-08.
  7. ↑ "Tyler Russell records 4 TD passes in debut as Mississippi State cruises". ESPN.com. 2010-09-04. Retrieved 2014-10-08.
  8. ↑ "Tyler Russell Makes ESPN Heisman Watch List". ESPN.com. 2010-09-08. Retrieved 2014-10-08.
  9. ↑ "Tyler Russell Bio". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2014-10-08.
  10. ↑ "Backup QB Tyler Russell steps in as Mississippi State routs UAB". ESPN.com. 2011-10-08. Retrieved 2014-10-08.
  11. ↑ "Connor Shaw's late TD pass lifts South Carolina past Mississippi State". ESPN.com. 2011-10-15. Retrieved 2014-10-08.
  12. ↑ "Zach Mettenberger, LSU coast past Mississippi State". ESPN.com. 2012-11-10. Retrieved 2014-10-08.
  13. ↑ "Tyler Russell tosses 4 TDs as Mississippi State pounds Arkansas". ESPN.com. 2012-11-17. Retrieved 2014-10-08.
  14. ↑ Stevens, Matthew (2013-08-27). "MSU selects Russell, Perkins, Gabe Jackson and Autry as co-captains for 2013 season". Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 2014-10-08.
  15. ↑ "J.W. Walsh helps No. 13 Oklahoma State beat Miss. State". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2014-08-27.
  16. ↑ "No. 1 Alabama slogs its way past Mississippi State to reach 10-0". ESPN.com. 2013-11-16. Retrieved 2014-08-27.
  17. ↑ "Mississippi State edges Arkansas 24-17 in overtime". ESPN.com. 2013-11-23. Retrieved 2014-08-27.