MIAMI — The Capital One Orange Bowl officially welcomed Mississippi State football to Miami just shy of 3 p.m. ET Friday as the Bulldogs touched down after a two-hour charter flight from Golden Triangle Regional Airport to Miami International.

Once on the ground, the team, coaches, staff and official party were warmly greeted by dozens of Capital One Orange Bowl Committee members, who lined the tarmac and passed out oranges. It was a welcome sight for the Bulldogs, whose flight was delayed close to two hours due to air traffic delays in Miami.

“We’re doing fantastic and couldn’t be better being here right now in Miami,” said MSU head coach Dan Mullen. “We’re from Mississippi. Our guys are going to be feeling great about the temperature. They’re very thankful. It feels more normal for them than being out in the cold weather.”

The team immediately reported for a weight workout and practice at Barry University. It was the first practice for MSU since breaking for the Christmas holiday on Saturday, Dec. 20. Friday’s practice was treated like a normal ‘Monday’ workout. MSU spent last week game-planning for Georgia Tech and will use this week to polish up that plan.

“Obviously they’re going to be a great challenge,” said Mullen. “They run a very unique style on offense, they have a very underrated defense and they didn’t become one of the top teams in the country by not being great in every phase of the game.”

No. 7 Mississippi State seeks its first-ever win over No. 10 Georgia Tech on Dec. 31 at 8 p.m. ET live on ESPN. The matchup features two of the nation’s most dynamic quarterbacks in MSU’s Dak Prescott and Tech’s Justin Thomas. Both are on the cusp of 1,000 rushing yards for the season. Thomas is 35 yards away from the mark, while Prescott needs 41 net yards to become just the second 3,000-yard passer and 1,000-yard rusher in the Southeastern Conference in the last 10 years.

“We came here on a mission,” said MSU All-America linebacker Benardrick McKinney. “We’re going to do our jobs to win the game and focus on the game. When it is time to have fun, we’ll have fun and when it is time to lock in, we’ll lock in.”

The Bulldogs are headquartered in Miami at the luxurious Trump National Doral Resort, home of the PGA Tour’s Cadillac World Golf Championships. They will practice again mid-day Saturday before being treated to an Orange Bowl welcome dinner at Fogo de Chao. Players will also get to take in the sights of Miami during the first couple of days.

“The task at hand is to get 11 wins and go out with a win in Miami, but at the same time it is my last bowl game and we want to have a little fun while we’re down here,” said offensive lineman Ben Beckwith. “You always have the game in the back of your mind with everything you do and every time you do something you think about beating Georgia Tech, but we’ll have fun with it.”

by Ms. State Media Relations