Was the Mississippi State/Texas A&M snowball battle in Shreveport’s Independence Bowl a doozy or what?

Luckily, the Bulldogs had enough to edge the similarly resourceful Aggies in the Sunday night overtime feature that was one of the best postseason games ever. The 43-41 State victory was a tale of excitement spun by two focused teams.

And pardon me if my bias shows, but that was for sure Natchez High’s Marco Minor who intercepted an Aggie pass where it hurt Texas A&M the most – in the pit of Aggie territory – and set the wheels of victory in motion for coach Jackie Sherrill’s hustling Bulldogs.

Academically ineligible All-American cornerback Fred Smoot’s absence had some State followers wringing their hands because of his pure ability at that important slot. But not to fear, Minor’s here!

I couldn’t believe the way the game went – both ballclubs came to play, snow and all, and never let up, Bulldog quarterback Wayne Madkin perhaps least of all. Wayne not only played a jam-up game all the way, but his clutch work overshadowed even A&M’s bullish runner Ja’Mar Toombs’ night’s work, plus that of his own MSU brother-in-arms Dontae Walker.

Walker saw Toombs score three touchdowns, but he didn’t just sit there and do nothing in return: Dontae scored three times himself and averaged almost nine yards per carry on 16 totes. Toombs gained 193 yards, but carried 35 times. Great line play in the snow was a game feature, as you know if you watched it.

Going back to USM’s last-second 28-21 triumph over TCU, Mississippi teams wound up the bowl season 2-1, with Ole Miss a 49-38 loser to West Virginia in the Music City Bowl. Despite young freshman Eli Manning’s heroics, I might add.

I might also add that the youngest son-of-Archie performed great under the gun against the winning West Virginia Mountaineers, who noticeably did not substitute to help the future Ole Miss varsity quarterback.

No, Eli fired three touchdown passes in the fourth quarter of 23, 18 and 16 yards, the final one after a nice fake on fourth down. So Ole Miss has its quarterback for 2001. And, I understand, a pretty good supporting cast.

The LSU Tigers didn’t monkey around once they found the handle against favored Georgia Tech in the Peach Bowl, did they? Josh Booty, however, couldn’t quarterback LSU into much of a position by halftime, trailing Tech 14-3.

But Rohan Davey moved right in, threw three Tiger touchdown passes and generally rallied the Tigers, as you know. And LSU defenders got down to brass tacks as well, &uot;no-hitting&uot; Tech in the final two quarters.

&uot;All we have to do is relax, calm down and play our game,&uot; Davey told his teammates to start second half play. They took him at his word. Davey’s contribution was a 17-for-25 passing effort for 174 yards, and his reward was victory and selection as the game’s offensive MVP.

The Saints have meantime marched to NFL prominence unheard of before in New Orleans. To the joy of their many Miss-Lou fans, they notched a first in Saints franchise history by sacking St. Louis 31-28 in a wildcard game last Saturday.

Vowing not to rest on their laurels, though, they know the dangerous Minnesota Vikings – who will be lurking behind their own fans Saturday and coveting a divisional playoff victory as well – won’t give easy.

Sic ’em Saturday, Saints!

Glenvall Estes is a longtime sports columnist for The Natchez Democrat.