Fresno State notebook: Marteze Waller’s family turns out in force at Ole Miss

Eatonton, Ga., has a population of about 6,500. It seemed like half the town made the 506-mile drive to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Saturday in support of favorite son Marteze Waller.

And most of those folks were related to the Fresno State senior tailback.

The Waller crew stood out among other Bulldogs fans in attendance because they all wore red and white T-shirts with No. 33 on the front and “Waller” on the back.

“People haven’t been this proud of anyone from Eatonton in a long, long time,” said Shawn Mullins, one of Waller’s many uncles on his mother’s side. “The whole town is behind him.”

Waller finished with 91 rushing yards on 28 carries, plus three receptions that included a 7-yard touchdown in the third quarter on a pass from Chason Virgil.

“It means a lot to have that support,” Waller said. “I’m from a small town, so everybody knows everybody. They support me in everything I do.”

Not to be outdone, senior outside linebacker Ejiro Ederaine also had several family members in attendance. They wore personalized T-shirts, too.

Bulldog island – Mississippi’s school colors are red and navy blue. So are Fresno State’s, which made it tough to find Bulldogs fans among the thousands of Rebels revelers pregame in The Grove, Mississippi’s renowned tailgate party.

But not impossible.

There was one island of Fresno State red and blue in the sea of Mississippi red and blue, and it included athletic director Jim Bartko; men’s basketball coach Rodney Terry; Mary Castro, wife of university President Joseph Castro; and a few dozen boosters.

About 350 Bulldogs fans purchased tickets through the university, school officials said. But at least double that number of Fresno State fans were in attendance.

Costly hit – Bulldogs receiver Keyon Williams suffered a possible concussion in the second half following a hit by Rebels defensive back Tee Shepard.

Shepard, a Fresno native who attended Central and Washington high schools, was ejected. The junior also will miss the first half of Mississippi’s next game against Alabama per NCAA rules for targeting.

Williams may be out even longer. The redshirt freshman missed several days of training camp with a concussion, and this could be No. 2 in less than a month.

“I don’t know what (Williams’) status is right now,” coach Tim DeRuyter said.

Fresno State cornerback Charles Washington sat out the second half with a bruised quad.

Donors tour – Bartko took about 30 donors on a tour of Mississippi’s athletics complex Thursday. They saw recent improvements to the stadium, including a new football facility and club area, plus the new basketball arena that is expected to open in 2016.

Not a bad way to get boosters thinking about his proposed improvements to Bulldog Stadium.

“Just giving them a little inside look at what we can do and what’s possible,” Bartko said.

No Tunsil – Laremy Tunsil, the Mississippi tackle rated as a potential top-10 pick in the 2016 NFL draft, did not play against the Bulldogs because of an ongoing NCAA investigation.

Tunsil also sat out Ole Miss’ opener last week.

This story was originally published September 12, 2015 at 12:14 PM with the headline "Fresno State notebook: Marteze Waller’s family turns out in force at Ole Miss."