Miss St. walk-on receives scholarship

It started simple enough: Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen invited down linebacker DeAndre Ward to receive his award. He was being rewarded with training camp walk-on MVP honors. Mullen then handed Ward the reward and instructed him to read the note out loud.

But when Ward opened the piece of paper Mullen gave him, it had a different message -- "You are now on Scholarship." The message also read across the projector screen behind Ward and his Mississippi State teammates rose and cheered for Ward. 

Ward is expected to have an increased role with the Bulldogs this season, only appearing in two games the past season -- against Alabama and Rice in the Liberty Bowl. Mississippi State opens its season against Southern Miss at home on Aug. 30.