Ghoulish Mississippi State Bulldog Athletic History

Some might think that Mississippi State has long been in the Halloween spirit. The Bulldogs have suffered some downright frightening and horrible moments that could send shivers down the spine of any sports fan.  In no particular order, here are some of the most ghoulish moments in MIssissippi State sports history.

When Mississippi State and Auburn met up in 2008, no one knew the carnage about to be inflicted on their lives.  While most fans like offense, most also enjoy a good defensive matchup, but this 3-2 affair had nothing good about it.  Full of missed field goals and other botched plays, this game became three hours of life that no one could get back.  There may have been nothing more scary than Mississippi State going 0-17 on third and fourth down.

When looking back, is there a single game that better defines the Croom Era?  The Bulldogs held an opponent to three points.  That opponent gave the Bulldogs two when Auburn was called for holding in the end zone, and yet, Mississippi State still could not get enough points to win.

If this was a Halloween movie, it would have been Saw IV.  Mississippi State and Auburn have had great matchups, much like the early Saw movies, but no one deserved to have to watch this one.

Not everything has to be a loss to make it ghoulish.  There are occasions where the ending is just so shocking that the game hurts on another level.  Enter the 2011 super regional against Florida.  Mississippi State came into the series without much belief from those in the know.  After suffering an 11-1 loss to open the super regional, it seemed like a matter of time before the Bulldogs would be dispatched.  However, Mississippi State rallied to take game two by the score of 4-3, and they looked well on their way to winning game three before Florida came back to win.

All in all, that was a Sixth Sense moment for Mississippi State.  Everyone really believed their hopes for a trip to Omaha were alive, just like Bruce Willis thought he was alive.  Then in an abrupt fashion, they discovered they never really were.

There have been occasions where the Bulldogs have not even been the team in action that have been horrific.  Such as the infamous Hawaiian Punch when Utah and Hawaii battled on the court while the Bulldogs battled in the stands.  This moment was just one of the ways Renardo Sidney worked to cripple Bulldog basketball and wipe out Rick Stansbury's career at in Starkville.

Sidney is a lot like the evil truck driver in Joy Ride.  He just waited and waited and found different ways to hurt MSU.  Punching Elgin Bailey was a bit like when the driver cuts the guy's fingers off to give the girlfriend and then cauterizes the wound with a cigarette lighter--just plain brutal.  As we all know, Sidney and the Bulldogs eventually rolled snake eyes.

In 1998, Mississippi State went to the SEC Championship. In 1999, the Bulldogs had an exciting year of comebacks.  In 2000, the Bulldogs had a huge win over Florida and an exciting win in the Independence Bowl.  The team seemed to be in a great place, just like the family in Amityville Horror something bad was about to happen.

That something bad was the 2001 season, especially the Troy game, that game is like when Ronald DeFeo, Jr. wipes out his family.  It was gruesome to watch, and it was brutal.  Jackie Sherrill later paid for his crimes by being let go and Sylvester Croom moved in.  The Bulldogs are so haunted from a few bad seasons that they cannot get their lives going, and Croom has to move out.  The other connection-rumors that their is an Indian burial ground under the house.

While these are just a few of the scariest moments, there are many, many others.  Leave some of yours in the comments section below.