The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Week Four, (Kentucky)

Let’s Talk Hail State

Well State fans, week four has come and gone and as it passed it took every ounce of momentum the Bulldogs had with it. Yep, Saturday’s road trip to Lexington, Kentucky didn’t quite turn out the way we wanted it to, but here we are sitting with a record of 3-1 on the season and, worst of all, 0-1 in the SEC. This weekend we face off against the University of Florida and, you guessed it, our favorite Adidas shoe model Dan Mullen. A loss here would be a true kick in the Jimmy and would most certainly send our season down a path we don’t want to go. So before we start with all the hypotheticals about next Saturday, LETS TALK HAIL STATE; the GOOD the BAD and the UGLY (Kentucky).

The Good

Due to the lack of focus, physicality, and intestinal fortitude in and around the Gridiron last Saturday night, this section of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly for week four will not be available. Please check back next week to see if upper management can correct these issues that have temporarily affected this football team so that this section will be filled with positive content next week after the Florida game. Thank you for your patience!

How about the Bad

I will not be able to go straight to the point or identify a single issue that disrupted Mississippi State’s campaign against Kentucky that lead to the first loss of the season. I also will not be able to put a finger on a specific issue or good reason the Bulldogs played the way they did in Lexington.

The reason for this is because there is no single issue that caused what I will say was the worst four quarters of football I have seen from the Bulldogs this season. It was a catastrophic series of undisciplined acts that disrupted all three phases of the game from start to finish.

The key to victory in the SEC is being able to control the line of scrimmage. The Bulldogs have the size and strength on both lines to do just that. Unfortunately, they could not control the line of scrimmage against the Wildcats. I am not sure if they were looking past Kentucky to Florida or just weren’t motivated. Either way Kentucky controlled the line from both sides of the ball.

Saturday the Bulldogs were weak in the trenches, which disabled our run game while enabling Kentucky’s rushing attack to surge against our defense. This was the biggest surprise of the night. How did Kentucky out play State in the trenches??????

Our linebackers did not provide much help at the second level either. Their offensive line opened up some pretty big running lanes with little to no contact for several yards. I would also like ask why did our defensive backs give a ten yard cushion all night, as this was an aspect that assisted Kentucky’s running attack. Speaking of running the Ball!

Mississippi State is a run first offense, but when there is no push on the line there is no run game. In addition, Kentucky was pressing the run by stacking the box. So I understand why we passed as much as we did, we had very few options. Think about this, in the past three years, outside of Alabama in 2016, when has a team been able to contain Fitzgerald? It is very hard, but Kentucky did it. No we don’t have the greatest passing game but the wet weather and cooler temperatures just made it worse.

We are now three days away from the most important game of the season, and I hope Coach Moorhead and his staff get everything straight. As far as I’m concerned every game from here to the end of the season is a championship game and must be treated as such by the Bulldogs.

The Ugly

The ugly part of this game was the penalties. By the end of the night the Bulldogs were called for 16 penalties, which set us back 139 yards. To put that in perspective, Mississippi State only gained 211 yard all night, period. That was very ugly to say the least.

Did I mention the officials and their ability to forgo any type of review EVER? I mean damn! How many times can you call pass interference and have it overturned, or call incomplete pass and again overturned. Not one time during the game was there a single review, but on at least four occasions a penalty or call on the field was reversed, Terrible!!!!!! During the third quarter, Cam Dantzler got called for pass interference and was actually being mugged. The question is did he get his wallet back after the game? Because I saw the Kentucky receiver take it, watch the replay.

In closing, I want all the Bulldog fans out there to remember that last year we lost two games back to back. No need to tell the whole story or the scores because it just doesn’t matter at this point. What does matter is that we were one win away from a New Year 6 bowl in later November. I truly believe that this team can win out in the SEC West, if they come together and pull the heads out of the fourth point of contact (military phrase). Remember, every game from here on is a championship game, bottom line. Just Saying!

HAIL STATE!!!