Mississippi State Football: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Week 2

Mississippi State played a much better ball game this past Saturday against those Golden Eagles of Southern Mississippi, as the Bulldogs walked away with a 38-15 win, which marks their second win of the season. Even though both wins have come against teams that aren’t part of the Power 5 conferences, it’s obvious that the Bulldog offense has potential to be very good with a balanced attack. The defense has also shown moments of excitement for the fans, but there is still work to be done in order to be competitive in the Southeastern Conference. This is what we will discuss in more detail below in this week’s edition of the GBU.

But first, let’s talk about this week’s opponent Kansas State. The Wildcats have come out of the gates pretty strong this season, putting up 49 points in the season opener against Nicholls and 52 points last week against Bowling Green. Another interesting statistic is that the Wildcats use nine different running backs. They have rushed for more than 300 yards in both games this season, with James Gilbert leading the team with over 100 rushing yards in both games this season. This team loves to pound the rock and control the line of scrimmage.

It’s safe to say that the Bulldogs run defense will be put to the test this Saturday at Davis Wade Stadium. I expect Kansas State to run the ball 50 to 60 times against a defense that is still trying to find their rhythm in 2019. With that being said, Let’s talk Hail State football, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly from the Southern Miss game this past weekend.

Hit me with THE GOOD!

Just in case you didn’t know, we have a very good backup quarterback in Garret Shrader. Also, if you are asking yourself how I, along with every other Mississippi State football fan knows this information, it’s probably because you don’t know this and you meant to look up Baby Shark Week.

Now back to the good. Shrader showed why he was ranked among the best dual-threat quarterbacks in the country from the 2019 class. He has great ability to throw and run the ball. To simplify, he threw like Tommy Stevens, but ran like Nick Fitzgerald. Yep, the future is bright with this guy is playing quarterback for Mississippi State, However, I really do hope that he has another year to develop and grow before he becomes our full-time starting quarterback.

Shrader’s performance against Southern Mississippi was phenominal, nut what wa smore impressive was that Stevens was putting good numbers on during the first half. Stevens started the game in perfect fashion going 9-of-9 for 105 yards and two passing touchdowns. Stevens needed only two more completions to tie Dak Prescott’s completion record of throwing 11 straight completions to start a game in 2014. I believe he could have at least tied the record if he had not left with a shoulder injury. It makes you want to pull some pin feathers!!!!!!

The BAD!

Losing Stevens just before halftime this past Saturday was a really bad situation to say the least. As most fans already know, it is unclear whether Stevens will return this weekend because we still don’t know the extent of his injuries. I know I speak for all Bulldog fans when I wish for a speedy return and a quick recovery for number seven. AMEN.

Another Bad in Week 2 was seeing Kylin Hill go down with a minor injury. I know he was back at it after the half, but this was the second week in a row that we have seen Hill getting assistance as he leaves the field. Hey, I want to win them all, but we have a long, hard SEC slate ahead of us. We need Hill as healthy as possible, so could we please spread the ball around a little more during these non-conference games? We have other running backs ya know!

The UGLY!

Well Mississippi State fans, it’s official. After the shenanigans I witnessed on the defensive side of the ball this past weekend against those Golden Buzzards, I am declaring DEFCON 3 on our defense. I still saw an abundance of poor tackling, with linebackers out of position, and our defensive line getting pushed around by a smaller and weaker offensive lineman from Southern Miss. There is no doubt that this week’s matchup with a run-heavy Kansas State team will answer some questions on our season will go in the SEC West. I truly hope coach Shoop is playing a little possum with these defense schemes, but it sure doesn’t seem that way.

Lastly, I would like to know why there is not at least one night game over this three-game stretch. This is just wrong and it kills the home-field advantage because nobody wants to sit in a concrete stadium when it is 100 degrees outside in the middle of the day. It is flat out Bull@#$!

HAIL STATE AND GO DAWGS.