Mississippi State Football—The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Week 3

This past weekend was hard to watch. I had to watch it twice to make sure I was seeing everything right. This loss will sting for a while, knowing we needed this game in the win column ahead of Southeastern Conference play. It was also important so that we could be sitting comfortable for a late-December bowl game. But before we start discussing our loss to K-State, I want to discuss our must wins and possible upsets to come later this season.

As we all know, it takes six wins in a 12-game season to make a bowl game, and right now that is good target for this team. To put it plainly, I just don’t see an SEC title game this year—sorry! But I do see two ways this team can win seven games, or even possibly eight or nine games. First we have to beat Kentucky. A loss this weekend makes it almost impossible to win eight games with LSU, Texas A&M, Auburn and Alabama down the road. With a win against Kentucky, State is in good shape for seven wins for sure, but no promises with the likes of Ole miss, Arkansas and Tennessee around the corner.

Regardless of how this weekend goes, I believe the Bulldogs will win the following games moving forward: The Bulldogs will win two games in October, the first Being Tennessee in Knoxville, The second will be in College Station against those Texas A&M Aggies, That’s Right, You Heard Me!!!! In November we pick up victories against those Razorbacks, Abilene Christen and, of course, against those baby Sharks.

For those Ole Miss grads that still ride the short bus, that’s seven wins. But remember, we still can, and should, beat Kentucky for eight. Now for the shocker. I think the Bulldogs will walk into Auburn and upset those Tigers to close out September—Hail Yea!! So Bulldog fans, it’s time to move past this past weekend and support those Dawgs. We have a lot of football left and a nine-win regular season is still possible, but the only way we can get there is to fix our SH#! from this past Saturday. So let’s Talk Hail State Football with the Good the Bad and the Ugly of Week 3.

THE GOOD!

Unfortunately, there is not a lot of information to put in this section this week. but I will try to hit few good points.

First, junior running back Kylin Hill hit the 100-yard mark in rushing for the third week in a row, bringing his season totals to 431 yards, which currently places him third overall in rushing in FBS Division I, so keep those legs moving.

Second, how about our kicker Jace Christmann, who hit a 47-yard field goal with at least five yards of leg left to go. Christmann showed that he has the power and the accuracy to play on Sundays. Good Job!!

Last but no least, the effort of Garrett Shrader at the end of the game when he was trying to get that first down and put it all on the line for our team. I believe his efforts and willingness to go out there and leave everything on the field was a motivator for the rest of this team moving forward. Major Respect Earned!!

The BAD!

The first bad is what appeared to be a defensive game plan. Lets not be shy here, K-State did pretty much what they wanted in the first half of this game. If not for several overthrown passes and three turnovers, this game could have been what many like to call a blowout. I spent several seasons watching Dan “the Man who I can’t stand” Mullen, along with his shoes of the week, allow teams to just do what they wanted in the first half with no adjustments. It seems that this a contagious condition among the MSU staff these days.

Again, I must point out that both our linebackers and secondary tend to get caught watching the eye candy and not following their assignments. These are all coaching points that must be addressed. They should have after Week 1, and let’s not forget all those missed tackles. Those are really bad if you want to win—Just Saying!!!!!

Again, this week we had our starting quarterback go down, which is always bad from my perspective. It’s tough that we don’t really know the status of Stevens heading into our first conference game of the year. If he needs to heal, please let him heal.

Last, I would like to ask, why do we always have to have a head coach that is also the offensive coordinator? I just don’t see how the head coach can manage the team for 60 minutes while trying to figure out what play to call next. Something is going to fail one way of the other. Please let me explain.

A good coach can manage all elements of the team, such as the offense, defense and special teams, as they should. That in itself is tough task, which is why they make the big bucks, right? The offensive coordinator’s job is just as tough, which requires their attention for 60 minutes. So what happens when a person tries to do both? Well, just watch the game and you will see.

The UGLY

This will be very short, or as I like to say, cut and dry. The last 30 seconds of this game were ugly to watch. I believe that part of the film session on this week will become a teaching point for years to come. A teaching point on how not to run the two-minute drill. This situation seemed to be a lack of communication and practical exercise between the quarterback and offensive leadership. This game was a loss that could have been a win if not for a lack of discipline and proper preparation. I fully believe that this game will alter the course of this season. It will right the ship from both a coaching and player standpoint. I look forward to this week’s game against Kentucky, and I would not want to be a Wildcat coming into Davis Wade this Saturday. Hail No!!!

HAIL STATE AND GO DAWGS.