2014 MSU football review: When you knew it was a special season

Was there a specific moment where you thought "this season is going to be different?"

Is it weird to say the Kentucky game? In a weird way I felt more confident about the A&M and Auburn games because I had a feeling the team knew just how important those games would be for the season and knew how good those teams were.... but Kentucky? Who could get a team pumped for the Wildcats? I am always more weary of the games we should win rather than those games that we aren't supposed to win. While the game was not perfect, we managed to win a game that meant a lot more to Kentucky than it did to Mississippi State. I was proud to see State not play down to the competition and come away with the win to move to 7-0 and it made me believe we had something special on hand. - Follow @moaleck

The moment I had a feeling this season would be different was in the 3rd quarter of the LSU game. We had a 17-3 lead at halftime and LSU takes a fumble back for a touchdown to start the 2nd half. Every State fan at that moment thought oh boy here we go. Instead of folding like State teams of the past, they responded with a 56 yard td run by Dak and a 74 yard td pass to Jameon a few minutes later. That's when this season really started to feel special to me. - Follow @Coka_Cola26

I think it was the A&M game for me. I'm used to MSU falling on its face whenever there is a bunch of hype, so I kind of expected it to happen again that day. But MSU came out throttling A&M and never really let up. Obviously, that win doesn't look as good after what the Aggies did the season, but that game was a pretty good indicator that this team would be different. - Follow @JamesCarskadon

The first fifty-five minutes of the LSU game, followed by its last two seconds. That was my moment. Up until my existential crisis in those last few minutes, that was probably the most satisfying football game I had ever watched and something that showed me that this State team was a different animal than others of my lifetime. - Follow @PredictionPain2

Dak's touchdown run against LSU told me that this season would be different. Things were going well in the LSU game, and I was too nervous to really start cheering or acting wild. We had all seen this script play out so many times, and when the Tigers picked up the defensive touchdown, most of the Mississippi State fan base felt that uncomfortable knot in the pits of their stomachs. However, Prescott's response untied the knot, and anyone watching realized that response was so out of the norm for most Mississippi State football teams that this season could be different.

I think there were many moments after the LSU game that confirmed those thoughts. Mississippi State jumped out to amazing starts against Texas A&M and Auburn in games where the situation may have been too big for them. The Bulldogs, ranked No. 1 for the first time, withstood the game challenge from Kentucky. This team was much, much different than just about any MSU football team in the past. Probably the only team with the same time of mentality was the 1999 team. - Follow @justinrsutton

Dak's TD run against LSU with the stiff arm. It was such a big time play in a big time game. Only great teams and players make plays like that, and that's why I knew this season would be different from that moment on. - Follow @Charlie_Burris

For me, I think the moment was the LSU game. We had play 3 "pre-season" games and looked good, but there were certainly some questions. As a State fan, I believed we had the talent to compete, but I've also watched LSU destroy some of our most talented teams. Add in the Death Valley at night factor, and you had to think LSU was going to be a real challenge just to stay close. Instead, we went in there and totally dominated the game from start to finish. The outcome was never in doubt and it wasn't as close as the final score. And to add a little more context, LSU hadn't lost to a non-#1 team in Death Valley at night in something like 5 years. That was when I believed this season could really be something special. - Follow @MSUDawgBurke

The correct answer here is when MSU followed an LSU fumble return for a TD to start the second half with a 56-yard TD run by Dak Prescott to answer and go back up by two touchdowns.  Normally in that circumstance, State folds, however Dak and this year's team only got stronger, responding better to that adversity than I've ever seen an MSU team do.

However.... That wasn't enough to shake the doubt from my MSU brain which was clinging to uncertainty like a scared child to his mom's leg on the first day of school.  I went into the A&M game still worried that LSU was a fluke, and this season wasn't the special year I was hoping for.  I remember going into the gates, and how confident my friend was that we would win.  It wasn't until three touchdowns in and the route being fully on that I realized he was right, and that this was going to be a special year: something different from all the 8-4's I'd seen in years previous. - Follow @cristilmethod