Here’s The Deal

[messageboardsuperhero]

I was as pissed as anyone Saturday afternoon. And it’s still highly frustrating thinking about how inconsistent we are going to be. But people who act like us struggling against G5 teams every once in a while is something new need a reality check.

Mullen did a great job and we would be lucky to get those results from Leach. We look back on the Mullen tenure with rose colored glasses, but don’t forget we routinely couldn’t put away G5 teams. Let’s not forget that he was know for having a games just like that damn near every season.

2010- Year 2, one of his best teams ever here and we beat a 4-8 UAB team by 5. We finished 15th in the country but had to come from behind in the fourth quarter to win this one.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/boxscores/2010-10-23-mississippi-state.html

2011- Year 3, we are a top 25 team at the time, and La Tech took us to OT.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/boxscores/2011-09-24-mississippi-state.html

2012- Year 4, we beat a 5-7 Troy team by 6. I remember Bumphis having to bail us out late in this game and Troy almost coming back to win.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/boxscores/2012-09-15-troy.html

2013- Year 5, we squeak out a 1 point win against Bowling Green. This was a rough one.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/boxscores/2013-10-12-mississippi-state.html

2014/2015- Arguably Mullen’s two best teams did a good job of not having close calls against G5 teams. Although we didn’t really put away UAB in 14 and USM in 15 until late.

2016- This had a few tough ones. Everyone remembers South Alabama, but what about Samford, UMass, and Miami (OH)? Not only did we lose to a G5 team, but we had close calls against two more and an FCS team. That’s four ****** performances in one season against lower level teams in year 8 of Mullen.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/mississippi-state/2016-schedule.html

2017- Another of Mullen’s best teams, and this one struggled big time to put away a 4-8 UMass team. Deddrick Thomas bailed us out late with a punt return TD.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/boxscores/2017-11-04-mississippi-state.html


All this to say- it’s okay to be frustrated, but context helps. Even our best teams with our best coach ever had performances like that.

 

[wsjmsu75]

Just what we needed- somebody to tell us how ****** we were even when we were good. Now I can sleep better.

But seriously. You do have to factor in that those kind of games happen sometimes because it is just hard for the more talented team to get that fired up to play them. And it's not just us. Witness, #2 OU 40, Tulane 35.

 

[messageboardsuperhero]

Just what we needed- somebody to tell us how ****** we were even when we were good. Now I can sleep better.

Not at all saying we were ******. Just pointing out to the crowd that worships Mullen and detests Leach- we routinely had bad showings against inferior teams then too. Every P5 team that doesn’t recruit at an elite level will struggle every once in a while against inferior competition.

Leach lost to two FCS teams in season openers in 2015-2016. He finished those seasons going 9-4 and 8-5. Hopefully we get the same results here without the embarrassing losses. Time will tell.

 

[wsjmsu75]

Not at all saying we were ******. Just pointing out to the crowd that worships Mullen and detests Leach- we routinely had bad showings against inferior teams then too. Every P5 team that doesn’t recruit at an elite level will struggle every once in a while against inferior competition.

Leach lost to two FCS teams in season openers in 2015-2016. He finished those seasons going 9-4 and 8-5. Hopefully we get the same results here without the embarrassing losses. Time will tell.

Oh I know, and I agree. I was just kind of making a funny. That's why I said, "But seriously". And too, as far as point margins in games like this, when it's all said and done at the end of the season, it means less than squat. It's just all about the W's and the L's.

 

[TaleofTwoDogs]

I really don't care what we did last year, ten years, fifty years ago. We all understand that teams can struggle against underdog opponents but the concern today and now is this year's team. Criticism both positive and negative is the heartbeat of a sports message board especially SPS.

 

[Jeffreauxdawg]

..Criticism both positive and negative is the heartbeat of a sports message board especially SPS.

That and requests for pictures of a poster's wife/girlfriend/mistress.

 

[eckie1]

That 2013 Bowling Green game....

2013- Year 5, we squeak out a 1 point win against Bowling Green. This was a rough one.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/boxscores/2013-10-12-mississippi-state.html

Only State football game I’ve EVER fallen asleep during (at least when I wasn’t 4 and didn’t give a damn about football). Not even during the Croom error did I pull that off. I woke up around midnight and checked the final... Suffice it to say, I’d had enough of Mullen’s offseason antics.

There was a game that season that was one single mile from my house, and I backed up my claims of “I wouldn’t cross the street to watch these m17ers play.” Of course, I did attend the Liberty Bowl that year for Dak’s coming out party and I certainly didn’t regret that!

 

[messageboardsuperhero]

I really don't care what we did last year, ten years, fifty years ago. We all understand that teams can struggle against underdog opponents but the concern today and now is this year's team. Criticism both positive and negative is the heartbeat of a sports message board especially SPS.

That’s fine. Then we can talk about how immature/inconsistent this team appears to be.

I just roll my eyes a little at the revisionist history of the Mullen tenure. People act like he could do no wrong and never let less talented teams hang with us, when in reality, he was criticized all the time for having a game almost exactly like Saturday’s every season. You can’t hold last Saturday up as proof that Leach will never win as much as Mullen.

 

[BlueRidgeMtns]

Even the best teams are going to have struggles against lesser competition once in a while. The key thing is finding a way to grind out a win and move on to the next one.

Unless we're in the playoff hunt, all that matters is the W/L columns.

 

[the dog is on the loose]

It’s not so much that we struggled against La Tech in as much as how unprepared as we looked for our first game.

 

[TrapGame.sixpack]

It’s not so much that we struggled against La Tech in as much as how unprepared as we looked for our first game.

That's b/c the coaches had no clue what 19 portal transfers would do to a team. That was not last years La Tech team. They brought in 19 mercs w/ D1 playing experience. Huge shot in the arm. No one expected that.

 

[GloryDawg]

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