HOOVER, Ala. — For those who didn’t attend school there, it is a difficult concept to comprehend.
Those who did, or do, attend Mississippi State see this time of the year as being like Cinderella with no midnight.
To them, Starkville is anything but stark.
The cow bell-ringers are faithful to a fault. There is no better animal in the world than a Bulldog (and nothing worse than a Rebel).
Whether it was Darrell Royal in 1954, Jackie Sherrill in 1991, Sylvester Croom in 2004 or any other coach, each football season starts with hope, enthusiasm and the belief a new era is about to begin.
Saying Dan Mullen brought a new energy with him last year in his first season as the head coach of the Bulldogswould be like saying SEC commissioner Mike Slive knows a little about negotiating a television contract.
Mullen, a dynamic personality, flashed onto the national college scene when his sophomore quarterback at Florida, Tim Tebow, won the 2007 Heisman Trophy.
A year later, Mississippi State parted ways with Croom, and Mullen, 37, was hired as the new hope of a being a prince who could dance at the ball in Atlanta.
In the previous quarter ofa century, State had the sum total of eight winning seasons and seven bowl appearances.
Apparently no one is putting much emphasis on 11 of the games in Mullen’s first season. In this season’s media guide, there is exactly one mention of last season.
“He became only the third Mississippi State coach to win his Egg Bowl debut since 1939, joining Allyn McKeen and Jackie Sherrill.”
Oddly, the victory over Ole Miss was the only SEC victory the Bulldogs managed at home. The other two victories were at Vanderbilt and Kentucky, leaving them with a 2-5 record at home and 3-2 on the road.
That doesn’t mean Mississippi State needs more road games and fewer at home; in fact, look for that to change in the future, and that means the Arkansas Razorbacks needto be aware on Nov. 20 when they travel to Starkville.
That’s the one road game that looms as a trap game. No way the Hogs would take games at Georgia, Auburn or South Carolina lightly, but the Bulldogs are the team that could be overlooked with LSU looming.
Plus, Mullen is obviously focusing on the future, and he wants the Bulldogs nation to do the same. It is a good philosophy at a school where his 5-7 record last season was the second best since 2000.
It took Mullen less than a minute Wednesday to bring up the Egg Bowl victory, but he referenced it as a sign that better days are coming.
“Finishing the season with a win, our guys came back in January for off-season conditioning with a hunger,” he said at SEC media days.
Now, understand that he didn’t say Ole Miss. On his second reference to that school it was, “the school up north,” like they are Yankees instead of Rebels.
His third reference to the season-ending victory, 41-27, was, “that win left our guys believing they can beat anyone.”
And Mullen didn’t have to look far to see one guy who has grown from last season, himself.
“I know a lot more of what to expect from me. Until you are in that role, that job, you can’t prepare for it.” One example of the enthusiasm was evidenced by the fact he was accompanied Wednesday not only by three players, but two media relations guys and Scott Stricklin, the director of athletics. Larry Templeton, the former ADand now a SEC consultant, was also in attendance.
Administrators are not immune to the atmosphere that the fans create, and neither is Mullen.
“Our fans are buying into what we are doing,” he said. “We are close to beating our season-ticket sales record of a year ago when we shattered the old record. We hope the demand continues until we have to expand our stadium.”
Mississippi State fans don’t care if anyone gets it, as long as their coach does. They won the Egg Bowl, and right now they are Cinderella with no midnight in sight.
Sports, Pages 19 on 07/22/2010