HOOVER, Ala. - Dan Mullen’s move to swing instate momentum to Mississippi State had a nice run for a few years.
The Bulldogs put forth a advertising assault on instate rival Ole Miss with decent results. Mississippi State’s campaign included billboards which read “Welcome to our State,” in 2011and an array of road signs in early 2012, including one briefly in Oxford, Miss., home town of Ole Miss, which read “Play With the Best,” with Mississippi State players hoisting the Egg Bowl Trophy.
The Bulldogs won three Egg Bowl games in a row against Ole Miss, scored some recruiting victories, and notched a 52-14 plastering of Michigan in Gator Bowl after the 2010 season, all pointing toward Mississippi State wrangling the upper hand away from the Rebels.
Bulldogs At a Glance
LAST SEASON 8-5, 4-4 (fourth in SEC West)
COACH Dan Mullen (29-22 in fifth year at Mississippi State and overall)
RETURNING STARTERS Offense 6, defense 6
KEY PLAYERS DE Denico Autry, OG Gabe Jackson, LB Bernardrick McKinney, RB LaDarius Perkins, QB Tyler Russell
SEC TITLE SCENARIO Mississippi State hasn’t won more than four SEC games since 1999, so contention in the SEC West looks like a long shot. However, veteran skill players, plus a stable defense led by veteran linebackers, give the Bulldogs hope. If they maintain their sterling turnover margin and play better in big games, the Bulldogs can be heard from in 2013.
Sustaining their in-state sway has proven difficult with Ole Miss’ hiring of Hugh Freeze, who guided the Rebels to a 7-6 record, thumped the Bulldogs 41-24 in Oxford last November and then delivered a consensus top 10 recruiting class.
“I think it’s certainly sparking the rivalry even more,” Mullen said last week at SEC media days.
“When I got hired, the other school in our state, they’d gone to the Cotton Bowl, won the Cotton Bowl. We came up from a team that wasn’t doing very well and won a couple in a row. Now we’ve been going to the New Year’s Day bowl games the last couple of years.
“They come up, are starting to create some stir. … It will make Thanksgiving night this fall a pretty important day throughout the whole state.”
The Bulldogs, who played the Rebels on Thanksgiving night, finished ahead of Ole Miss by a game in both overall record and in the SEC West last year, but the one-game improvement to 8-5 didn’t sit well with the program.
“Going 8-5, going to a bowl game isn’t good enough anymore,” senior quarterback Tyler Russell said. “A few years ago, you win five games and that was a pretty good year.Now we’ve changed everything, we continually get better.”
Mississippi State seized on its momentum under Mullen by beginning an expansion of Davis-Wade Stadium estimated at $75 million last year. The project, which will enclose and expand north end zone seating and renovate the west side concourse, will bring capacity to 61,337. The project is targeted to be completed for the 2014 opener against Southern Miss.
The Bulldogs will have to reverse historical trends to make noise in the SEC this season.
Mississippi State has just three finishes in the upper half of the SEC West, which has produced four consecutive BCS champions, since winning the division title in 1998, compared to eight last place showings in the division.
The Bulldogs were projected to finish sixth in the West by voters at media days.
“The hunger is still there,” linebacker Bernardrick McKinney said. “We’re just going to come back stronger. This season is going to be better than last year.”
The nucleus of a solid team returns for Mullen, led by the quarterback Russell, tailback LaDarius Perkins and an intact linebacker corps, though the Bulldogs have no returning starters at receiver and only one in the secondary.
Mississippi State, which ranked fifth nationally with a plus-1.23 turnover margin in 2012, won its first seven games before dropping four of its last five.
“We kind of fell off towards the end,” said Russell, who ranked sixth in the SEC in total offense per game (222.5 yards per game) last season. “Partly, I put it all on my shoulders. I feel like if I would’ve played the last two games like I’m capable of playing, we would’ve won those last two games.
Perkins, who rushed for 1,024 yards and ranked seventh in the SEC at 85.3 yards per game, helps give the Bulldogs a credible ground game behind returning offensive line starters Dillon Day at center, guard Gabe Jackson and tackles Blaine Causell and Charles Siddoway. However, it is the veteran Russell, who will enjoy more authority at the line of scrimmage this season, who will largely have the fate of Mullen’s offense in his hands.
“He’s pretty much given me the keys to the car and said ‘Drive it,’ ” Russell said. “I walk to the line with two or three plays and if I don’t like them, I can change it. The trust he has in me is very big, and I’m blessed to have him as a head coach.”
Mississippi State tweaked its offense some in the spring, asking Russell to take more snaps under center, which he did virtually none of in highschool.
“It gets you out of your comfort zone at times,” Mullen said. “But you know what, I think it’s really important not just for this season … but also for his long-term future, if he’s going to have a career in football after this year.”
Defensively, Geoff Collins takes over full responsibility as coordinator after teaming in that role with Chris Wilson the last two seasons. Returning linebackers McKinney, Deonte Skinner and Matt Wells should provide a boost for a unit that ranked eighth in the SEC and 52nd nationally in total defense.
Mullen (29-22 in four seasons) became the first Bulldogs coach to record a winning record after two seasons (12-8) since Darrell Royal left in 1955. But sustaining his success in the SEC West will be a daunting challenge.
Sports, Pages 13 on 07/23/2013