Mississippi State hails from Starkville, Mississippi. Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary defines “stark” as “having a very plain and often cold or empty appearance … unpleasant and difficult to accept or experience.” Yep, that about sums it up. If you’ve ever been to Starkville, I bet you were just like “heard dat!”
Much like the adjective that is used in their town’s namesake, the Mississippi State football program has been a barren wasteland for the good part of, well, ever. Sure, there were those years when Jackie Sherrill was cheating, and then there’s 1941 where they finished ahead of Alabama in everything and has conceded the championship to the Tide, but in general they’ve ridden about the same ride as Kentucky on a really good year.
Now, this year, it’s a little different. Yeah, quarterback Dak Prescott is good. He has great stats. He’s running the Mississippi State offense they way it should be run. He’s on the Heisman watch list. This ain’t your normal Mississippi State quarterback.
We’ve seen him before. He ran quite a few wide open QB draws right up the middle last season, en route to a last second loss.
This season, he’s picked apart UAB, Southern Miss, South Alabama, LSU, and Texas A&M. Scary, right? Did you see those last two names? LSU. Texas A&M. Mississippi State beat them? Yeah, they did. Watch out.
Hold up. Did you see what Auburn just did LSU’s defense? They scored 34 points in the first half and virtually took a knee the entire 2nd half. They didn’t get a 31 point lead and almost blow it in the end. Mississippi State did. Because they’re Mississippi State.
Oh, but did you see what State did to Texas A&M last week? You mean that team that blew out South Carolina in week 1? The same South Carolina that just lost to Kentucky and struggled with Vandy? Yeah. All those. Mississippi State ran up the score on a team that’s been overhyped due to a game everyone in the world was watching on the 1st night of college football that has since turned out to be nothing. Yippee. Mississippi State for Heisman. President even.
Look, they’re fine. They’re legally doing the best they’ve done since FDR was in office, but we’re 5 games in and they’ve technically beaten 5 teams that have all underachieved or were never meant to achieve anything. Let’s pump the brakes.
Now, the problem is that a few things worked out perfectly that vaulted Mississippi State to #3 in the nation. They now have the most confidence of any team and fanbase in the history of the Magnolia state. Their cowbells will all be amplified and the SEC will do nothing to stop it. It doesn’t matter how good they really are, they think they are the better team.
They are not the better team. They may have the better situation on Saturday, but they are not the better team.
Auburn is as complete as a football team can be right now, while Mississippi State boasts a big tall athletic Quarterback and a strong front seven on defense. Their secondary is really bad. Like last in the SEC giving up passing yards bad. They were outgained by UAB in early in the season (which State fans will try to play off as 2nd string yards), but that says a lot. UAB is still UAB.
When it comes down to it, Mississippi State has no idea what to do as the #3 team in the nation. Auburn has been up here for a while. Auburn has played in a similar situation on the road. It’s not Thursday night, but it’s almost the exact same stadium with the exact same giant-killer atmosphere as Kansas State. They’ve been there. Mississippi State has not.
It doesn’t matter what the hype says, ball don’t lie. And Auburn ball better. This isn’t Gus Malzahn or Nick Marshall or Gabe Wright’s first rodeo. This is another SEC game that Auburn should win. They are prepared for the task at hand and they will overcome early high decibal readings to win somewhat going away.
Auburn 38, Mississippi State 24
7 comments
I agree, we are better. Tomorrow night Nick Marshall for heisman will be the talk. Enjoy this Auburn fans, we have the best program in the world, with the best coach and staff. A staff and coach that very rarely comes around. We will win tomorrow, and I hope Roc Thomas gets the ball, but he won’t. WDE
Why is it that a rival fan’s first comment about Mississippi State is a dig about how shitty Starkville is? Yes, I’ve been there, many times in fact. I like Starkville. I like it for the same reasons that I like Auburn and Clemson. It’s a pretty place (for the most part) with a down home, rual feel. The educational goals are much the same. Granted, they are in Mississippi and Mississippi has been one of the slowest places to develop in the U.S., but most of the Southeastern U.S. has been depleted by old thought plantation society that exploits labor in favor of a few wealthy families. They compete valiantly most years as hopeless underdogs splitting the talent between two small schools. This talent is often poached by Alabama, Auburn and LSU. The single most threatening thing to the “haves” of college football is instant replay. I can think of many, many times in the history of State and Ole Miss when a late pass interference call, a pass ruled out of bounds, or a mysterious holding call swung the game to a favored team. This led to the favored sons reaping the spoils of victory and the little guy being denied program building momentum. Auburn has been on the down side of this trend far too many times against the arrogant bastards to the west so I expect we should have a bit of sympathy for their plight. I hope they win every game this season excepting this one. War Eagle.
Wallace, well said. It’s Sunday morning. We lost… To a very good team in a hostile environment with a rabid fan base, charged up with annoying noise makers and we definitely got the short end of the officiating. We went down 21-0 in the blink of an eye, but we were never out of the game until the very end. We had one tough loss last year and then some things went our way. It turned out ok. Let’s hope for the same this year.
We learned more about last year’s team after the LSU game than at any other point in the season. I’m tickled at what I’m seeing after Saturday. Auburn has great leadership from the coaches and upperclassmen who are refusing to make excuses (although we can all state the reasons, many of which you just listed). They are taking the blame for their mistakes and even for some things that were not their fault. I love this team’s character.
You have to realize when you write CRAP like this BEFORE the game that Karma is a Bitch!
Like Gary Danielson, you have no idea what “karma” means…
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