The Mississippi State Bulldogs will try to get their season back on track against the No. 13 Vanderbilt Commodores,Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field.
The Commodores, who haven’t had a winning season since 1982, are a surprising 5-0 (3-0 SEC), with narrow wins over South Carolina, Ole Miss and Auburn.
“They’re a very good team,” junior running back Anthony Dixon said. “They’ve played some other SEC teams and beaten them. Getting wins in the SEC ain’t easy, so they’ve got to be a good team. They’ve got that undefeated mentality right now, so you’ve got to match that undefeated team mentality. We’ve got to act like we’re undefeated going into this game so we can match their intensity.”
Vanderbilt’s season so far has drawn comparison to Mississippi State’s season last year. The Commodores are last in the SEC in total offense and 10th in total defense. They have gotten to this point by winning all of their close games, forcing 15 turnovers while only giving up six (the best turnover ratio in the bowl subdivision), and scoring when they have to.
“[Vanderbilt is] exactly like we were last year. They are very opportunistic and make things happen when they need to make things happen. A lot of it comes from confidence, because when things start happening well for you your confidence increases,” head coach Sylvester Croom said.
Vanderbilt head coach Bobby Johnson also credits confidence as the key factor in the Commodores’ success.
“Hopefully we can continue to play confidently, and I think that’s one of the things we’re doing best right now,” Johnson said.
The Vanderbilt offense is normally led by senior quarterback Chris Nickson, who reinjured his shoulder against Auburn last week. His status for this week is still uncertain. Nickson has completed 33 of 60 passes this season for 296 yards and three touchdowns. He has also rushed for 310 yards and five touchdowns.
If Nickson is unable to play, junior Mackenzi Adams will start. So far, he has completed 16 of 28 passes for 184 yards and two touchdowns. He rallied the Commodores to their come-from-behind victory last week over Auburn when Nickson went down.
The Bulldog defense will have to contain junior running back Jared Hawkins, who is currently ninth in the SEC with 322 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
Vanderbilt’s leading receiver is senior Sean Walker. He has caught five passes this season for 171 yards (21st in the SEC) and one touchdown.
The Bulldogs will have to watch out for Vanderbilt’s defense, which leads the FBS in interceptions, with 1 so far this season.
Senior safety Reshard Langford, junior cornerback Myron Lewis, and junior cornerback DJ Moore, a 2007 Second Team All-SEC selection, have two interceptions apiece this season.
Junior safety Ryan Hamilton was the hero of the Commodores’ game against Ole Miss, catching three interceptions, running one back for a touchdown, recovering a fumble and making a goal line tackle on fourth down.
A win for the Commodores would bring them to 6-0, and make them bowl-eligible for the first time in 26 years. They have finished with five wins in two of the last three seasons. Johnson doesn’t see that his players are solely focused on that, however.
“We want to go to a bowl, just like everyone else does, but we don’t point to six wins. We try to point to each week’s game, and this is our sixth game, that’s what we’re more concerned about,” Johnson said. “Our players are smart. They know the situation, but I don’t think they’re obsessed with trying to get to six wins. I think they’re trying to get better.”
The Bulldogs (1-4, 0-2 SEC) are still struggling to find a rhythm this season. Croom sees a lack of discipline as a major factor in the team’s lack of success so far.
“We turn the ball over too much. We have way too many penalties. We’ve had too many missed assignments and haven’t paid attention to the details as we should,” Croom said.
“We’ve had more injuries than we did last year,” Croom said. “But the biggest thing is, we haven’t done up to this point the things like Vanderbilt, like we did last year, the things it takes to win games. It starts with discipline.”
With the season-ending injury to freshman running back Robert Elliot two weeks ago, Dixon will be assuming an even larger role in the Bulldog offense, according to Croom.
“I’m definitely not worried about their turnover ratio. I know they’re going to be trying to strip it,” Dixon said. “Coach told me the load is on me this week. I guess this is my highlight game of the year.”
One bright spot for the Bulldogs this season has been the play of junior wide receiver Brandon McRae, who has caught 28 passes for 263 yards, a dramatic improvement over last year’s two catches for 50 yards.
“[McRae] is smart and knows all the plays and is committed to getting better. Right now I would have to say he is our biggest playmaker,” Croom said. “He has really stepped up for us and I think he is going to have an even bigger second half of the season because of the way he is practicing.”
Despite the Bulldogs’ slow start, Johnson sees this weekend’s game as a challenge.
“I see a good football team. [Mississippi State has] played a tough schedule. They’ve moved the ball against a lot of people,” Johnson said. “They’ve certainly got the athletes on defense to play with anybody.”
The Bulldogs are 10-7-2 all time against the Commodores. The most recent meeting was a 31-13 Vanderbilt win in 2004.