On a cold, miserable afternoon the Mississippi State Bulldogs whipped the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders in a 27-6 rout.
Or did they?
Opportunities blown
The Bulldogs started their first drive on our 39, gained a few yards and punted. We started the next drive on MTSU’s 40 and went 3-and-out. In fact, we went 3-and-out five times against a Sun Belt defense.
I know we were playing conservative in the second half, but it is ridiculous we were only able to score a single late touchdown off the four second-half interceptions we had.
Sure, we played well enough to win, and thanks to our defense, we won by three touchdowns. But with the kind of opportunities we got, we should have won 48-6. Luckily, it was just a Sun Belt team.
Some people have placed the blame on our former walk-on quarterback Tyson Lee, but I don’t think that’s fair. Of the 12 SEC starting quarterbacks who have attempted more than 100 passes, Lee is second in rushing yards and fifth in completion percentage. Sure, he has six interceptions (some of which weren’t his fault), but you can’t blame turnovers on Saturday’s lackluster performance on his or anyone else’s turnovers, as we didn’t have any.
In fact, Lee went 14-for-20 Saturday (70 percent) and rushed for a 39-yard touchdown. The guy didn’t have a single BCS scholarship offer out of high school or junior college, and he’s stepped into the SEC and put up decent stats. Let’s lay off him, guys.
Defensive backs come to life
Defensive backs have been a weakness for us most of the season, but Saturday
the Bulldogs started freshman Corey Broomfield and JUCO transfer Maurice Langston for the first time. Broomfield and freshman Jonathan Banks, who also played much more Saturday than he has before, brought down two interceptions apiece. Maybe we’ve found in a new alignment in Langston, Banks, Mitchell and Broomfield that can at least put us in the position to contain offenses and not get burned.
Dixon sets career record
Anthony Dixon became Mississippi State’s all-time career rushing yards leader Saturday with an outstanding 57-yard rush, passing Jerious Norwood’s mark. With five (no, six) games left to go in his career, Dixon has rushed for 3,299 yards. It was Dixon’s fifth-straight 100-yard game.
It’s disappointing how Dixon remains the SEC’s most unheralded player. We hear so much about Mark Ingram and his Heisman potential, but remember that with all those amazing offensive lineman blocking for him and the strong passing game helping draw defenders away, Ingram’s yards-per-game this year is only 13.3 yards higher, and that’s remembering Dixon was suspended for the Jackson State game, his best opportunity this season to rack up yards.
Wild Formation
Anyone notice we lined up in the Wildcat (Wild Dawg?) formation with Bumphis receiving the snap once during the first quarter? We only ran one play, a short Bumphis run, and never lined up that way again. I’ve often felt like these Wild X formations were just a silly fad, but Bumphis might have the skill set to make it a work. He’s obviously shown himself to be one of the most slippery, elusive players we’ve ever had, and he’s also shown he can throw the ball a bit.
Maybe that one play in Murfreesboro was a real-game dress rehearsal for something we’ll see a lot against Florida. Or maybe it was just designed to make Florida nervous and waste practice time defending something we’re not going to do. We’ll see.
Speaking of Florida, is anyone growing wooly after yet another lackluster performance from the Gators? I don’t know what’s wrong with them (every piece of my soul hopes it’s the lack of Mullen), but they just aren’t rolling on offense like they used to, despite their quarterback being the greatest college football player ever.
Honestly, Florida is ripe for an upset before the season is out, and Mullen’s inside knowledge might be just enough to make Starkville on Saturday the time and place for that to happen.