Saturday’s showdown will be the fourth time Mississippi State and Georgia Tech have met. However, the two programs possess more than a few similarities.
Both were original members of the SEC, and Georgia Tech actually has more SEC Titles (5) than MSU (1). Georgia Tech calls Grant Field home, and it is the oldest stadium in Football Championship Subdivision at 96 years old. MSU’s Davis Wade Stadium is the second oldest in FCS at 95 years old. The most glaring similarity, however, is that both teams depend on running the football. Both squads also happen to have nationally-renowned runners who can grind out tough yards.
MSU senior running back Anthony Dixon is coming off a 105-yard performance against LSU, which moved him into second place on the Bulldogs all-time rushing list with 2,924 yards. He is averaging 107 yards a game, good for second-best in the SEC this season.
Jonathan Dwyer, reigning ACC player of the year and the starting tailback for Georgia Tech, is averaging 81.5 yards a contest and has amassed 326 yards this season.
MSU fans probably remember him for gashing the Bulldog defense for 141 yards last year on just nine carries, averaging an eye-popping 15 yards a carry.
Senior linebacker Jamar Chaney assures Bulldog faithful the defense has not forgotten his abilities.
“He’s really fast. You give him a little crease, he’s just like a little scatback that can get through it and go 70 yards,” Chaney said.
Dwyer is just a piece of the puzzle that is the Georgia Tech triple-option. Tech mustered 438 rushing yards against the Bulldogs last year. Attribute that large number partly to the abilities of Dwyer and company; but according to Chaney, the Georgia Tech scheme is the main focus over any individual Tech player.
“It’s an offense that requires everybody on the defense to do their job,” said Chaney. “If you’ve got a pitch, stay on the pitch. If you’ve got a dive, stay on the dive. If you’ve got the quarterback, stay on the quarterback. Sounds simple, but that’s how they beat people.”
While the Bulldogs and Yellow Jackets have plenty similarities as a program, the two teams are coming into this game with different mind sets.
State is coming off a heart-wrenching loss but can acknowledge plenty of positive indications from the LSU game: The offensive line provided creases for the running backs and time for the quarterbacks, Dixon continued to produce and the defense seems to be shutting down the run.
Mullen surely took all of those improvements into consideration; but when it is all said and done, he does not want his players believing in moral victories.
“We preached competition since the first day, that there’s a winner and a loser,” Mullen said. “There’s really good things that happen to winners, and nothing good happens if you don’t win. So I didn’t really see much positive.”
The Yellow Jackets are coming off of a 24-7 win over North Carolina. They have plenty of other reasons to be confident – a No. 25 national ranking, a 3-1 record and the thrashing of the Bulldogs last season.
However, Tech head coach Paul Johnson is more focused on the Bulldog defense.
“[I’ve] been really impressed with their inside linebackers; well, all three linebackers are good players,” Johnson said. “It just looks like they’re flying around, playing hard.”
The Bulldog defense has indeed been flying around, allowing only 30 net rushing yards against LSU and 33 against Vanderbilt.
Mullen said he believes the defense will need to continue to play above the call of duty to win this weekend.
“We have to wrap up, we have to tackle and really focus on our fundamentals when you play a team that plays a very disciplined and exact offense like Georgia Tech does,” he said.
With pass defense being the weaker part of Tech’s defense, the Bulldogs will need to find a way to take advantage. Last week, State showed improvement in the passing game, tossing the football for 223 yards including a 50- yard touchdown strike to Marcus Green. Tyson Lee said the passing game is going to garner more attention as the season progresses.
“Going into this week, or any game the rest of the season, that’s something we really have to do, – be able to throw some balls down field and have defenses at least respect that,” Lee said.
The Bulldogs will step onto Scott Field with added confidence from playing LSU down to the wire. Mullen said his team must believe it can emerge victorious.
“That’s one thing we’re doing as a football program as a whole – learning how to win,” Mullen said. “When you get in those games, it’s that belief of when you’re in the Southeastern Conference, you’re going to be in the football game every single week.”