With Mississippi State scheduled to take on Georgia this weekend in a game that is important to both Bulldog squads, MSU head coach Dan Mullen is preparing for his first ever trip to iconic Sanford Stadium.
The venue may be new to Mullen, but he knows what to expect. As a veteran of the SEC’s weekend wars, Mullen has been around long enough to know every away game in the SEC is going to be played in a hostile environment. When going on the road for a game against a powerhouse program like Georgia, the key is to do things as you have always done before.
“Yeah, this will be the first time going there for me. It will be a new experience. It will be the last stadium in the SEC for me to go to, so all of that will be new,” Mullen said. “We keep our routine, and we go through our routine. It will just be the first time for all of us doing it.”
Much like last year’s game against Georgia, this weekend’s match up between the schools will go a long way in determining how successful each school’s season will be. After defeating Georgia last year, MSU seemed to gain some much-needed confidence that helped the Bulldogs get on a winning streak. Mullen is very aware that last season’s victory against UGA did wonders for his team’s outlook on the season.
“It was a huge game for us,” Mullen said. “We were 1-2 going into that game and found a way to win. It was a huge momentum swing for us to get us on a win streak. It really energized and built a lot of confidence in our guys.”
A win this year could have a similar effect, and if MSU is going to win “Between the Hedges,” the Bulldog defense is going to have to be able to slow down Georgia’s quarterback Aaron Murray, a preseason first team All-SEC player. Mullen knows this is easier said than done.
“Aaron is a very, very good quarterback. I recruited him out of high school and know him very well,” Mullen said. “Last year he came in here not having played a lot, but now you can see he is a veteran quarterback and makes good decisions. You put the ball in his hands, and he can make every throw out there, and when you stop him in the throwing game, he comes out and can scramble around and create with his feet. We’re going to have to keep the ball in front of us and hopefully get some pressure on him so he doesn’t sit back and pick us apart.”
As if trying to slow down Murray isn’t difficult enough, Georgia also has an improved defense and a running game that is beginning to take off with the emergence of freshman running back Isaiah Crowell. Mullen said he has not had time yet to study Georgia much, but he knows the Bulldogs will have talented athletes.
“At this time, I haven’t got to study much of them this early, but watching some of the games on television, they are always an extremely athletic group,” Mullen said. “They can really run and get to the football; very, very talented football players. They are always going to be that way, and it shows when I watch them on television.”
If MSU can fix some of its red zone woes, the Bulldogs will have a chance to beat a Georgia team that is under a lot of pressure to win. Mullen knows all too well his team is struggling far too much to score points when it matters.
“I think we have a bunch of things we need to fix up, but we’re not hitting the panic button,” Mullen said. “We’re not scrapping anything that we are doing. Right now we just have to execute better when we get down to the red zone. So far this year in the red zone we have left 42 points out there on the field. That is over 10 points per game if you look at not scoring and field goals over touchdowns.”
If MSU is going to execute better, it needs to start doing it soon.
A win against Georgia would quell many fan’s fears that the season is heading south, but a loss could severely hamper the Bulldogs’ ability to make a good bowl game in Mullen’s third year in Starkville. Gametime for Saturday is 11 a.m.
