Ten years ago I was a high school senior, wishing I was a Mississippi State freshman.
Now I’m a high school teacher, wishing I was a Mississippi State freshman.
Life is cyclical that way, eh?
Well, so is football.
Ten years ago, MSU was coming off an exciting bowl win, much like it is now. It was poised for a great season and ranked in the preseason Top 20, much like it is now. 
It was even preparing for its season opener against Memphis… much like it is now.
But that 2001 season will live in infamy for most MSU fans. That year Jackie Sherrill’s Bulldogs went 3-8 and the wheels fell off a program that had gone to three bowls and an SEC Championship game in three years. (Note to current freshmen: In 2001, you were in the third grade.)
Since that season, MSU has spent most of the last decade mired in obscurity: eight losing seasons, three head coaches and only two bowl games.
Now, rebuilt under head coach Dan Mullen, MSU football prepares for its most anticipated season in a decade.
What must this team do to avoid a similar fate to that 2001 team?
Here’s my advice, as someone who remembers that season well.
 Beat Memphis.
Even the 2001 team did that (30-10 at home on Sept. 3). A loss Thursday at Liberty Bowl Stadium would surely drop MSU from the national rankings and shake confidence across the board. For a team with this many lofty goals, Memphis is a must-win.
 Find a leader on the offensive line.
In 2001, MSU’s offensive line was missing its Pork Chop.
First-team All-American Floyd “Pork Chop” Womack anchored the unit in 2000 and was a leader in the locker room. But drafted by the Seattle Seahawks, Womack was not there to motivate his teammates in 2001. As a result, the running game sputtered, the passing game fell apart and, more importantly, morale imploded.
Offensive tackle Derek Sherrod, the lone All-American on last year’s Gator Bowl Championship team, was a similarly stabilizing force for last year’s squad both on and off the field.
Now playing for the Green Bay Packers, Sherrod’s talent and leadership must be replaced for Mullen’s offense to work.
 Replace depth on defense.
In 2001, MSU was struggling to replace defensive stars like Fred Smoot, Kendall Roberson, Ellis Wyms and Willie Blade, not in the first quarter, but in the fourth.
MSU’s defense – which had led the nation in 1999 – was still stacked with talent, including All-Americans Pig Prather and Mario Haggan. But MSU lacked the depth to run Joe Lee Dunn’s aggressive scheme for four quarters. The Bulldogs lost four games that year (Auburn, Alabama, Arkansas and Brigham Young) where they led deep in the fourth quarter. The defense simply ran out of gas.
This year’s defense is talented, but it will have to replace leaders like K.J. Wright and All-SEC-ers Pernell McPhee and Chris White. They may not be missed in the first quarter, but will they in the fourth?
 Get production from your senior quarterback.
Wayne Madkin started 41 games for MSU and still holds school records in attempts, completions and passing yardage.  But most of that production came in his first three seasons.
Madkin finished the 2000 season with over 1,900 passing yards, 179 rushing yards and 13 combined touchdowns, including a dramatic game-winning touchdown in the snow in the Independence Bowl. Always talented but ever developing, Madkin looked like he was finally ready for a true breakout year in 2001. Fast-forward to November and his offensive numbers were dismal, his team was eliminated from bowl contention and he was replaced as a starter in his final three college games due to bruised ribs.
This season, much of MSU’s success on offense will center around the continued development of quarterback Chris Relf.
Relf ended last season with 1,789 passing yards, 546 rushing yards and 18 combined touchdowns, including a breakout MVP performance in the Gator Bowl.
For MSU to have any kind of success this season, Relf has to handle the role of senior quarterback better than Madkin.
 Don’t lose homecoming.
MSU lost its 2001 Homecoming to lowly Troy State (now just Troy). The score was 21-9 and the weather was just as dismal. The game was stopped twice for lightning/tornados, leaving a sparse crowd by the game’s end.
Troy moved the ball all day. The Trojans controlled the line of scrimmage on offense and defense against bigger, more talented players that simply weren’t ready to play that day.
As a high school senior visiting Starkville that day with friends, I witnessed this debacle. I stayed until the end, then waddled back to a friend’s apartment tired, angry and soaked in rain and defeat. The leap from what I thought that team was to the reality of that day was crushing, and I pray none of you ever have to feel it.
This year’s Homecoming is Nov. 5 against Tennessee-Martin.
Don’t lose.