Without question, the past two weeks for the Mississippi State Bulldogs and their fans have been rough.
Halfway through the season, the Bulldogs found themselves 7-0 with prospects of a BCS bowl berth budding amongst those inside and outside MSU’s football program.
Two weeks later, though, State is reeling from consecutive losses in which the Dogs have been outscored 76-20. While the Bulldogs are bowl eligible, the possibility of the 2012 season being the best in MSU’s history is beginning to dwindle.
As the last quarter of State’s regular season schedule approaches, the task ahead of MSU (7-2, 3-2) becomes no easier. The Bulldogs will begin that set of games with a trip to Baton Rouge to face the LSU Tigers, a team that is ranked inside the top-10 in all polls and is fresh off a devastating home loss to No. 1 Alabama a week ago.
With the state of Louisiana being a key pipeline state for MSU in recruiting, Saturday’s game against the Tigers will be a homecoming for several of State’s key players, including sophomore center Dillon Day, freshman running backs Josh Robinson and Derrick Milton and freshman quarterback Dak Prescott. For Prescott, a native of Haughton, La., returning to a hostile environment such as Tiger Stadium is something he has been anticipating since coming to MSU.
“Being from Louisiana, going back to Death Valley is something I’ve dreamed about since I signed with Mississippi State,” Prescott said. “It will be a lifetime experience to, for the first time, go back and play against the Tigers.”
This week, along with the emotions of returning to his home state to play LSU, Prescott is also mindful of his college recruitment, one that consisted largely of MSU and LSU vying for the signal caller’s services.
“There was definitely some pressure from LSU fans,” Prescott said. “It was kind of hard to turn them down, but I had to go with my heart. I felt like Mississippi State was my home, and I still feel that way to this day.”
With both State and LSU looking to regain momentum as the season hits its final stretch, MSU head coach Dan Mullen said Saturday’s game in Baton Rouge is crucial to both MSU and this season’s SEC West race.
“This week will be a big challenge going to play a night game down at LSU,” Mullen said. “This is even more so important here in Southeastern Conference play and out here in the West. You have to bring your A game every single week.”
To get back on track, the Bulldogs must tidy up on several facets of their game plan, including executing better in the red zone on offense and tackling better on defense.
Against Alabama, MSU failed to score on two of its three red-zone opportunities. On State’s first offensive possession of the game, the Tide blocked a short MSU field goal. Early in the third quarter, on a 16-play drive that took the Bulldogs from the shadow of their own end zone to the Alabama goal line, junior quarterback Tyler Russell was flushed from the pocket and was intercepted in the end zone by the Tide’s Robert Lester.
Russell, who now has 16 touchdowns to go along with only three interceptions, said MSU must take advantage of opportunities against the upcoming opponents, including LSU.
“(LSU) has a really good defense,” Russell said. “They don’t make a lot of mistakes, but when they do mistakes, we have to be able to take advantage of it.”
Against Texas A&M a week later, missed tackles plagued State’s defense, and the Aggies gained a large portion of their 693 total yards after contact. Chris Wilson, MSU’s co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach, said the Bulldogs missed approximately 30 tackles in Saturday’s game. Cameron Lawrence, a senior linebacker who has tallied 72 tackles through nine games this season, said the MSU defense prefers tough, physical offenses such as LSU’s rather than spread offenses like Texas A&M’s.
“(LSU) is really different than Texas A&M,” Lawrence said. “Texas A&M is more about tempo, spreading you out and throwing it all over the place. LSU is going to put a lot of guys in the box.”
Saturday’s game in Death Valley is scheduled to kick off at 6 p.m. and will be televised nationally by ESPN.