A new era of MSU football will make its debut Saturday and a national audience will be watching. Davis Wade Stadium will be engulfed in a sea of maroon and a chance for sweet revenge is set.
The stage couldn’t get much better for Mississippi State. The question is, how will the boys in maroon respond?
“Last year we had it won, but they came back with that last minute field goal and beat us,” starting center Chris McNeil said about last year’s bout with Tulane.
For those who forgot last year’s game versus Tulane, let me refresh your memory.
The Bulldogs held a 28-14 lead deep in the fourth quarter. But Tulane would rally hard.
The Green Wave surged for 17 unanswered points in the span of 4:50. Tulane quarterback J.P. Losman threw two touchdown passes and a controversial fumble set up the 32-yard winning field goal with six seconds remaining in the game. It was the first win for Tulane over MSU since 1988.
The Dawgs would go on to lose their next seven out of nine games and finished with a dismal 2-10 record. Tulane finished 5-7 last season, missing bowl eligibility by one win.
You can’t blame Tulane for the 2-10 record, but any loss in that fashion to any team is tough to take and State didn’t take it well at all. You could feel and see the emotion pouring out of the players and coaches as they walked out of the Superdome locker room.
Now they have a chance for revenge. They have a chance to win for the MSU fans who traveled to New Orleans to witness the bottom fallout in the late stages of a game that should have been wrapped in maroon and white. They also have a chance to start this new era off right and win for the new man at the helm in front of an immense audience.
Self-confidence is something the Bulldogs have lacked for the last three years. State has a combined record of 8-27 over the past three seasons, in which they had no self-confidence and no self-discipline.
This win for MSU would be big.
It would be even bigger if if the Dawgs could do so with a limited number of penalties, a show of class and an impressive performance in front of the country.
Ross Dellenger can be reached at [email protected].