Rivalry with Kentucky? Is this CYA, Mullen?
Oct 29, 2011; Lexington, KY, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs head coach Dan Mullen coaches his team against the Kentucky Wildcats at Commonwealth Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports
I normally don’t take too much out of what is said at a press conference. Especially a Dan Mullen press conference where you can only believe about half of what he says. Now, I don’t mind him playing coy with the media, I’m just sayin’ press conferences don’t give you as much as they used to. However, this week Mullen said MSU has a rivalry with Kentucky – and with everything going on and has gone on, I was a little taken aback by that.
His quote from Monday’s press conference:
"It seems weird because every year I’ve been here we’ve played Kentucky, and that’s our East crossover. I know our guys look forward to this game and treat it a little bit as a rivalry game for us."
Seriously, Kentucky?
I know we’ve played every year for the past 23 years, but that is just because all the other East/West rivalries were taken up and us and Kentucky were the leftovers – plus our programs kind of fit for an annual matchup. That doesn’t make it a rivalry.
There are two kinds of rivalries:
- A back and forth one where there are bragging rights involved, i.e. MSU/Ole Miss
- A one-sided series where the perennial loser wants to beat the perennial winner soooooo bad, i.e. MSU/Alabama
This is not a rivalry. It’s possible that UK could fall into category number two, but it’s only been four years and in year one of the Mark Stoops era I don’t think it’s reached that level for them.
Was this a bit of CYA for Mullen? Remember when he said we’d never lose to Ole Miss (while we were winning three in a row), and then last year during Egg Bowl week he sort of changed his tune and allowed the possibility that OM might win creep in. It was almost like he was preparing the fanbase for the possibility of it happening. And it did. This feels like the same thing. Like he’s now got a built-in excuse if we lose to Kentucky – “well, you never know in these rivalry games”. Um, I don’t think so, Dan.
This game Thursday night is an absolute 100% MUST WIN GAME for Dan Mullen. It’s a must win for our program. The mood isn’t exactly peaches and cream lately and we cannot stand to get upset by the Wildcats.
There is zero excuse to lose this game. Zero. If we do, Mullen should be fired. Right then.
I’ve talked about not playing a full 60 minutes or not being able to hang with good teams for myriad of reasons, but there is no excuse to lose, at home, to Kentucky…the worst team in the SEC, who couldn’t beat Western Kentucky this year and has lost their last 4 games by an average of 20 points.
The pressure is on, especially after Mark Hudspeth’s Louisiana Lafayette team beat Arkansas State on the road Tuesday night, 23-7. Hud has completely transformed that program as he is on the verge of taking them to their 3rd straight bowl game (in his 3rd year) after they had never been to a bowl game in program history. With a clear view of a prime candidate it only turns the heat up even more for this game vs. UK.
No excuses. Get. It. Done.
I will go to the game on Thursday night and cheer on the Dawgs until the clock hits triple zeros. It doesn’t matter who is the coach, I want MSU to win the game. But I won’t stand for losing to Kentucky. I’ve always like Mullen and believed in him but I won’t stand for excuses. I want a coach, not a politician. Win the damn game.