What an outstanding guy Ole Miss head football coach Hugh Freeze is. A man of upstanding character and judgement. A man of a higher moral code. Hugh Freeze will bring Mississippi back, and do it the right way – through guidance, leadership and the highest values.

Oh wait, he just revoked a scholarship offer from an injured player. What? Hugh Freeze? The man who is going to save Ole Miss from the wretched ways of Houston Nutt?

Yep, Freeze didn’t like the way 3-star LB commit Mario Mathis was recovering from his ACL injury so he took his scholarship offer away.

Mathis, who is from Thomasville, GA, tore his ACL last summer but played through the pain during his junior season due to a mis-diagnosis. He had surgery in January. Ole Miss knew this, but offered anyway and Mathis accepted their offer on May 3rd.

Once committed to the Bears, Mathis jumped in 100% and started recruiting other players like Garrett Hudson and Mark Dodson to join him in Oxford. When he went to Mississippi’s Elite camp in early June he reaffirmed his commitment. Freeze even discussed what “commitment” means with Mario.

But commitment didn’t mean anything to Freeze. He pulled the rug out from under him this past weekend. After a light workout at an Ole Miss camp Freeze informed Mathis he was no longer a commitment to Ole Miss.

Mario Mathis had been quoted as saying ‘everything was real about the Ole Miss program’ and ‘they aren’t hiding anything’. Well, not so much.

But there is a silver lining to this story – Mario Mathis will be able to lead a successful life now that he won’t be attending Ole Miss.

P.S. – TSUN was also cited for improper phone use during the recruiting period.

Cam Lawrence will enter his senior season at Mississippi State as the leading returning tackler in the SEC with 123 last year. I hope he doesn’t come close to that number this year.

Being the leading tackler in your conference means you’re good, but it also means your defense is on the field a lot. The leading tackler for that great Alabama defense in 2011 was Donta Hightower (85); he was 16th in the SEC. The top 2 tacklers were from Kentucky, and rounding out the top 5 with Lawrence were two guys from Auburn. We don’t want a defense like UK or Aubie’s last year.

MSU had three players in the top 10 of the SEC last year (Lawrence, Charles Mitchell, Brandon Wilson). Hopefully our safeties will be in the 20-30 range this year because they were able to play back in coverage. And hopefully our linebackers will be in the 10-20 range because we were able to get off the field.

@mandwnation

ChillBilly released his ‘tweaks’ to Mississippi State’s new uniforms….the changes to the striping would have allowed for our jerseys to be unique to Texas A&M’s…

Most Bulldogs are looking forward to 2012 with aspirations of an 8-9 win season similar to 2010. Those expectations aren’t unreasonable at all as State appears to have the talent and ability to do just that.

In that 2010 season, Dan Mullen’s 2nd year in Starkville, State went 9-4 beating Michigan in the Gator Bowl. We all knew it was a solid year, but did you know that was one of only six times it has ever happened at MSU? (That’s not a trick either, it includes Mississippi A&M and State College days as well).

So, as the 2012 football journey unfolds make sure to savor each win and if we do get to 9 wins again – that’s a rare feat that not many Mississippi State teams have accomplished. And if this squad does do it, Dan Mullen will be the only coach in MSU history to win 9 twice! (Bob Tyler did it twice, but all wins in 1976 were vacated).

2012 was another exciting year of Bulldog baseball, and here’s a video that came out today with some of the highlights..

The new uniforms came out today…..photos via HailState.com. It’s worth noting that while the pictures look like more of a crimson color, the video looks like a true maroon..

Road

Silver Pants

White Stripe on the Helmet

Home, with White Pants

It comes with a video…

One issue…did Adidas get lazy and basically just give us the same jerseys they made for Texas A&M?

Last week at SEC Media Days, Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze made some interesting remarks. He sounded very similar to a certain coach MSU hired in December of 2003.

Freeze said Ole Miss is ‘wondering in the wilderness’, only 60% of their players have bought in, and they need to focus on recruiting because he had better players at Arkansas State. That some brutal honestly – unnecessary honesty, wow.

When Sly Croom took over in 2004 he repeatedly mentioned how bad State’s program had gotten, and that it would take a while to get back on track. He was basically saying, without saying the exact words, that the players we had weren’t good enough (and/or didn’t have the right ‘character’).

How is that supposed to make the current players feel? How are they supposed to buy in when a coach says they aren’t good enough and his focus is the recruiting trail?

And we’ve all heard about how Coach Freeze brings the Ed Orgeron style of recruiting back. Which, according to his first 8 months on the job means he’ll offer any and everyone with a star next to their name a scholarship.

So Ole Miss has managed to combine the Croom and Coach O eras into one coach. Some of the worst football to ever be played in the state of Mississippi (combined 31-63 record) will be honored by Freeze’s tactics.

Good luck with that TSUN.

The 1999 Egg Bowl – “the kick and the pick”. This game had everything: a win over a Top 25 team, a great comeback, dramatic finish, win over a rival, and clinched a 9-win regular season for only the 4th time in MSU history.

This game is tied for the 2nd biggest comeback in MSU history (’99 Auburn is 1st) because the Dawgs were down 20-6 going into the 4th quarter, but with 13 minutes left Donald Lee caught a 5 yard touchdown pass to make it 20-13.

And then the final minute and a half….a legendary ending to a great regular season….

Wayne Madkin to C.J. Sirmones – pure maroon glory.

Cutcliffe’s decision to throw the ball deep in his own territory with only :20 left proved to be the wrong one as Robert Bean tipped and then kicked the ball to the waiting hands of Eugene Clinton…then Scott Westerfield booted a 44-yard field goal through the uprights….oh what a moment!

Today we look at the pass catchers in the SEC:

1. Tennessee- there is no suspense on this choice. Tennessee has overtaken Arkansas at the WR position. Da’Rick Rodgers and Justin Hunter make up the best WR combo in the nation. Cordarrelle Patterson and Zach Rodgers will factor in as well. Mychal Rivera returns at TE. With Bray at QB and 5 returning starters on the OL- this group will shine in 2012.

2. Georgia- good group with lots of talent. Malcolm Mitchell, Marlon Brown, Tevarres King, Micheal Bennett are just some of the targets for Aaron Murray. They will have a new TE this season though, so look for Murray to rely a little more on the WR’s.

3. Texas A&M- When you’re breaking in a new QB, it helps to have experienced talent like this to throw to. Ryan Swope had a big season last year and returns to see what he can do vs SEC defenses. He is joined by Uzoma Nwachukwu and Nate Askew. A&M has 3 TE’s to choose from in Nehemiah Hicks, Micheal Lamothe, Hutson Prioleau.

4. LSU- Odell Beckham is a bigtime talent in Baton Rouge, as is the inconsistent Russell Shepherd. Look for these guys to produce more with a new QB this season. Jarvis Landry, James Wright, and newcomer Avery Johnson will also factor in. TE Chase Clement is also very good.

5. Arkansas- They have one of the SEC’s top WR’s in Cobi Hamilton, but lots of inexperience surrounds him. Julian Horton and Jevontee Hearndon will get to show what they can do this season. TE Chris Gragg is one of the SEC’s top TE’s.

6. State- The SEC’s most veteran group should shine in 2012 with a new QB at the trigger. Chris Smith, Arceto Clark, Chad Bumphis, Brandon Heavens- should all play big roles in the offense this season. Youngsters Jameon Lewis and Joe Morrow should make an impact as well. The Bulldogs were dealt a blow when hybrid TE Malcolm Johnson got hurt this summer, but got a boost when Marcus Green was granted an extra season by the NCAA.

7. Alabama- inexperience but talented describes the WR’s for the Tide this season. Kenny Bell, Kevin Norwood, and DeAndrew White return- and they will be joined by freshmen Chris Black, Amari Cooper, and Eddie Williams. Micheal Williams returns at TE.

8. Vandy-  Jordan Matthews returns after a great season in Nashville. Chris Boyd, Jonathan Krause, and former QB Josh Grady will join him. The Dores will take a step back at the TE position after losing Brandon Barden.

9. Auburn- Emory Blake is a solid SEC WR with big play potential. The Barn is still waiting on Trovon Reed, Travante Stallworth, and Deangelo Benton to live up to their hype coming into college. They may have the SEC’s best TE in Phillip  Lutzenkirchen.

10. Missouri- 3 of their top 5 WR’s return- T.J. Moe will be joined by top WR recruit Doriel Green-Beckham, Marcus Lucas, and L’Damien Washington. We’ll see what this bunch can do against SEC competition.

11. South Carolina- You dont see a Steve Spurrier team with such low-rated WR’s very often, if ever. Ace Sanders returns to lead an inexperienced group. Bruce Ellington continues his quest to become a football player instead of basketball. Incoming Freshman Shaq Roland is a talent that will play alot. They are experienced at TE with Justice Cunningham and Rory Anderson returning.

12. Mississippi- The Bears have a talented specimen in WR Donte Moncrief. He can play on anybody’s team. Can Randall Mackey transition to WR from QB? Ja-Mes Logan played ok for the Bears last season and he returns- but losing Nick Brassell to grades has severely hampered the talent of this group. TE Jamal Mosely has talent but has seemingly gotten into another problem with the law so his status is unknown.

13. Florida- The Gators just dont have anybody scary out there right now. Andre Debose, Quinton Dunbar, Frankie Hammond Jr- these guys just wont become household names in the SEC.

14. Kentucky- This group makes Florida’s look dangerous. Move along, nothing to see here.