Week 1 Mississippi State Report Card

Aug 30, 2014; Starkville, MS, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs head coach Dan Mullen after the game against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles at Davis Wade Stadium. Mississippi State Bulldogs defeat the Southern Miss Golden Eagles 49-0. Mandatory Credit: Spruce Derden-USA TODAY Sports

Coaching Staff

Grade: A-

Earning Bonus Points: It drives some people nuts, and it even infuriates some, the way that Dan Mullen will play cat and mouse with the media about injuries, depth charts, and game plans. Mullen severely limits public access to practice. As much as it drives some of us batty, he does it for a reason. He spent the entire offseason downplaying any possibility of playing a Hurry Up No Huddle offense. So what do we do from the opening series? Go Hurry Up No Huddle. It was obvious that this wasn’t something that was done as an experiment either. It looks like there is going to be a more concerted effort to use this scheme throughout the season.

Forgot to put their name on their paper: No real major coaching gaffes. It was surprising to see the entire second unit come out for the third series of the game, but Mullen told the SEC Network crew he was doing that regardless to reward those guys for their hard work. I would have preferred to see it during the first drive of the second quarter, but he guaranteed those guys playing time in a situation where the game was not yet decided. Depending on your perspective, this was a good or bad decision. Finding faults with the coaching last night is nit picking, so I won’t give them too hard of a time.