It’s Now or Never for Mullen and the Bulldogs

Oct 12, 2013; Starkville, MS, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs mascot comes on to the field prior to the game against the Bowling Green Falcons at Davis Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports

Week 4 of the SEC season is upon us. It’s the week that we find out a lot about our beloved Bulldogs. The Bulldogs were expected to win their first three games. They dominated the Golden Eagles of Southern Miss and South Alabama Jaguars. It was a more competitive affair against UAB then many of us thought it would be, but a win is a win. So now we get to the real games. I wrote about how difficult a struggle it has been for Mississippi State to beat LSU, but if we are ever going to beat this team, it has to be this year.

While I have made it clear that this team is the one I want to win the most, don’t get me wrong. This game is not a must win game. I think it is extremely important for Mississippi State to win at least 8 games, and probably need to get to 9 to really make a statement, that can still be achieved if they don’t beat the Tigers this weekend in Baton Rouge. Mississippi State though needs to make a statement at some point. There would be no bigger statement they could make this early in the season than to beat a team that they will be double digit underdogs to, in their own stadium.

This is also the team that Dan Mullen has been wanting to coach since he took over. The roster is full of players that he and his staff have recruited and they all fit the needs that the offense and defense requires. Mississippi State has one of the best dual threat quarterbacks in the country, they have running backs that can keep the chains moving, and the receivers are as athletic and talented as they ever have been in the history of the school. The defense is loaded, especially in the front 7. We have some questions about the secondary, but they showed a vast amount of improvement over the course of the season last year, and I have every reason to believe they will fix the problems that have shown up. The Bulldogs have the team they want, it’s up to them to take advantage of it.

Mississippi State might also be facing LSU at the right time. The Tigers are introducing a lot of new parts to their offense and defense. They are talented and will be tough to beat, but the best time to get an opponent when they are trying to get new people involved is always early. The next few years will make it much more difficult to pull off a win against the Bayou Bengals.

Beating LSU is tough, they have been one of the best teams in the SEC since Saban got the Tigers rolling and it has continued under the watch of Les Miles. But when an opportunity presents itself like this one has, we have to take advantage of it. At some point, getting to bowls and winning 7 games a year has to be not enough. For those that believe we still need more time to win these types of games, I think in year 6 of a head coach’s tenure is plenty of time. For those that say it is really tough in the SEC West, you have to be competitive in the market that you operate in. Our market is the SEC West. That’s the reality. If we don’t ever want to compete for the title in the SEC West, then we need to find a new market. If we truly have a dark horse Heisman contender at quarterback, if we actually have a suffocating defense, if this team is what we think they are, it’s now or never for the Bulldogs to beat the LSU Tigers and start to make the next step.