National Guide to Mississippi State

Oct 11, 2014; Starkville, MS, USA; General view of the exterior of the stadium before the game between the Mississippi State Bulldogs and the Auburn Tigers at Davis Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Spruce Derden-USA TODAY Sports

With Mississippi State being ranked number 1 in both major polls for the first time ever, we are probably getting traffic from people who wouldn’t normally read our blog. Sure they can read stuff about Mississippi State in Sports Illustrated, ESPN, CBS, or USA Today, all national publications that are starting to spend a little more time on the Bulldogs, but people are probably wondering what these Mississippi State Bulldogs are really all about. So in that spirit, I give you my National Guide to Mississippi State. I hope to answer some of the most likely questions people unfamiliar with the program are to have.

What’s up with the cowbell?
The cowbell is one of the oldest traditions that we have at Mississippi State. The legend has it that a cow wandered onto a field during a game against our arch rival Ole Miss that we were losing. We then made a furious comeback to win the game. We saw the cow as a good luck charm and started having a cow at all of our games. That became problematic, so we adopted their bell as our symbol. Eventually, some professors at the school started welding handles to the bells, and we have our tradition of bringing cowbells to the game.

Cows are really part of your tradition?
Yep, and proud of it. We have one of the best agricultural schools and veterinary schools in the country. We are also one of the top engineering schools, but people tend to ignore that. It’s easier to make fun of cows than it is to make fun of engineers. We know who we are and are quite proud of it. Feel free to make fun of our agricultural roots. Next time you take a bite of steak or corn, there is a pretty good chance a Mississippi State grad helped put it on your table.

Ole Miss is your rival. I thought Shep Smith said LSU is their rival?
Yeah, Shep has been getting a lot of attention lately because Ole Miss is having a breakout season just like we are. Ole Miss fans like to poke and prod Mississippi State fans by saying their real rival is LSU, and our game is just a minor annoyance. They say that a lot. As a matter of fact, it seems to be a talking point with many of them. Here’s the deal. We consider Ole Miss our rival. Ole Miss considers LSU their rival. I have no idea who LSU considers their rival, but it isn’t Ole Miss.

Why do you call your game with Ole Miss the Egg Bowl?
Technically speaking, the game is officially referred to as “The Battle for the Golden Egg”. It started with the 1926 game. Mississippi State (Mississippi A&M at the time) had won 13 straight in the series. The Rebels (then known as the Red and Blue) broke the losing streak in Starkville and rushed the field. In the process, they tried to tear down the goal posts. The A&M people in attendance weren’t too happy about that and a brawl broke out.

To make things a little more civil, both schools decided to award the winner with a trophy. On top of that trophy is a football. The football looks more like an egg, so we call it the Egg Bowl.

Enough about rivalries, I don’t remember hearing anything about this Prescott kid in the 2011 recruiting class. How’d you guys get him?
Getting Dak Prescott is a credit to Dan Mullen and the way he has built this program and team. The reason Mississippi State got Dak is because nobody else wanted him. According to Dan Mullen, he wasn’t that impressed the first time he saw him either. It wasn’t until at a camp when Dak Prescott led a drive against one of the best defensive units at the camp that Mullen took notice. He demonstrated the leadership that Mullen wanted, and Dak had a knack for making plays. Mullen was sold. Prescott was rated as a 3 star prospect out of Haughton, LA and didn’t get a sniff from LSU until late in the recruiting game.

Once he did, his mom wanted him to go to Baton Rouge. He wasn’t 18 yet when it was time to sign his letter of intent, so he couldn’t send one in to Mississippi State unless his mom signed it as well. She said she wouldn’t do it unless Dak could convince her that he truly needed to be in Starkville. He told his mom how he wanted to go to a place that had never won at an elite level and turn that program into a winner. He couldn’t do that at LSU. So far, he is living up to his word that he gave his mother.

About his mom, that has gotten a lot of publicity. What was that like at the time?
It’s been pretty much the way you have heard. Dak’s mom had battled cancer for a while, but she was really struggling with it at the start of the 2013 season. Dak was in the process of trying to cement his new role as the starter of the team, and he was having to handle the imminent death of his mother. Fans knew it was bad, but I don’t think we knew just how bad it really was. The first game in November of 2013, the Bulldogs traveled to South Carolina and took on the Gamecocks. Dak played the entire game, and it was his worst game of his career. We found out the next morning that his mother had died early that morning. I don’t think that is a coincidence. He played against Texas A&M the following week and played one of his best games before getting injured at the end of it. He played because he felt like his mom wanted him too. It was a great story for the team and Dak.

Can you guys keep this up?
That’s the million dollar question. We have three winnable games against Kentucky, Arkansas (though neither are going to be as easy as we once thought), and UT-Martin before we play Alabama. It’s in Tuscaloosa and after that we play our final home game against Vanderbilt before heading to Oxford for the last game against Ole Miss. It’s manageable, but it won’t be easy. It never is in the SEC West. But for the first time in the history of the school, we really like our chances. Anything else you want to know?

Is that Edam cheese as good as I have heard?
No. It is far better. Go buy some.