Mississippi State Mid-Season Review
Oct 11, 2014; Starkville, MS, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs head coach Dan Mullen and his daughter Breelyn walk through the celebration line after the game against the Auburn Tigers at Davis Wade Stadium. Mississippi State Bulldogs defeated the Auburn Tigers 38-23. Mandatory Credit: Spruce Derden-USA TODAY Sports
Top Storylines
Dak’s Rise to Stardom: There have been a lot of great storylines, but this one has to be at the top of the list. Mississippi State fans believed that Dak was more than what his stats said last year, but there weren’t many outside of Starkville that were buying in. Making it even better is how Prescott has handled the attention. He doesn’t shy away from it, but he is humble and contrite whenever he is given the opportunity to talk about what he and the rest of the Bulldogs have accomplished.
Dan Mullen Getting the Top 25 Monkey Off his Back: Things have changed drastically for Dan Mullen. He entered the season with only two wins over teams that were ranked in the AP Top 25. The first came against Ole Miss in 2009 and the second came against Florida in 2010. He then lost every single after that. He has now won three straight over teams ranked in the top 10. He didn’t just get the monkey off his back, he ripped it off and beat it into submission with a baseball bat.
Beating LSU in Death Valley: How good of a win this is may be up for debate at the end of the season (I still think they get to 7 or 8 wins) but beating LSU for the first time since 1999 and for the first time in Baton Rouge since 1991 is one of the most important events in Bulldogs football in recent memory. Most of the games against LSU had been blowouts so to beat the team that seemed to have the Bulldogs’ number is what has allowed all this to start in the first place.
Being Ranked #1 in the Polls: For the first time ever, Mississippi State is the number 1 ranked team in the two major polls. Staying there won’t be easy as their two most difficult games are on the road. Despite that, if the Bulldogs can finish the season undefeated or with just one loss, people might be surprised, but they won’t be shocked. That just goes to show the strides this team has made in year 6 of the Mullen Era.
Mississippi Domination: No matter how much Mississippi State and Ole Miss fans may not like it, one of the reasons that this season has received so much attention is because their fellow Egg Bowl Combatant has been having an equally successful season. If one team was doing this by themselves, there would definitely be some attention, but with both teams from the state of Mississippi playing the way we are, it just screams for the national media to write stories about it.