MWN Mailbag: #BamaHateWeek Edition, Part 1

Nov 8, 2014; Starkville, MS, USA; A Mississippi State Bulldogs fan waves a bulldogs flag against the UT Martin Skyhawks during the first quarter at Davis Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

I’ve had a bunch of questions roll in for this week’s Mailbag, so I am going to do two parts to it. Some of the questions have been related to the Alabama game, some have not. I always try to answer every question, and Ernie Banks would always say let’s play two. Why not do two Mailbags!

I got sent this last week after the mailbag had already run, but it’s a really good question. It’s so good, that I will give a brief answer then spend some time on a post by itself after football season is over. The economy is affected by sports in general, but much more on a micro level than a macro level. For Mississippi State, the football success is having a definite impact on the economy in Starkville. I haven’t seen any reports from the area, but there are now anywhere from 5,000 to 6,000 more people in attendance for football games than there were in previous years. That’s a huge economic boost to the economy in Starkville. Also, when Mississippi State played Auburn, there were reports of there being far more people in Starkville for the atmosphere than there would be in the stadium. So, yes it is affected. I will talk more in depth about this later.

Here is the thing about fans: we all have different opinions. Part of those opinions is how much fans should be critical of the players and coaches that we cheer wildly for. To understand this, you have to look at the extremes of the fans. On one extreme, you have fans that will never be happy unless we win an SEC Championship and compete for a National Championship. Do we have those? Yes, but not as much as the Bamas and LSUs of the world. These fans will criticize any and everything when the Bulldogs don’t win. This is a very small minority for the Mississippi State fan base.

The other extreme are the ones who will always be happy so long as we get to a bowl game. These fans are normally the ones being referred to in this question. They don’t like for anyone to ever say anything bad about the team. I understand that to a certain extent, but what I don’t understand from this group of fans is how they will tell you that you must not be a real Bulldog fan if you ever say something critical of the team. This group isn’t always a fan of our website because when we think our players and coaches could do better, we write about it. Regardless, if you are around these fans, then you have to know that if you say anything critical at all, then they are going to get mad at you. The legitimacy of the criticism is irrelevant, they still think it is in poor taste for you to do so.

Personally, I think there is a happy medium. If the criticism is legitimate, and you aren’t trashing the player or coach, I don’t think there is anything wrong with it. Let’s take the kicking game for example. It is beyond frustrating for most fans that we don’t have a kicker that is capable of even being a threat to hit a 40 yard field goal. I don’t think there is anything wrong with expressing that frustration. On the flip side, the coaching staff has figured out that if they can just get to the 20 yard line, Sobiesk can hit those field goals as long as it is in that range. For the year, he is 6 of 7, and I’m pretty certain the only one he missed was beyond 40 yards. He needs to be recognized for simply doing what has been asked of him.

Look at that, my own editor asking a question. I put these two on here at the same time because I think they can be answered at the same time. I don’t think Mississippi State needs to start doing anything different personnel wise to slow down the Alabama offense. The key is to limit how Amari Cooper hurts you. The problem is that Cooper can hurt you both deep and short. The preferred method for getting Cooper the ball though appears to be on WR Screens and quick slants and short routes. About half of Amari Cooper’s yards are coming after the catch. The most important thing for the defense to do is tackle him once he gets the ball. The defensive backs have done a great job of that all year long, with the lone exception being against Kentucky. If the DBs can’t tackle him once he gets the ball and limit those YAC yards, then we might have to bring in nickel packages and extra DBs to slow him down. That would open up holes for the Alabama running game which would play right into the hands of the Alabama offense.

Well John, you played when I was 1, 2, 3, and 4 years old, so I am going to just guess on this. There were no recruiting services to look up how you were rated, so I’m going to guess they just saw guys they liked better. You led the team to possibly their most memorable win ever with the win over Bama in 1980, so if they didn’t recruit you, I’d say you got a little taste of revenge that year. Note: Yes, I know this is a parody account I am responding to. I like to play along.

I asked Bonner at the Clarion Ledger about this and he said that Mullen told him Lewis did not practice. The coaching staff has been resting him primarily to get him ready for this coming weekend. Mullen said after the game that he wanted to rest Jameon because he wanted him 100% for the game against Bama, but he also wanted them to be as close to 100% for practice next week. Getting him back into practice is just as important as getting him involved back in the offense as actually playing. We’re certainly going to need him this Saturday.

Worst case scenario I think would be the Citrus Bowl. Most projections have Mississippi State going to one of the bowls the CFP Committee assigns outside the actual Playoff. I think those are the most likely places for State to go if they don’t make it in the Playoff, but I can’t see them falling any further than the Citrus which is the top bowl for the SEC outside the CFP bowls.

Let me just go ahead and tell you Christy is not trolling on this. She truly wants an opinion. So, with that being said, I’d say entering this season, I’d gather most fans thought something similar to this should have happened before this year. But hindsight being 20/20, we shouldn’t have been thinking in that manner.

The style of football that Sylvester Croom and Dan Mullen play are as different as night and day. This is the very first year in which there is not a single player on the team that was not solely recruited by Dan Mullen and the coaches on his staff. Mullen has taken a crock pot approach to building this team. Sure, he talked of competing for championships because that should be every team’s goal, but this was the first year that anyone could truly have any expectations of a season like this. Much has been made of how Mullen recruits and the type of player he brings to Starkville. He gets the undervalued guy, redshirts him, develops his body and athleticism, and by the time they reach their Junior year, that guy is a completely different player. This wasn’t going to happen overnight, it was just hard for a lot of Bulldog fans to see it. Now that it is here, it’s pretty clear to see why patience is still a virtue.