Five Reasons Not to Believe the Media About Mississippi State Football

Here are a few examples of what’s being said about the 2015 Bulldog football team via the local and national media.

“Mississippi State is set up for a letdown in the SEC west this fall.”

Braden Gall
Athlon sports

More from Maroon and White Nation

“The Bulldogs final record will look like a major regression, but the Bulldogs will be in every game and could gain an extra win or two with a couple of breaks along the way.”

Bleacher Report

“Miss State will finish last in the SEC West. It has to be somebody right?”

Craig Stephenson
AL.com

Now, allow me to share with you five reasons why I think that most of the media are underestimating the Bulldogs, yet again.

1. The Quarterback –

The media is severely under estimating the importance of the quarterback position and the Bulldogs return the best quarterback in the SEC and possibly the best in the entire country. Dak Prescott makes everyone around him better. He’s a leader and he wills his team to win. Dak is simply one of the brightest college football stars in the country.

2. The wide receivers –
The Bulldogs return one of the top wide receiver units in the nation. De’Runnya Wilson and Fred Ross combined for 28 catches and 422 yards in their last two games. Mississippi State had four 100-yard receivers in the Orange Bowl. All four are back in the maroon and white.

3. The running game –

Dan Mullen’s last four starting running backs are now playing in the NFL. With Ashton Shumpert, Dontavian Lee and Aeris Williams in Bulldog uniforms do not expect that trend to stop any time soon.

Don’t listen to the negativity about the offensive line. When has a Bulldogs John Hevesy offensive line regressed or been bad? Not one time in his tenure as a Bulldog coach. With the most talented group he’s ever coached; do not expect 2015 to be any different.

Coach Hevesy’s offensive line will make up for the lack of experience with great athleticism and better depth, although the lack of experience part is blown way out of proportion.

Players such as Jamaal Clayborne, Justin Senior, Rufus Warren, Justin Malone, Devon Desper, Jake Thomas and Cole Carter have all started or played a lot of snaps as backups and each one of them will be either a junior or senior.

4. The defense –

The biggest misconception of the 2015 Bulldog season is the Bulldog defense. The Bulldogs lose a few starters, but some weren’t really starters, but listed as such so the media thinks they have it all figured out. Reality says otherwise as the Bulldogs return the sixteenth best defense in the country according to total production.

Players like AJ Jefferson, Richie Brown, Will Redmond, Chris Jones, Nick James, Zack Jackson and Kevon Coman all had at least equal – to better production than some of the other teams starters. Not that I was a fan of the 1A-1B system last year, but it helped a lot of these players gain valuable experience and not only garbage time experience, but they also played in key moments of several games.

Yet, I would bet that not one media member who is predicting the Bulldogs to finish last in the West could tell you this. The 2015 Many Diaz led defense is full of future NFL players and Diaz has proven that he can get players to the NFL and he’s proven that he is a very good football coach.

5. Family –

This team is full of character players, leadership and hard workers and this team seems to be on one accord. This team fights for one another, and this team will succeed because this team is “family”.

Next: Dak Prescott Named to 2015 Maxwell Award Watch List

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