MWN Mailbag: Nothing Runs Like A Dear Edition

Sep 12, 2015; Starkville, MS, USA; Fans wait for kickoff prior to the game between the LSU Tigers and the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium. LSU defeated Mississippi State 21-19. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports

It’s the time of the week when you, the reader, take the things at the forefront of your brain and submit it to me, the writer, in the form of a question. It’s the weekly MWN Mailbag. We call it the mail bag even though there is no bag nor is there any mail. Weird, I know.

I have a pretty large number of questions this week. I already answered one in a separate post about “lasers”.

I’m so stoked I got to throw a Dr. Evil clip into one of our posts. Possibly my finest moment as a blogger.

Moving on, much of what has been the topic of discussion for Mississippi State fans has been Dear Mania. As in Malik Dear, the slot receiver everyone is sure is the answer to our running problems because of one 52 yard run.

Maybe he is, maybe he isn’t. You’ve been asking, so I’ll tell you what I think. You had other questions, so I’ll get to those as well.

To the questions!

Here is the problem with just assuming Malik Dear should now be our primary back. He has been treated as a slot receiver ever since he showed up on campus. Can he transition to a running back? Sure, but those types of things are normally done in the offseason, not in the middle of the season itself.

Do I expect him to be utilized more? Yes, assuming that when Mullen said he was roughed up in the post game press conference meant he was sore with some bruising and not just a cover for a real injury.

Malik Dear has the potential to be a special player, and he could definitely help our offensive struggles, so look for the coaching staff to get him more involved in the offense. Don’t look for him to be the starting running back on Saturday.

Depends on how you define better. Malik Newman will be here for one year and then bolt to the pros. He will significantly upgrade the play on the court by the team, and have an immediate impact. Malik Newman will have a great chance to be the SEC leading scorer and first team All SEC with a chance at being an All American.

But he’ll only do it for one year.

Malik Dear has touched the ball just under 3 times a game. He’s done really well every time he has touched the ball, but once again, we’ve made him the savior of the offense based on one play. On the other hand he has three more years to make a huge impact, and if he is playing as a true freshman, something Dan Mullen almost never does, then there must be something special about him.

To answer your question, even though Malik Newman will only have one year, he has the potential to be the best basketball player to ever walk on the Humphrey Coliseum floor wearing a Mississippi State uniform. I’ll take him.

Probably because he has been playing receiver the entire time he has been here. That would be my guess.

Yes. The quick screens to the wideouts were a big part of how Mullen was trying to minimize the impact Garrett had on the game. You obviously can’t do that the entire game, but I think it worked a lot of the time. Our receivers are really good blockers, and this might need to become a more integral part of our offensive game plan going forward, especially if the running game continues to struggle.

I don’t think so. No one on the team has mentioned it, at least not that I have seen. You would think if someone did, they would have said something by now. If whoever was doing it really wanted to b noticed, they wouldn’t have used a green laser on a green field. They would have gone red. Which means they are the worst kind of butt hole in the fact they want to be a butt hole but are too scared to go all out.

Currently, the Bulldogs are averaging 155 yards a game rushing. The leading rusher is Dak Prescott with a little over 50 yards a game. The running back with the most rushing yards per game is Ashton Shumpert with 36 per game. So when was the last time it was that bad?

From a team average per game standpoint, you don’t have to go back as far as you think you might. The 2012 team only averaged 144 yards a game on the ground. Ladarius Perkins averaged 85 yards a game, so you have to go further back to find a time when we were pretty inept at the running backs position.

To find a year that we had a running back averaging less per game than this year’s team, you have to go all the way back to 1999. Dontae Walker led the team with a 35 yards per game average. The team averaged 94 yards a game on the ground. It was bad.

If you want to be optimistic, that was the last ten win team before the 2014 version of the Bulldogs. But you also have to remember the 1999 team had the number one defense in the nation as well that bailed the Bulldogs out on a number of occasions. We certainly don’t have that this year.

I’ve eaten so much pizza I don’t even know where to begin. I love barbecue and I love pizza, so any barbecue pizza I’ve had that is good is going to be in the discussion. Living close to Memphis, I hit the jackpot.

Coletta’s and Garibaldi’s here in Memphis are as good as they come. Old Venice has a couple of different of varieties of barbecue pizza that are really good as well. Those are definitely at the top.

Now, lets get real for a minute. What are the best pizza toppings in general. Well I think that needs another power ranking. So here is my Pizza topping power ranking.

1. BBQ pork
2. BBQ chicken
3. Beef
4. Mushrooms
5. Sausage
6. Canadian Bacon
7. Bacon
8. Onions
9. Peppers
10. Pepperoni

Honestly, I only put pepperoni on here because I know so many people would put it at the top. I hate pepperoni. I know that makes me weird and possibly un-American, but this is my list and my rankings. So nah!