Mississippi State football locks up bowl eligibility for 9th straight year

The Mississippi State football team has made sure that it will be bowl eligible for the 9th year in a row with the win over Louisiana Tech.

With last night’s dominant win over the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, the Mississippi State football team is now set for a bowl game for the 9th straight season. Obtaining bowl eligibility that many times in a row officially sets a new record for the Mississippi State football program.

Last night, Mississippi State dragged Louisiana Tech up and down the field. In the battle between the Bulldogs, MSU struck quickly thanks to Nick Fitzgerald’s arm and a brilliant connection that he had with his receivers, tight ends, and running backs. Fitzgerald completed 17 of 28 passes for 243 yards and 4 touchdowns, lighting up Louisiana Tech’s defense the entire time he was on the field.

Fitzgerald, unsurprisingly, was also successful running the ball, getting 107 rushing yards on 18 carries against the visiting Bulldogs.

And now, MSU is almost certainly bound for a bowl game at the end of this season.

This eventual bowl game appearance will be the first of the Joe Moorhead era. During the Dan Mullen era of Mississippi State football, the Bulldogs started going to bowl games in 2010, the second year that Mullen was on campus. In Mullen’s first bowl game, and the first bowl for MSU in three seasons at the time, Mississippi State dismantled Michigan in Jacksonville for the Gator Bowl.

Mullen then led MSU to a Music City Bowl win in 2011, a Liberty Bowl win in 2013, a Belk Bowl win in 2015, and a St. Petersburg Bowl win in 2016. In 2017, after Mullen left, the remnants of his coaching staff beat Bobby Petrino and his Heisman winning quarterback, Lamar Jackson, in the Taxslayer Bowl, which used to be the Gator Bowl.

Mullen also led the Bulldogs to a second Gator appearance at the end of the 2012 season, but MSU lost to Northwestern. The Bulldogs also made a historic Orange Bowl appearance at the end of the 2014 season, but Mullen failed to bring the Bulldogs a win in that game.

Now, in the Joe Moorhead era of Mississippi State football, it remains to be seen as to where the Bulldogs will play for their 9th straight bowl appearance. MSU has one of the best defenses in the country and is starting to get things clicking on offense. If State can end the season with 8 regular season wins, then the Bulldogs will probably end up somewhere pleasant for a bowl appearance around New Years.