Published June 15, 2012 - 8:18am
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Louisiana Tech’s head coach Sonny Dykes (who?!) recently took a shot at MSU and said he thought his team was just as good or as talented as MSU’s last year when these two squared off.
Tech took MSU into overtime only to eventually lose 26-20. Tech did defeat Ole Miss 27-7, but who didn’t last year?
Dykes told the Monroe News-Star after re-watching the game film after last season, the talent on his team is better than some think:
“Last year we played Mississippi State, and I swear to you there was no difference in our players and theirs,” Dykes told the newspaper. “I was shocked. There was no difference. They might’ve had a little more depth, but across the board our players were about as good as theirs. We played Ole Miss, and we kinda played ‘em at a time that wasn’t really good for them, and I think we beat ‘em by about 24 points and had better players than they did. I was shocked. I would like to say we coached ‘em better or we were real smart and pat ourselves on the back, but we had better players than they did.”
His statement may have been partly true, but comparing yourself to being ‘just as good’ as a middle-tier West team that vastly unperformed last year is a little bit embarrassing.
Dykes must be really pumped over his 8-5 record and WAC championship. State would run that conference.
And Dan Mullen was quick to respond, respectfully of course:
“I guess if the players are equal we must have better coaches here at Mississippi State since we won,” Mullen said in jest. “But they are a very good football team. Sonny does a great job with their program.”
It’s easy for Dykes to talk when he doesn’t have to play the Bulldogs this year, right?
flush twice, it’s a long way to Starkville