There’s a growing number of reports linking Mississippi State’s Dan Mullen to the head coach opening at Penn State.

Mullen has never attended or worked for the university, but his father was a PSU graduate.

Currently in his third season in Starkville, Mullen has accumulated a 20-17 overall record. After finishing 5-7 in 2009 and 9-4 in 2010, this year’s Bulldog squad sits at 6-6 and awaits a likely Music City Bowl invite.

If Mullen does indeed move on, look for MSU athletic director Scott Stricklin to move quickly in filling the position.

Mark Hudspeth, current head coach at Louisiana-Lafayette, would likely be named as Mullen’s replacement within a few days.

Hudspeth, who was Mullen’s passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach in Starkville for 2 years, is in his first season of leading the Ragin’ Cajuns. His team finished the regular season at 8-4, the best record ever for a ULL football team, and is set to participate in a bowl game for just the second time in school history.

Prior to joining Mullen’s staff, Hudspeth spent 7 years as the head coach at the University of North Alabama, where he compiled a 66-21 record.

A native of Louisville, Mississippi, the 43 year old Hudspeth has strong ties to the area and is considered to be a top notch recruiter. He was previously linked to job openings at Ole Miss and Arizona.

Following a 41-27 win over Ole Miss in 2009, Dan Mullen announced to a cheering crowd of maroon clad supporters that his Bulldogs were the only team “on the rise” in the state of Mississippi.

It was Mullen’s first Egg Bowl appearance and his team had just finished 5-7, knocking off a Houston Nutt squad that would go on to win the Cotton Bowl. While the victory was impressive, not many folks outside of Starkville paid much attention to Mullen’s post-game proclamation.

A year later, on their home field in Oxford, Ole Miss would fall to the Dawgs again, by a score of 31-23, ending their season with just 4 wins. Mullen was now 2-0 versus “the school up north”, as he refers to MSU’s biggest rival. Furthermore, his prophecy of being the team “on the rise” seemed much more reasonable. State finished 9-4 on the year and captured a 52-14 Gator Bowl victory over Michigan.

After his second Egg Bowl win, Mullen stood up in the locker room and delivered another bold message to his guys; “We’re never losing to this team again!”

Another year has now passed and Ole Miss heads into this Saturday’s “Battle For The Golden Egg” with a lame duck coach, suspended players, a 13 game losing streak in the SEC and a high probability of ending the season with just 2 wins.

Mississippi State, at 5-6, has also endured a disappointing season. The Bulldogs have played 6 ranked teams and come up on the losing end each time. Close losses to Auburn and South Carolina were especially heartbreaking for Mullen’s team.

However, capturing the Golden Egg trophy for the third year in a row would still mean back to back bowl trips for the guys in maroon.

A win would also solidify Mullen’s previous claims, at least for another year.

Of course, a third win over “the school up north’ would likely result in even more gutsy comments from MSU’s young coach. Mullen has never backed away from an opportunity to ruffle the fur of the Black Bears…err…I mean Rebels…and their fans.

Whether Ole Miss supporters are willing to admit or not, Mullen’s antics have been a positive for this long standing rivalry. Emotions have been stirred, to say the least, resulting in a heightened anticipation of the Thanksgiving weekend classic. Not since the Jackie Sherrill/Tommy Tuberville battles of the 1990′s has so much tension surrounded the Egg Bowl.

There’s nothing wrong with throwing a little gas on the fire. It’s good for the fans, good for the state and good for both schools…especially the winning school, which probably explains why Mullen is so quick to stoke the flames.

So, what do we make of this year’s battle in Starkville? Will Nutt’s players make one last bold attempt to send their coach out with a win?

Maybe, but it won’t be enough. There’s a reason State is an 18 point favorite in this one.

In front a 16th straight sellout crowd, the Bulldogs will punch their ticket to the postseason on Saturday.

Don’t feel too sorry for Coach Nutt, though. Thanks to a generous buyout agreement, he’ll have approximately 6 million reasons to keep smiling when the dust settles.

Prediction: Mississippi State 34 – Ole Miss 13

Some various news and notes out of Starkville, as the Bulldogs recover from a 24-7 loss to Alabama and look ahead to this weekend’s matchup with Arkansas:

Whitley Out For Season - On Monday, we learned that safety Nickoe Whitley will miss the remainder of the season with a ruptured Achilles’ tendon in his left foot. Whitley, who suffered the injury early in Saturday’s contest, has played a large part in MSU’s recent success against the pass. The sophomore is credited with 4 interceptions and a forced fumble this season, although stats don’t tell the entire story on Whitley. Best known to State fans for his aggressive play and willingness to deliver monstrous hits, he will be missed in Little Rock this weekend.

Relf Questionable - Senior quarterback Chris Relf suffered a mild concussion during Saturday’s game and will be “day-to-day” when it comes to practicing this week, according to Dan Mullen. Relf started against Alabama, but sophomore Tyler Russell garnered most of the snaps at center.

Maye May Play - Brandon Maye, a senior linebacker and former Clemson starter, could see action against the Razorbacks this weekend. Maye was suspended for the Bama game due to disciplinary reasons, but is currently practicing with the team and could work his way back into the rotation. Read more…

Dan Mullen often says players come to Mississippi State for the opportunity to compete against the best teams in the nation week in and week out. If that’s the case, his guys are about to receive the opportunity of a lifetime.

An angry Alabama Crimson Tide rolls into Starkville this weekend, fresh of a heartbreaking loss to top ranked LSU last Saturday in Tuscaloosa. In what was billed as “the game of the century”, Nick Saban’s team fell to the Tigers in overtime by a final score of 9-6.

For Alabama, though, all hope for a national title is not lost. With a strong finish to the season and a stumble by Oklahoma State and Stanford, Saban’s squad could set themselves up for a rematch with the Bayou Bengals in the BCS championship game.

The first obstacle on their road to redemption? Mullen’s Bulldogs. And that could spell bad news for the boys in maroon.

Offensively, Bama is lead by one of the top running backs in the country. Trent Richardson, who is sure to a Heisman finalist, is averaging 6.3 yards per carry and has picked up 1078 total yards so far this season. He’s also accounted for 17 touchdowns. Overall, the Tide ranks 22nd nationally in rushing offense, averaging 214 yards per game, and 23rd in scoring offense, at 35.7 points per game.

On the flip side, Bama brings to town one of the top defenses in all of college football, giving up an average of just 7 points per game. That ranks best in the country. The most points allowed by Kirby Smart’s defense all season, 14, came via Arkansas’ high flying offense in week four.

In other words, the Bulldogs will be in elite company if they can find the endzone more than once. Of course, LSU never found the endzone last week and still managed to pull off a victory.

So…Could there be a chance? Read more…

Mississippi State headed into Saturday night’s homecoming contest looking for a convincing win and a dose of confidence on offense. The Bulldogs found both, in the form of a 55-17 whipping of Tennessee-Martin.

In front of a another sold out crowd at Scott Field, MSU routed the Skyhawks and moved one step closer to bowl eligibility. By capturing win number five on the year, Dan Mullen’s squad is now just one victory away from post-season action.

The schedule obviously gets much tougher for the Bulldogs moving ahead, with games against Alabama and Arkansas on the horizon. Before looking to the future, though, here’s some interesting notes from this past weekend’s affair in Starkville: Read more…

Photo from Icon SMI

With a 28-16 win on the road at Kentucky last weekend, Mississippi State improved it’s record to 4-4 and boosted fan’s hopes for another bowl bid. If the Bulldogs can take care of business again this Saturday in Starkville, they’ll be one step closer to reaching the magic number of six wins.

While winning six games may not seem like a difficult task at first glance, several SEC teams are in danger of not making the cut this season.

Florida and Vanderbilt both share the same 4-4 mark as State, while Tennessee and Kentucky trail at 3-5 overall. With such a tight battle brewing in the win/loss column, one slip up by any team could mean the difference in bowling for the holidays or sitting at home.

MSU faces a homecoming matchup against Tennessee-Martin this weekend, which should bode well for their post-season hopes.

The Skyhawks hail from the Ohio Valley Conference and sit at 5-3 on the year. Though they field a capable offense, having scored more than 60 points on two occasions this season, the FBS visitors shouldn’t be able to go toe-to-toe with the Bulldogs in this one. Read more…

Heading into the 2011 season, most of the question marks regarding Dan Mullen’s Mississippi State team were centered around the defense. Now, seven games into their schedule, the unit that was once a concern has emerged as a strength in Starkville.

Since giving up 41 points to Auburn in week two, the Bulldogs have turned things around on the defensive side of the ball. They are currently allowing an average of 19.3 point per game, which ranks 19th best in the nation. In the five games since the Auburn loss, they’ve only allowed an average of 14 points.

State also held the LSU offense to their lowest output the season so far, giving up just 19 points to the Tigers in September. Les Miles’ team has scored at least 35 points in each of their other seven games.

Those are some pretty impressive stats for a squad that lost some key components after last season’s Gator Bowl victory.

Defensive coordinator Manny Diaz left for the same position at Texas, following the Bulldogs’ rout of Michigan in January. Diaz was replaced by Chris Wilson, who carried a “co-defensive coordinator” title for the Bulldogs in 2010. Read more…

Facing arguably the best running back/wide receiver combination in college football, Mississippi State’s defense turned in an outstanding performance in front of a sellout crowd at Scott Field on Saturday.

In the end, though, outstanding wasn’t enough.

South Carolina receiver Alshon Jeffery, while held in check all day, made the big play when needed. Jeffery hauled in a four yard touchdown catch with 3:50 left on the clock in the fourth quarter; a move that would give the Gamecocks a 14-10 lead. That would prove to be the game winning score.

MSU quarterback Tyler Russell, making his first career start, proceeded to march his team down the field in the final minutes, but his efforts would end with an interception at Carolina’s 12 yard line. The Gamecocks went on to claim a 14-12 victory, after taking a safety as the final ticks ran off the clock.

For the Bulldogs, it was an especially heart wrenching loss. Though the game was close from start to finish, Dan Mullen’s squad never allowed the Gamecocks to grab the lead before Jeffery’s touchdown at the end.

Now, at 3-4 overall and 0-4 in the SEC, State gets a much needed week off to regroup from a disappointing seven weeks of football. Kentucky is up next on their schedule, which could be good news for a team in search of their first league win.

Before looking ahead, which we’ll do in the coming days, let’s take a glance at a few of the positives and negatives for MSU in Saturday’s loss: Read more…