Mississippi State enjoyed nearly unprecedented success in 2014, winning 10 games for only the second time in 70 years on its way to the school’s first No. 1 ranking ever and an appearance in a New Year’s Six bowl.

Dan Mullen snapped a personal 15-game losing skid against ranked opponents with three straight victories over top 10 teams early in the SEC, and his Bulldogs offense led the SEC in plays per game at more than 75 per contest.

However, with great success comes even greater expectations, and MSU won’t be sneaking up on opponents in 2015 as it aims to duplicate its success without many of its 2014 starters or former defensive coordinator Geoff Collins, now with the Florida Gators.

Let’s take a look at the State of the Union in Starkville the aftermath of a sensational 2014 season.

ON-FIELD PERFORMANCE

SEC standing: Top third

Grade: B+

As eluded to above, Mississippi State boasted 10 wins last season and was one of only four SEC teams to do so in 2014.

Dak Prescott had the best season by a Mississippi State quarterback in school history, finishing in the top 3 among SEC quarterbacks in both passing yards and rushing yards, and Josh Robinson followed a trend set by Dan Mullen’s past offenses by rushing for 1,000 yards in his first season as the featured back.

The secondary allowed more long completions than any other in the conference, but the front seven was impressive for most of the season, ranking sixth in the SEC in rushing defense thanks to a number of future NFL talents like Benardrick McKinney and Preston Smith.

The Bulldogs experience carried them a long way in 2014, especially along the offensive line and in the front seven. However, much of that experience has either graduated or begun preparing for the NFL Draft in April, meaning MSU will now have to find out how much one season of success can do to lay the foundation for more successful seasons in the future.

Dak Prescott’s return in 2015 should buy MSU one more year so long as he continues progressing the way he has in his first four years in Starkville.

RECRUITING

SEC standing: Middle of the pack

2015 rank: 18 (8th SEC)

Grade: B

Most schools would be thrilled to haul in a top 20 recruiting class, but considering MSU’s No. 18 class doesn’t even rank in the top half of its own conference it must be feeling a bit frustrated by the results of this past recruiting cycle.

Nevertheless, the Bulldogs took their recruiting efforts to another level this winter, amassing the best class of the Dan Mullen era featuring seven four-star signees, three of which were among the team’s six early enrollees this winter.

Not only did MSU attract a higher class of talent, but it’ll have an extra offseason to work with much of that talent, which is critical to MSU’s initiative to stay relevant despite losing so many key pieces from the 2014 team.

The Bulldogs biggest recruiting victory came in the form of top inside linebacker prospect Leo Lewis, who was committed to Ole Miss less than a week before signing day but eventually flipped to Mississippi State. He’ll be able to replace McKinney, the top NFL Draft prospect at the position in this year’s class.

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT

SEC standing: As good as any program

Grade: A

Aside from perhaps Gary Pinkel at Missouri, no program has been able to do more with less than the Bulldogs during the Mullen era. Last year’s 10-win run may have been the pinnacle of Mullen’s stay in Starkville through his first six seasons, but his teams have now reached a school record five straight bowl games largely on the backs of former two- and three-star recruits.

Mississippi State has signed just one five-star prospect during Mullen’s tenure — junior defensive tackle Chris Jones — and many of last year’s key contributors were not nearly as well regarded coming out of high school.

Prescott was originally recruited to play tight end of safety, and was overlooked by his home state LSU Tigers. Robinson was a three-star recruit; so was McKinney. Preston Smith was a two-star prospect, and so was center Dillon Day. Top lineman Ben Beckwith wasn’t even good enough to warrant being assigned a rating.

The fact of the matter is Mullen turned these guys from afterthoughts into productive members of a 10-win team in a conference that sent 12 of 14 schools bowling last season. The SEC may have lacked one dominant force, but it was deeper than its ever been and MSU still won 10 games thanks to its player development in the seasons leading up to 2014.

After all, returning experience means nothing if the players aren’t developed properly. Mississippi State’s were, and it resulted in big things last fall.

FACILITIES

SEC standing: Above average

Grade: B

Mississippi State put the finishing touches on the Leo Seal Jr. Football Complex in 2013, and now the 80,000 square foot training and office facility serves as one of the nicer such facilities in the SEC.

The entire look of the complex is sleek and modern, and MSU really didn’t hold back when developing these facilities. The weight room is enormous, the training pools are state of the art, the meeting rooms are gorgeous and the practice fields are, well, football fields, but there’s certainly wrong with them (they’re very nice).

The Bulldogs don’t boast the kind of facilities that will get a kid to commit to MSU right then and there, but they have facilities that indicate the football program is important to the university, and facilities that warrant use by a consistent winner.

COACHING

SEC standing: Emerging threat

Grade: B+

It’s funny to think back to the end of the 2013 season, when MSU faithful clamored for Mullen to be fired despite an overtime win in the Egg Bowl and a 44-7 rout of Rice in the Liberty Bowl to end the season.

Athletic director Scott Stricklin gave Mullen another year, and Mullen made it count with the magical run MSU put together in 2014.

Now Mullen has gone from a coach unable to take down the conference’s elite to a coach capable of tuning long-suffering Mississippi State into one of those elite programs. His player development is finally gaining recognition, his recruiting has improved as the result of five straight bowl berths, and his record against ranked opponents in 2014 shows he’s turned a corner in high-exposure games in conference play.

Mullen didn’t do it alone, however, and Mississippi State was humbled in a 49-34 bowl loss to Georgia Tech and its triple-option offense while compensating for the loss of Collins to Florida.

The Bulldogs turned to former MSU DC Manny Diaz to return to his old role, which might be the best move MSU could’ve made considering the number of future NFL talents Diaz led in his one year in Starkville in 2010.

Mississippi State kept other schools from poaching Mullen this offseason, and his commitment to MSU could allow the program to continue blossoming in the coming years.