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Fans take one look at Mississippi State’s No. 1 ranking and perfect 8-0 record and assume this season has been a proverbial cake walk for the Bulldogs. In reality, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Mississippi State has done its fair share of coasting this season — beating three non-conference opponents by more than 30 points a game and running up 20 point leads over LSU, Texas A&M and Auburn earlier this season — but it hasn’t been nearly as easy as people think. The Bulldogs were pushed to the brink by a pair of unranked opponents the last two weeks (Kentucky and Arkansas), and they’re learning on the fly what it’s like to wear a target on their backs every week as America’s top-ranked team.
Two weeks ago in Kentucky, the Bulldogs led UK by just seven points with less than three minutes remaining in the game. Last week at home against Arkansas, they needed an interception with less than two minutes left to seal a seven-point win.
The Wildcats and Razorbacks put forth their best efforts of the season against Mississippi State, turning what should have been easy conference wins by the Bulldogs into gritty, physical battles waged down to the final minutes on the clock.
Mississippi State remains Kentucky’s only ranked opponent of the season (UK faced LSU during a two-week stint when the Tigers sat outside the rankings), yet UK came closer to victory against the Bulldogs than it did against inferior teams like LSU or Missouri. The Cats played inspired, and that kind of inspiration can only be drawn from the possibility of beating a No. 1 team.
Arkansas would tell you the same thing. It played better against Mississippi State and fellow playoff contender Alabama than it did against an inferior team like Georgia. Why? It played inspired football.
Mississippi State is just beginning to understand how hard it is to maintain a No. 1 ranking in the SEC, but it’s done so for three weeks and counting. The Bulldogs have adjusted to different styles of play, relying on once-in-a-generation stars like Dak Prescott and Benardrick McKinney to win any kind of game. They won a shootout on the road against Kentucky in a game with 76 combined points, and won a low-scoring nail biter against Arkansas in a game with just 27 combined points.
Mississippi State has remained true to what it does best — run the ball and play aggressive in the front seven — but it’s also become astute at exploiting an opponent’s weakness even if it doesn’t fit their initial gameplan.
The game against Kentucky is a perfect example. The Wildcats tried to take Mississippi State out of its element and force it to throw the ball, so Prescott went ahead and threw 33 times in the game, one of only two games this season in which he’s thrown the ball 30 or more times. As a result, he ran for fewer than 100 yards for just the second time in his last six games, yet MSU still scored 45 points in a victory.
The Bulldogs found a way to win against a Kentucky Air Raid offense they couldn’t stop. That’s why they’re No. 1.
Arkansas silenced Mississippi State’s rushing attack better than any other team this season, as Dakman and Robinson combined to run for just 125 yards and a touchdown on a whopping 32 carries. That should have spelled doom for the Bulldogs. Instead, Prescott found Robinson six times in the passing game for 110 yards, allowing the dynamic duo to remain Mississippi State’s bell cow on offense. The Bulldogs found a weakness in Arkansas’ defense and exploited it in the first 300-yard passing game of Prescott’s career.
McKinney and the defense held Arkansas to just 4.3 yards per carry and 10 points despite the Razorbacks’ 17 minute advantage in time of possession. The front seven knew it had to contain the Hogs’ rushing attack to help a struggling offense, and that’s exactly what it did. That’s why MSU is No. 1.
The Bulldogs have two crucial games remaining against Alabama and Ole Miss, and those games should be tougher than their last two. But if Mississippi State’s last two games taught us anything, it’s that they’ll find a way to win against the Tide and the Rebels.
After all, that’s why the Bulldogs are No. 1.
A former newspaper reporter who has roamed the southeastern United States for years covering football and eating way too many barbecue ribs, if there is such a thing.
