On a night when the winner got a golden egg, the Mississippi State Bulldogs laid a big one. A real big one.
Everything was set up for a storybook finish for State star Dak Prescott. It was senior day, it was a packed stadium, and it was the biggest football game in the Magnolia State. Then he ran head on into an Ole Miss defense that was taking no prisoners and playing with venom from the opening kickoff.
The Rebel defense, the calling card for Hugh Freeze’s teams during his tenure so far in Oxford, stole the show. Prescott was sacked seven times and threw a pick-six. The Rebels also forced, and recovered, a fumble from Prescott as the Rebels rolled to an easy 38-13 win. Ole Miss led 28-3 at halftime and was never challenged by the Bulldogs.
The Rebels finish the season with wins over LSU, Alabama and Mississippi State, the latter two wins on the road in games where the defense shined. Now the Rebels are in line for a Sugar Bowl berth, which is a sweet prize even if it isn’t a Playoff semifinal this year.
The win was more than just the product of a swaggering defense, as Chad Kelly looked every bit like the NFL prospect people have said he is. Kelly threw for 236 yards, ran for 74, and scored three combined touchdowns. He silenced the cowbells early and with regularity throughout the game.
More important than the numbers alone was Kelly’s ability to read the field. He dropped balls into small holes in zones — his 36-yard touchdown pass to Damore’ea Stringfellow in the second quarter was an excellent example of this. He distributed the ball evenly. Six Rebels caught passes, all had at least two, and tailback Jaylen Walton was utilized out of the backfield with five receptions. Numbers are great, but it’s even more important to get the numbers the right way. Kelly did that for the full 60 minutes in Starkville.
For the Bulldogs it was just more of the same. Even as Dan Mullen has taken the program to new heights, the same deficiencies that plagued State before are still in evidence. The Bulldogs can’t turn the corner. In 2010, when State went 9-4, the Bulldogs lost back-to-back games in November. In 2012 the Bulldogs went 8-5, and all of their losses came after Oct. 27. Last season the Bulldogs raced to a 9-0 start and the school’s first number-one ranking. State went 1-3 in its last four games to finish 10-3. This season the Bulldogs have lost two games in November again and will almost certainly finish outside the top 25.
The Bulldogs have never beaten Alabama during Mullen’s tenure and beaten LSU only once. If the best teams in school history, with the best player the school has ever had, can’t break through to the top of the SEC West, why should anyone believe it’s going to happen soon? Dan Mullen’s coaching stock is as hot as it will ever be. He should capitalize by taking his talents elsewhere if the right deal comes along.
