Week 8: aTm - True Maroon

WEEK 8:  ATM - TRUE MAROON


Okay, let's get straight to the point:  Miss. State is pretty damn good.  The 'Dogs kicked A&M's butt, 12th man and all, at their big house.  I'll be honest:  I had been afraid of UK, but I thought we'd probably win since we were playing at home.  I thought we had a chance to win at Kyle Field ... but had I had to bet, I would've put my money on the Aggies.  After an embarrassing start, A&M should have had only one loss before Sat. night, and that was the closest regular season game anyone has played UAT in several years.  A&M's frosh QB, running game, and defense had all shown significant improvement ... and Christian Kirk had absolutely owned State every time he had faced them.  It looked like that jackass trustee was going to owe Kevin Sumlin a Trumpian "'uge" apology.  The 'Dogs had looked toothless in their first 2 SEC road tests, and they were taking the field before 100,000 hostiles.  Fortunately no one told Dan the Man or the Bulldogs that they were supposed to be outmanned.  They just manhandled aTm, just as they had the last 2 times they had played them in Starkville.  It looked like the 'Dogs felt right at home with all the maroon.

The bottom line, as I expected, was that the team whose line won the line of scrimmage and who could run on the other most effectively won.  Oh, me of little faith ... I once was blind, but now I see.  Contrary to my fears, the 'Dogs owned the trenches and just imposed their will with Nicky Fitz, Big Train Williams, and Nick Gibson following a young but big, strong, and vastly underappreciated O line.  It was a Billy Jack style game (see last week's post if that term eludes you).  And Todd Grantham's defense?  They shut down what had been a very effective A&M running game and pressured the beleaguered Kellen Mond into looking like the true freshman he is.  Remember that Grantham has told everyone that his philosophy is a) stop the run, b) pressure the QB into hurrying and making mistakes, and c) forcing turnovers.  Check, check, and check!  It was, to quote the late, great Muhammad Ali, "noooooo contest!"

Some observations ...
  • Sometimes Dan gets a little too cute trying to do the unexpected, i.e., running when everyone knows they're going to pass, and passing when everyone thinks they'll keep running it.  But the guy is pretty darn smart.  He had a game plan that had the esteemed John Chavous off balance most of the night.  After running A&M silly last year and returning almost all of that cast, he began the game throwing it all over the place.  Once A&M adjusted to that, he unleashed the "hounds of hell" behind that big line that just kept pushing the Aggies back all night long.
  • State's passing game is growing into a real weapon.  Fitz's passing is improving in both decision-making and accuracy.  Whether as a result or a cause, the receivers are improving.  They're getting some separation and are making the 50/50 catches.  There was even a tight end sighting!  Attaboy, Farrod and Justin!  (And although we call Jordan Thomas a wide receiver, he strongly resembles a tight end ... a very large tight end, in fact.)  Of course, once again the line provided protection for Nick.  It was good seeing the "Pocket Rocket," Keith Mixon, back on the field too.  He gives us something extra.
  • The MSU defensive line just keeps making life miserable for the other team, controlling the run and pressuring the QB.  Great to have Cory Thomas back to complement and supplement Simmons, Hoyett, Brown, Adams, Spencer, etc.  And Montez Sweat (to quote the late Dennis Green) "is who we thought he was."  A terror!  I almost feel sorry for opposing QB's.
  • I haven't seen a linebacking corps this year that I'd trade ours for.  Dez Harris just makes plays all over the field.  (Thank goodness he wasn't hurt badly, as it initially appeared that he was!)  Leo is solid.  Gerri Green had another exceptional game ... so big and fast!  And Erroll Thompson and Willie Gay continue to look like anything but freshmen ... great quickness and hit like trucks.
  • The "gotcha last tag" looking play to give A&M their last TD notwithstanding, the secondary is coming on.  The safeties made lots of plays, both in coverage and keeping the receivers from making yards after the catch.  How about those cornerbacks getting their first interceptions of the season?!  Good job of staying close enough to deflect passes and being alert enough to pick them off.
  • The one thing that didn't fit for me in the A&M game was that Logan Cooke didn't continue to boom punts, drop them inside the 20, or put kickoffs out the back of the end zone.  I'm certain that they didn't want to kick to Christian Kirk, but I'm not sure if he was punting out of bounds and trying to kick off away from Kirk, or if simply the thought of avoiding Kirk affected his kicks.  Regardless, he kicked much shorter than he normally does.  On the other hand, Kirk didn't have any long returns, as he's torched us with in the past.
  • Having been a Bulldog fan for 60 years, I'm not sure exactly at what point I began to relax and know that the game was ours ... it had seemed so easy it was almost too good to be true.  In most games there comes a play that effectively signals the end of the game.  My son and I call this the "Bednarik play" in tribute to the game in which the last 2-way player in the NFL, the late Chuck Bednarik of the Eagles, in 1960 knocked poor Frank Gifford (who had been giving the Eagles fits) not just out, not just out of the game, but out for a couple of seasons and into a new position (receiver rather than RB) upon his return.  There's a rather brutal but classic photo of Chuck enthusiastically demonstrating over the prostrate Frank after the play ...
This occurred during the time when it was considered bad form in the NFL to show one's derriere after a big play.  For years reporters had badgered Chuck to tell them what he was saying after the play, and for years he had demurred.  Several decades afterward he finally gave in and admitted that in his exuberance he had exclaimed, "This [bleep]ing game is over!"  Deep down inside I felt that the Bednarik play last night was when Nick Gibson blasted and spun in for a TD to make it 28-7 late in the 3rd quarter.  However, I didn't fully breathe deeply until Peters' Pick 6.  So let's make it co-Bednariks for the A&M win.  The game was over when Gibson scored ... it was really, really over when Peters took it to the house.

So here we are -- after 8 weeks of football -- with Mississippi State bowl sitting at 6-2, bowl eligible for the 8th year in a row, a sure bet to reappear in the national rankings, and certain to be favorites in 3 of the remaining games.  They still haven't played a close game, having dominated 6 opponents, and having lost badly on the road to 2 nationally ranked teams.  All 4 remaining games must still be played, to be sure.  But once again Dan Mullen's Bulldogs are preparing a big dish of crow to feed the self-styled "experts" who (as usual) picked them near the bottom of the SEC.  (May they strangle on their drinks as they watch the 'Dogs play in yet another bowl at the end of this season!)  Hail, State?  Hail, yeah!!

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