Mississippi State has earned its No. 1 ranking, even if Florida State fans don’t think so.
The Bulldogs have been quite impressive with three straight wins against AP Top 10 opponents LSU, Texas A&M and Auburn — becoming just the fifth team in the AP poll era (since 1936) to do that and the first to do so since Auburn in 1983.
You talk about playing well. The Dogs had four turnovers last Saturday and still beat then-No. 2 Auburn by 15 points.
I was in Starkville for what is one of the greatest wins in school history. It was by far the best game-day atmosphere I’ve ever seen. My ears are still ringing.
The 62,945 fans who made up the largest and loudest crowd in Scott Field’s 100 years get a nice assist.
It’s a good thing the Bulldogs are off this week. They get a chance to take a deep breath and gather themselves before the pressure begins to build with MSU in unchartered waters.
Yes, coach Dan Mullen has experience being in this position as the offensive coordinator at Florida, which won two national titles from 2005 to 2008. But this is a totally different situation for a program that’s never been No. 1 before.
The schedule is pretty favorable the next few weeks (at Kentucky, then home to Arkansas and UT-Martin), so it’s crucial the Bulldogs handle prosperity well. The trip to Kentucky next week has trap game written all over it, and sooner or later Arkansas is going to upset someone.
The quest to keep the Bulldogs grounded and grinding to get better falls on the coaches and the broad shoulders of team leaders, such as quarterback Dak Prescott and linebacker Benardrick McKinney.
Since football is the ultimate team game, you hate to single out one player, but there is no way MSU is in this position without Prescott. He has developed into a Heisman Trophy front-runner at the halfway point of the season.
Prescott has thrown for 1,467 yards with 14 touchdowns and four interceptions and ranks second on the team in rushing with 576 yards and eight TDs.
More importantly, the guy is just a winner. He showed that Saturday by leading his offense to scores each time the Bulldogs needed to answer an Auburn score.
It’s truly incredible to see where State is now when you consider it wasn’t that long ago that many fans were questioning the direction of Mullen’s program.
After three consecutive losses last year, the Bulldogs were 4-6 overall and 1-5 in the SEC in the middle of November. Many were worried about the upward trajectory of rival Ole Miss and the gradual decline of Mullen’s program after a 9-4 season in 2010.
That 4-6 start to the 2013 season seems like a decade ago now that State has won nine consecutive games.
The first couple of words out of Mullen’s mouth Saturday in the post-game press conference were, “I’m exhausted.”
Pulling a program back from the tipping point and putting it in the national spotlight will do that to a coach.
Mullen and his staff deserve a ton of credit for the way they have built this program. They’ve done this without sexy recruiting rankings and high-dollar budgets.
They’ve done it with patience, player development and finding players with a chip on their shoulder.
Defensive end Preston Smith was a two-star defensive end out of Georgia. He plays alongside sophomore five-star Chris Jones, a prospect that blew up on the recruiting trail well after Mississippi State coaches unearthed him out of Houston, Mississippi.
McKinney was a three-star athlete out of Tunica who didn’t really have a position. Now he’s one of the most physically imposing linebackers in the country.
Although Mississippi State’s staff under Mullen has shown a keen eye for that under-the-radar talent, it’s been the development of that talent that has set the Bulldog program apart.
Wide receiver De’Runnya Wilson is a great example of that development. He won Mr. Basketball in Alabama but didn’t play football as a sophomore or junior. He was raw and a bit of an unknown.
Now the 6-foot-5, 220-pound sophomore leads the team in receiving with 319 yards and six touchdowns.
In the past five seasons, Mullen is 37-21 at State, while Florida is 33-23 over that same stretch.
MSU fans better hope Will Muschamp can right the ship at Florida in the second half of this season or the Gators might be knocking on Mullen’s door soon.
