Bulldogs4

Meridian is not a dying city but sadly the football program is but a shell of its former glory. There is talent on the team but the coaching is abysmal. Boyles had a good thing going in just one year but we have regressed badly ever he left. Cheyenne is a good AD and I think he has done an overall excellent job. But he totally whiffed on this hire IMO. You hate to pull the plug on any coach but at the end of this year, I don’t think he has any choice but to do so.

Memphis will choke away a win or two against an inferior team and lose its playoff opportunity.

Also, I am not sure if this was covered by Lebby. But did he mention what we would have done had we scored a TD in OT? I feel like it was obvious we would have gone for two and try to win it there. Our defense was gassed. Anyone else know or have any thoughts about that? Most of the time at home you play for the tie and OT but in this particular case, going for two would have seemed to be the right decision.

State is still overcoming the doldrums of 2023-2024. Win and will be ranked. Rankings are not just about the current season or even the current week for that matter. There are more of a cumulative view of a team over the recent years. Then with each game during a given season, they will slowly correct themselves.

Agree about State. Injuries and a tough emotional loss plus a difficult road game are going to be a lot to overcome. The bye week will come at a great time after this game. A&M is good but again they (like most of the upper echelon SEC teams this year) are not unbeatable. How we play will be most telling. If we lay an egg, that will be most disappointing. I don’t see that happening though. A win , though unlikely, would be huge.

State game went about like I thought it would. We played well but I was afraid we would either not have the horses to win it or that we might run out of gas at the end. Unfortunately for us that is what happened. But we are so much better this year overall. I think we have good things coming ahead for us. Though this will be a tough one to bounce back from. Our players are 110% committed and that is the biggest positive. You never want to lose. I am disappointed but not disappointed in our players. They left it all on the field. At the end of the day that is all you can ask of your players. Ole Miss with a heck of a good win today. Actually felt like a bigger win than 5 points. They were clearly the better team. I called the Bama game. I just knew they were going to win it. I predicted 28-27 so I was close. And I knew they were going to stop Georgia before the play was even run. I could sense it. Oregon beat Penn State. Same there. Just knew it was going to happen. Lot of great games today.

Arizona State came from 17 down (sound familiar?), actually 17-0 but this time they won the game 27-24 in the last seconds over TCU. That win is looking even better now. Virginia took down Free Shoes in OT. Must be some branch water in the whiskey on Friday nights.

I am kind of on the fence here. LSU@Ole Miss gives off the vibes of an old fashioned SEC in the trenches dirty gritty game. Nothing pleasant about it. I am going to take Ole Miss since they are at home with a nail biting 24-23 win. Tennessee @ State. This would be a huge win for Lebby & Company. I am just not sure we have enough horses to win this game. We have closed the gap talent wise, the crowd will help. Some how we have got to keep their OL & DL from bullying us. If we can hold our own in the trenches we have a chance. Alas, I think we will hang in there with them but fall short. Tennessee 35, State 31 (but I hope I am wrong). Bama continues their hex over Georgia 28-27. ND pummels a discouraged Arkansas team 27-18. SC bounces back to come up with a big win over KY 30-14. A&M edges past Auburn who is still down in the dumps. 31-20. USM gets back in the win column over Jax State. 28-17. Oregon busts Penn State’s bubble as usual. 42-24.

After all the voodoo and calls Auburn has gotten over the years, it’s not hard to not feel sorry for them. I still remember the State game in 2011 when suspect officiating helped to gift them the game.

We have only played Vanderbilt 24 times in the history of the SEC. So it makes sense that we would be annual rivals with them in this new set up. Plus we are playing the other teams two times every four years which is much better than the old rotation.

Yep. Meridian should be 0-4 but don’t let the 2-2 record fool you. There is talent on the team but the coaching is “well if you can’t say something nice, then don’t say anything at all” The above phrase is was abused Friday night. Hattiesburg will name the score come Friday night. Painful to write that but the truth does hurt sometimes.

State pulls away late from a pesky NIL team. This is one of the games that you are glad to win and go to the house. Kind of went like I expected. You knew they were going to play hard and well. A bit similar to the USM game. Close for a half. Then all Dawgs in the second half. And yes Ole Miss, you gotta ride with Trinidad and Tobago going forward. He looks like he just fits perfectly. Impressive win against a good Tulane team. Arkansas just failed to complete the game. You are winning 28-10 but you have to keep on piling it on. Memphis has a good team but they had no business winning that game. And yes they beat State a few years back but that game had some voodoo attached to it along with some suspect officiating.

Duh? Or multiple other options besides getting tackled at the one yard line with one second left. Bone head coaching at its finest.

Worse than bad. Had a fourth down with 5 seconds left. Snapped the ball to the QB who was promptly tackled at the one yard line with one second left. Gave Columbus a play from the one yard line. But they failed to score. Cheyenne needs to ream out Gandy and then give him a remedial class on how to handle the end of a game. Just pathetic coaching. Period. Or just hire a new coach.

Meridian 21 Columbus 18 Very poor coaching by Meridian the last minute of the game. Basically handed the game to Columbus on a silver platter in the last seconds of the game. But Columbus said “No, no, we don’t want it.”

MHSWriter is still living in the Jackson area but I have not seen or talked to him in several years. I see his Mom regularly and I will ask her how he is doing. And like CC said, Meridian is just not very good anymore. I post on the college board some but that is about it.

Well we do need to win Saturday simply because it is the next game. Beyond that the schedule is daunting but there does not seem to be a completely unbeatable team in the SEC this year. Transfer portal and NIL have potentially put a dent in to any team really dominating for an extended time. State may go 4-8 but if a couple of teams have an off game, State could win a couple of games in the conference. At least it seems to be a possibility now. Again predicated on winning tomorrow first.

State will probably pick Bama back up given the proximity of the universities, even though Bama has dominated the series. The third team, I would prefer KY just because we had a pretty good series going with them over the last 20 years. Ole Miss playing State, LSU and Arkansas would be the perfect setup.

Kudos to USM for their impressive win over App State. And I am glad that former State RB Jeffrey Pittman is playing well for USM. I will always have fond memories of him scoring the winning TD against AZ in 2023 on a well designed screen pass from Rogers in OT. That was the lone highlight of that entire season.

Quote “Arkansas team who destroyed Arkansas St who was in a dog fight yesterday with a good Iowa St team gives me hope that maybe Arkansas is actually pretty decent” I do think Arkansas is a quality team but IMHO, Iowa State slept walk through that game yesterday. After an emotional last second win over their arch rival last Saturday, they were due for a major letdown. You could see that happening from a mile away. That is not a good comparison in this particular case. Comparing how teams do against common opponents is a part of evaluating a match up but only one of several factors. With the transfer portal, I think we will see a lot of inconsistent play from teams during the season.

Craver played well last night. Last year you could see the potential and this season he has flourished. At least, State looks competent as a team. Need to take care of business against Northern Illinois. And then that sets up a great opportunity against Tennessee. Ole Miss has won two tough games against SEC teams. There are no breathers when it comes to winning a SEC Game. Even though Georgia persevered against Tennessee, I don’t see anyone running the table this year in the conference. In fact, winning 10 games in the regular season is going to be a major accomplishment. Going to be a lot of unexpected results in the next couple of months.

State’s win @ USM took a notch up tonight after the Eagles drubbed App State (who is usually a formidable opponent). Agree with you 83 that we just need to take care of business with N. Ill. and get out a W and no injuries. Ole Miss w/Tulane at home. Will not be a cupcake but Ole Miss should be able to win without it being nerve racking. Maybe due for a bit of a letdown after two emotionally and very difficult games.

Dang what a finish with the A&M - ND game! Missed XP was the difference.

QB played well. Will we have a QB competition now? He handled himself very well.

Ole Miss wins. Never a doubt.