Bulldogs4

Nicholls did not get the memo. 16-14 LSU in the second quarter. LSU in a battle at least to this point.

And just like that an INT return for a TD turns the momentum back to OK State. 14-7 Arky in the 2nd quarter. Regarding Leach and the CHOF, I think he should get credit for both TT & State’s bowl victories. Those were his teams. Then he would be over the threshold.

Yep. It is cool to see Coach Leach being recognized at Washington State. What Texas Tech did to Leach rises to the level of what the NCAA did to State in the mid 1970’s. Both were severely egregious in every way. And it is interesting that Texas Tech is now trying to honor Coach Leach. I don’t think Craig James or his son Adam Jones have ever apologized or even acknowledged the wrong they were a part of. But back to Coach Leach…what a Man and Coach. I thoroughly enjoyed his three seasons at State and it saddens me that his tenure was cut short by his untimely death. TT, Wazzou and State are very kindred spirits in many ways. Land grant universities that serve the more regular folks in their respective states and regions. Congrats Coach!!!

Actually other than Hill (who was a generational talent), Meridian had a fairly young team last year. Obviously you don’t replace him but had Boyles remained here, I think we would have had better squad on the field last week. We did beat Biloxi tonight, who is obviously really bad this year. Boyles did not leave Meridian for Petal because of talent. He left because of more dough in his pocket.

Last year Biloxi was very weak at LOS. So not a big surprise that Meridian beat them tonight. And people forget that these are high school kids. Quitman played their Super Bowl last week. So naturally they thought Heidelberg was going to be a cakewalk and as a result played flat and lost a game they should have won. All that to say Meridian is still not a good team but I am glad for the win. And at least we put some points on the board tonight.

4th & 25 for Ole Miss is the equivalent of the Immaculate Deflection in 1983. Artie Cosby’s FG kick was splitting the uprights (I was in the opposite end zone in the State student section) and we were cheering like crazy until the Ole Miss started going nuts on the E side of Memorial Stadium in Jackson. And then we were dumbfounded. Stunned. Devastated. Totally astounded. And I still to this day don’t believe what my eyes saw on that November day 41 years ago. And instead of a 26-24 State win, it remained a 24-23 Ole Miss win.

Woody Marks with the game winning score for USC. Good for him!!! I thought he had gone to the NFL. Had no idea he had transferred to USC. I guess I will have to be a USC fan this year too. One of my favorite players.

So far so good for State. Of course it is EKU but State is playing very well. 28-0 in the second quarter.

Again that is okay. If he stays healthy and has a good year, the accolades will come. For now I am fine with us being well below the radar.

But this is not 2009 and the dynamics are entirely different. 2009 team had some talent had an excellent recruiting class coming in as Freshmen. Yes, there was excitement with Mullen but even with that, his inexperience cost us two games that year (LSU & HOU). And it took winning the EB to have a 5-7 record. Croom gets impugned a lot but sans a QB, he left a really good roster for CDM. With NIL & the transfer portal today, it is like comparing apples & oranges. I don’t think Lebby needs to be taking pot shots at Ole Miss. After 2008, Houston Nutt was very disparaging toward State and that invited Mullen’s cocky attitude towards TSUN. I am fine with us focusing on ourselves and leaving the rivalry alone until late November. I actually get the sense of a quiet but tempered optimism among our fans. Realizing that we are on our fifth coach in seven years. Stability and improvement are paramount and I think most of the fans feel Lebby is the right person for the task.

I think fans are enthusiastic about Lebby while realizing that limelight is shining up the road north right now. I am not sure that the AD is doing a bad thing by being a bit more low key in the present moment. Let them have their glory while we quietly build ourselves back up. I still think a big key is winning next week at ASU. Do that and the team the will be 3-0 going into the Florida game. Then there will be some excitement and the Athletic Department can capitalize on it then.

Did not get to the game and I am glad. I have a relative who is an official and he told me that Meridian looked worse than bad last Friday against Hattiesburg in a scrimmage. Losing Boyles after only one season was a disaster as we were already in a precarious situation anyway.

I liked JM but his coaching style was way too loose. He badly underachieved in 2018 with the nation’s best defense. The discipline with the team was worse than Sherrill’s 2003 team. And after saying that, had we not totally blown the bowl game after going up 14-0 over Louieville, he would have remained the coach in 2020. It was the right decision at the time. When he was hired, I think we all thought it was a good hire but he was not the right person for the job.

Another game that could be interesting is North Dakota State @ Colorado. NDS has been a powerhouse FCS team for years. If CO loses this game, does the pressure on Deion ratchet up? NDS will certainly not be intimidated and are very capable of winning this game.

Arnett totally neutered Rogers last year and then the injury did him in. I think he has a great year at Washington plus Jedd Fisch is a tremendous HC. He will maximize Rogers’ talent and put him in the best position to succeed. The only BUT I see there is if their OL is weak and his receiving corps is below average. And of course he has to stay healthy throughout the year, but that is a given. Fisch impressed me with his AZ team last year. We were fortunate win that game at DWS. Outside State and the SEC, Washington will be the one team I will try to watch as much as possible.

ND-A&M looks to be an intriguing game. I like ND to win this game. Elko was a good hire for A&M but playing a top notch opponent in game one is going to be very difficult. I think A&M will show gradual improvement this season but it will not be a burst on to the scene big win this weekend. MIA @ FL should be a good rivalry game renewal. FL could certainly quiet the nabobs with a win. I have never cared for MIA so don’t really care here. For State & Ole Miss, a loss by FL would most likely be preferred here. As my Dad would have said “I want both of them to lose.” I like Georgia and LSU to hold serve against quality opponents. The rest of the SEC teams should win comfortably. In the old days, USM would have been a scary game for UK but that is no longer the case. Can Vandy find a way to upend Virginia Tech? That would be a nice surprise. Colorado State upsetting Texas would be epic and make the Austin college the laughing stock of the SEC and the nation. Alas, we can only hope there…

Thankfully for Ole Miss you are playing WF, who is decent but should be a comfortable win. GT looks vastly improved from recent years and may be a tough out for a lot of folks this year.

Oops my bad, my brain cells failed to touch when I typed that..:)

Well Georgia Tech may not be a push over for Ole Miss. Did not take long for the season to turn upside down. This is going to be the norm for this year.

All that we have right now is hype. Predictions galore and the expectations of a number of teams is exceedingly high. Why? Well of course the proverbial apple is not as far out of reach this year. But as you guys have suggested, the results on the field will tell the tale. Assuming wins can humble a team in a three hour span on any given Saturday. In the conference this season, we (IMHO) are going to see more unexpected wins/losses than we have in a while. With the turnover of talent, some of these teams are not going to jell. Bama, A&M, State have new coaches. If some of these teams experience a couple of upset losses or just plain disappointing competitive losses, are they going to throw in the towel (if it is apparent they will not make the playoff)? I do think teams like Georgia & Ole Miss are in better shape as they have a strong nucleus of players that have already been on the roster. Overall , it should make for a fun roller coaster type season that throws us more than its share of surprises.

So glad that the public schools have pushed back the start of the season. Just plain smart. August 30th is a much better start day for football season than August 16th. Don’t get why the private schools still start in the middle of August. Just dumb and dumber.

The only non college stadium in Mississippi that has the capacity to host the State Championships is Ray Stadium (14K capacity). The problem would be having four locker rooms. There are currently potentially three. In 1982, we hosted the 5A (or whatever they called the large school classification in those days) State Championship game between West Point and Gulfport (won by WP 21-14). I think the crowd was around 6K. WP brought about 3K on the E side abd then the W side had the GPT fans along with the neutral Meridian fans like myself and a buddy of mine who were there. Location is not bad for all the schools with the exception of the far corners of the state. Four lane or Interstate highways come in from all directions so accessibility is there. Plenty of HR’s and restaurants etc. Parking could be an issue as well but that could be managed. There a couple of large parking lots at nearby churches that could be used for overflow parking with shuttles. Classes would have to be cx on that Friday but again that would not be a problem. With the renovations just completed the stadium looks good. The press box is about to get a makeover and that will bring the overall facility up to par. All that to say the Rock is the best venue for the SC’s. State & Ole Miss are way too large and OM is too isolated. Jackson is no longer viable. I loved Memorial Stadium back in the 1970’s/1980’s when State played games there. Lots of fun and great memories but that is all they are. Its time has long been passed by. Saw all the SP-Meridian games there in the 2000’s. Some classic games but they are now just memories.

The schedule is brutal. I think for most of us, if we are more competitive this year with an offensive pulse, it will be an acceptable season. Wins are going to be hard to come by but if we are in some games then we will have a chance. Last year the offense was so horrid that once we were down by more than one score the game was over. At least this year, I can see us having a boxers chance in several games. And hopefully no 51-10 type games either. Lebby was a good hire and while I am sure he will have WTF moments this fall, he will big upgrade over the previous HC.

Total disaster. Make it 65 scholarships. With NIL and transfers nobody is going to have that many players on scholarship. Or the bottom 40 are going to have just a scholarship and nothing else. Completely ridiculous. Not just for State/Ole Miss but for everyone (except the very elite). Yes there is a lot of money floating around. But I don’t think people are interested in paying for the Fourth string punter in the team. That was Bear Bryant’s RX back in the 60’s when there were no scholarship limits. He would sign dozens of extra players just so they wouldn’t be on a rival’s team. Johnny Vaught did the same at Ole Miss going back to even the 50’s. We will see the same thing today but now dollars are in the equation. Although playing time will still factor in there somewhere because kids want to be on the field.

Ole Miss is certainly loaded. My take is, you usually have three games a year that you can win on emotion. And three games that you will stink up the joint. The key for Ole Miss is when those three stinker games happen, they can muddle through and find a way to win. The other six games will be played to their general potential and they should win based on talent. We will see what happens. Regarding Walley, I think he suffered a difficult leg injury back in 2022 and he has never been the same. Unfortunate because he was tremendous before then.