Bulldogs4

The only good that came out of these two games were victories. Credit to USM for playing hard and making some plays (specifically 3 big plays that helped keep it interesting). Final score does not really tell the tale of this game. For State, Rogers actually played reasonably well. But we have receivers with brick hands (at least half of dozen dropped passes). Ole Miss - State game still tilts heavily to Ole Miss based on what each team is to this point. Ole Miss should win big but I honestly have no clue as to what is going to happen Thursday night.

USM made it interesting for a very brief moment. But if you went to the outhouse, you missed it.

Well we look like we want to give this game away now. Why am I not surprised…

State with a solid 76-64 win over Washington State. These types of games look good at the end of the season.

Ole Miss is nonchalant. Rogers seems to be settling in. After the early score by USM, State has basically dominated the game. Which is not a surprise.

Oak Grove beats Brandon even with the game being @ Brandon. You want your team playing its best in the playoffs and that is what you all are doing right now. Brandon is good and solid but IMO if both teams play their “A” games , then OG wins.

And since this is a football topic, how about the State Women Football (errrr Soccer) team. Beat Brown last night to advance to the Sweet 16. Will play Stanford at Stanford (who is ranked #2) with a chance to advance to the Elite Eight. Obviously that will be a difficult task. But at the same time, I am proud of these young ladies for having a tremendous season this year!!!

As much I thought we might see a different game tonight, I am not too surprised by the score. I was concerned that Meridian put so much effort in to last week’s game that there was not going be anything left in the tank tonight. Plus Oak Grove is a better team right now. The future does look brighter. Obviously, Hill is not replaceable but there is a good core of JR. High kids coming along and I think we are going to be a much better football team in the next several years overall.

Color me surprised. I know we defeated Biloxi handily early in the season but they were well coached and IMO were a pretty solid squad. As Dub and some the others mentioned, the coast schools have great potential to be really good in football. Meridian-Biloxi had a great Big 8 rivalry for decades (1930’s-1980). Had some great games particularly in the 1960’s and 1970’s. So it can be done there.

OG has been playing very well as of late and will be difficult to beat tonight. The Meridian kids are playing with a lot of confidence and as Mout noted , Coach Boyles will try to shorten the game to the extent possible. Turnovers and penalties will tell the tale as well. Meridian can ill afford turnovers or any critical penalties.

USM is playing better but I actually think State will play better. Apples and oranges compared to Cadillac last year. But the players can now just go play football and quit worrying about the coaching situation. They knew what was going on with all the rumors and speculation. I actually think this might end up being be a blow out. We will see what happens. But I will say State 42, USM 16. Jawja 35, Tennessee 14. AZ 30, Utah 20 Clempson 21, Chapel Hill 19 Mizzou chokes and loses to Florida (who actually played decent last week) 38-31. Washington is playing on a different level. They take down the Beavers 42-31.

Nobody is ever interested when the season is still going on. What coach is going to say “yep, I want that job when they still have two regular season games to play with their current team.” Unfortunately, it puts a coach in the position of lying through his teeth i.e. Tuberville “I am going to leave Oxford in a pine box” and numerous other coaches going back decades. That is why I wish schools would wait until the season is over to fire coaches.

No to Mullen No to Mullen I appreciate all he did for State but that era has ended. It is gone. Done. The proverbial fork has been stuck in it. No No No

All the metrics point to a Brandon & Oak Grove South State Final. But football is a quirky game and these are two games that feature one really old rivalry and one rivalry that only developed over the last twenty years. Beating a team twice can prove to be difficult but can be done and Brandon/OG are certainly more than capable of accomplishing that. Both of the favorites are at home which is usually an advantage. Both overall are better and more balanced teams. The big danger for Brandon/OG is if the games get to the fourth quarter and the issue is still in doubt. Then the pressure of holding on to win or of scoring late to win can be tough obstacles for 16-17 year old kids to overcome. As Mout noted, just glad to see our Wildcats back in the playoffs and after last Friday’s win, we are playing with house money now. Let’s tee it up Friday and see what happens. As Coach Richard Williams noted many years ago, after State beat the number 1seed UCONN in the NCAAT, we only had to beat them once. In a series of games we would have no chance. Similar situation for Pearl and Meridian Friday night. Just have to win once against teams that would probably beat them 8 out of 10 times.

Down goes Arnett…. Greg Knox (have we seen that before?) will be interim coach for remainder of the season.

Don’t care for the guy at all. Rode Bower’s players to a great 12-2 year in 2011, left the team with no talent and went to NC. Effectively destroyed the USM football program and it has never recovered. So maybe he would be welcomed somewhere else but not in Mississippi.

And I just had another thought. If Bama wins the NC this year which is certainly in the realm of possibility, I would not be surprised if Saban retires. He would be going out on top and as the greatest coach in history. Plus what a way to end it after everyone doubted him and the team in September.

Well these starters won 9 games last year in the SEC so evidently the talent is there. Coaching or lack thereof has been the issue this year. The whole situation from last December was bad and then has now gone to the worst possible circumstance. I think the money will be there for State if a coaching change comes about. I have never liked firing coaches before the end of the season but that seems to be in the vogue these days. I don’t see any purpose in it myself. A&M’s deal is particularly strange at this juncture. They just won a big game by a huge margin. They could still win 9 games this year. Leaves me puzzled at best. Not sure what their beef is. They are playing at or above their historical winning average which is .604. Under Sumlin and Fisher they both well exceeded what they have previously achieved as a program.

The only way I think Kiffin goes to A&M would be if he had Saban like control over the football program (with zero interference from the boosters etc). I doubt A&M would be willing to give him that much latitude. He has a good gig going at Ole Miss but you never know with these guys. Mullen had a good gig going at State but went for greener grass which turned out to be browner grass. At the end of the day it will be more about control than actual salary (IMO) if he even entertains an offer from them.

Actually a case can be made that Sumlin was actually a better HC at A&M than Fisher. His best season was the 2020 season and they were 9-1 but really 9-2 because they should have been forced to forfeit the game against Ole Miss. COVID most certainly marred that season so even that record is tainted.

Really weird timing but A&M has been really a weird program especially since they joined the SEC. Back when Bellard, Sherrill and RC Slocum were the head coaches they were a very likable football team and it was easy to pull for them as they were the good guys in TX. But that perception has changed 180 degrees in the present day. Must be nice to throw $75+ million around like it is pocket change.

The LSU - Florida game turned on an overturned pass catch when LSU was leading 31-28. FL converted a long third down on a great catch. To me it appeared he caught the ball or at worst there was nothing too convincing to overturn it. Instead of FL having a first down deep inside LSU territory with a chance to take the lead, LSU took advantage and went up by two scores and the game was essentially over. Now LSU might have still won but it would have probably come down to who had the ball last.

Ocean Springs has already proven you can play with anyone. You have an excellent football program and have been consistently good for quite a number of years. Eventually you will win a State Championship. Winning or even getting to the final game is very difficult. It requires good talent, coaching, fan support, community resources and some fortune. OS has four of those in place and it will happen in due time. I remember back in 2006 or 07, Ocean Springs came to Ray Stadium undefeated in the first or second round of the playoffs and the game was something like 42-0 at the half. You guys are light years better than that today. And that is a credit to the school.

Based on how badly Ole Miss got beat and how Missouri drilled Tennessee, I suspect Missouri will be ranked ahead of Ole Miss Tuesday. But I agree with you Reb that Ole Miss has a slightly better resume.

I sure hope Dart is okay but that was a crushing hit he took.