Bulldogs4

#7 for USC has been abused in the 4th quarter. Utah has outscored USCw 37-3 since the first quarter. Finally USCw defense is soft. Though they did have a great tackle against the Utah QB.

Yes it is. Utah could be about to start a weekend of chaos. 24-17 in third quarter after being down 17-3 in the first half.

I hope State plays Notre Dame in the Gator Bowl. That would be really cool as we have never played them before. And I think it would be a good match up as well.

That boat has left the dock, I am afraid. We had an opportunity to hire Chris Jones five years ago and did not. That was a poor, poor decision at the time. As much as I love Demetrius Hill and what has meant for Meridian High over the last 35-40 years, I am not sure he would be the right choice. Cheyenne is an excellent AD and I believe he will make a good choice here. I am disappointed that we did not turn the corner this year with Douglass but the football program is in better shape today than it was in 2019. As to who that new Coach will be, I have no idea or inkling but I will hope it will prove to be the right choice over time. I will always be a Wildcat.

Agree with 83, Cohen & Freeze together? That goes together about like fish & ice cream. After a couple of days to digest this hire, I still can’t believe Auburn hired him. I guess they are gluttons for punishment.

Well Cohen put Leach in twitter time out so not surprising that he is doing the same to Freeze…:)

Surprised that Auburn hired Freeze. No doubt he is a good coach. But a lot of baggage there. Understandably Pearl had it but has worked out so far. Will be interesting to see how he does there. I guess in Auburn’s view: What do we have to lose? High Risk… High Reward… But after typing this, I am not surprised. When we first learned that Freeze was hired at Liberty, there was speculation that he would eventually return to the SEC. So now he has done so.

A&M spanked LSU. If UGA were to lose the conference championship game, it would interesting to say the least. Look for the SEC officiating to prevent that from happening. But given that Clemson lost, UGA is probably still in unless they get blown out. Of course, TCU and USC could both lose and really throw a wrench into it.

Heart breaking loss for Ocean Springs. Brandon persevered in a tough environment. Football can be a cruel game when you lose but such a high when you win a game like last night. But as Lizard said, your kids left it all on the field that is all you can ask them to do. But it hurts to be that close. Over the recent 5 years or so we have been out of the loop in Meridian and I would much rather lose play off heartbreaker than to not make the playoffs. It is a process. I remember 2005 SP beats us 52-14 in the championship game, in 2006 we lost the Championship to SP 28-21, before running into a George County buzz saw in 2007 and they whipped our a** in Ray Stadium for the South State. But all that prepared us for 2008 when we broke SP’s streak and won the State. It just takes time. Brandon has been knocking on the door for several years. They may break through this year but Starkville will be a tough out.

MST, the portal is like a double edge razor blade. It did help USC and LSU (though they had some fortune go their way as well). It helped Ole Miss too. But the quirky schedule kind of masked everything this year for Ole Miss. The struggle against Tulsa was a bit of a warning sign early. But it is difficult to build the bulk of your roster off of the TP. If you are plugging a couple of weak spots, then yes, it is great. Building a football team and developing chemistry takes time. Back to LSU, I predict that they take a step back in 2023. They are still going to be good and Kelly is a good coach. However, this year they benefited from zero expectations. Next year, everyone is going to be gunning for them. In fact, they may have the season everyone predicted them to have this year. Still good but maybe 7-8 wins. Unfortunately, the TP is here to stay. Teams can benefit (and suffer) from it. But trying to build a roster with transfers is a risky deal. Sherrill did that (to some extent) at State with Juco players in the late 90’s with success but it eventually bit him in the early 2000’s and the program went South. HS recruiting is still vitally important though with NIL and TP, it is going to be a challenge to hang onto to your talent for 3-4-5 years. And once the freebie COVID year players (in two more years) run out of eligibility, it will be interesting to see how this shakes out.

OS 28 Brandon 21 halftime

18-0 Impressive.

State, an eight win team against one of toughest schedules in CFB this year, meh?

Interesting that folks are throwing barbs at Will Rogers. Yes he made several bad decisions last night. But the TD pass to Walley was a tremendous play when he did buy some time and was on the money with the throw. Not an elite QB but he is certainly better than average. He reminds me of Kevin Fant who was a good QB but had a terrible OL in front of him.

Oops my bad, I was referring to then 5A and now 6A schools. D’Iberville was 4A in 2002. Wayne County won 5A in 2002. Picayune has an excellent program and team. And while they have won 3 state championships in the recent years, they were in 5A and not 6A. And yes they are considered a coast team. My comment was referring to largest classification 5A from 2001 on and then 6A when they added it around 10 years or so ago. I do stand by my original statement. I do believe Ocean Springs breaks the 6A drought for the coast teams this year.

One other thing I wish they would just call the series by the games won/lost on the field. On the field the series looks like this: Ole Miss 64 State 49 Ties 6 The ridiculous vacated games and forfeits skew the rivalry. Just show it as played on the field. The forfeits in 1976-77 were totally bogus as was these recent vacated wins by both teams. Just my opinion. But if you were an Ole Miss fan and saw the wins in 2012/2014 they were WINS. I was in Jackson in 1976-1977 when State won the games on the field. Just let all those games count. Okay rant over. No malice to my Ole Miss friends. I am too old for that these days.

I said we needed to run it at least 35 times to win and we did.

Rogers tried to give the game away. Defense and special teams saved the day. I heard a stat on the radio and I may be wrong here. But here goes: The last seven that Ole Miss has scored 30+ points they are 7-0 against State. The last nine times that Ole Miss has scored under 30 points , State is 9-0 against Ole Miss. Bizarre. Ole Miss just did not take advantage of their opportunities. State lost the TO battle 3-1 and still won which is very unusual. Reb, you are right. Often times, the team that wants it more, wins and tonight State wanted it more. Feels good to win this one. Much needed win for State. I am enjoying a Tullamore Dew right now. Would like to smoke a cigar but the rain is messing that up tonight.

Or possibly 42-7.

Ole Miss should be up 35-14 right now.

Moss Point won the State Championship in 2000. It has been twenty-two years since a coast team has won the State. I think Ocean Springs breaks the streak this year. They seem to have the team to do it. Brandon has been solid all year but I think for the first time 20+ years, OS will out athlete a 3A school and win this game. Then I believe they will win against Tupelo / Starkvegas in what will basically be a home game for them. They will have a huge advantage in crowd support at The Rock. But first things first. Ocean Springs 35, Brandon 27. It is a far cry from the OS team that came to Ray Stadium undefeated in 2007 (with chests pumped out) and then Meridian was leading 42-0 at halftime. This OS team is legit and while I like Brandon even though are a rival, I think your time has come.

FT’s again were terrible 9-16 17-67 from the floor. But defense was awesome and offensive rebounding was huge. Davis and Tolu carried the team. You have to think the offense will get better as the season goes along. 83, you are right , the grittiness of this team is just refreshing so far. Hopefully that will continue. And Utah is normally a very good team.

Free Throws almost did us in. We finally hit some at the very end to seal the deal. Great effort and defense and rebounding won this game tonight. Definitely like what I see through five games. Team is having fun and playing with enthusiasm.

This is my honest opinion. I absolutely hate all this about Kiffin. As 83 noted, it has happened before, and I hated it then regardless of which school it affects. Sadly, it does affect the players which is wrong in so many levels. I know it is not possible but I wish there was a system in place that would forbid this from happening until after the season is over. I mean does it really make any difference? Bama did not hire Saban until after the NFL season concluded in January 2007 and it did not hurt them to wait. With all that said, I have no idea what happens Thursday night. Ole Miss certainly has the edge playing at home. But beyond that I think we can make a case for either team winning with the edge going about 60/40 in favor of Ole Miss. Weather could definitely be a factor in the game. I know it goes against his grain but for State to have a chance we need to run the ball at least 35 times. Very doubtful that happens but that is my opinion. Auburn makes a bid to upset Bama but falls short. LSU kills A&M. I am going to ride with Vandy one more week. Tennessee is reeling and I think Vandy pulls off another upset. Arkansas finally breaks the Missouri hex and wins in CoMo. SCAR comes back to earth and loses to Clemson. Free Shoes beats Thrown Shoe in the Sunshine state. KY beats Louie-ville. Georgia Tech scares UGA for a half before Jawja pulls away.

I thought Enterprise was the best 3A team? Must be a mistake here as I don’t see them listed….