Bulldogs4

As usual A&M plays a great game against Bama who struggles but gets the win. If Young is not back next week, I think Tennessee breaks the streak and beats Bama. If Young returns, it makes for a great game and it could definitely be a toss up type game since it is at UT. State is at Kentucky. If Levis returns this is going to be a difficult game. They have lost two in a row and I suspect they will play a desperation to break that streak. It appears we have matured and hopefully handle a road environment better than we did in BR. As I have mentioned before, this year we are going to see some bottom rail on top scores. Texas 49 zip over Oklahoma. Who saw that coming? Obviously TX was favored but to win by 7 TD’s in a shutout? Was this the only weekend of the season that we had all SEC matchups with no open dates or OOC games. Other than 2020, this is generally a fluke that only happens once a season or so. Pretty cool though. I kind of thought Ole Miss-Vandy would go like it did. Vandy would play well in the first half and had the lead and then Ole Miss would win the second half. Credit to Ole Miss for scoring 52 points. Didn’t think you would put that many points up.

Typical OM-Vandy. Ole Miss is flat and Vandy is actually better this year. Nervous if you are a Rebel fan but they will probably eek out a win today.

I think he is playing. This is all been a smoke screen about him. Nothing new and teams have done it for years. Leach did not fall off a turnip truck yesterday. They have prepared for him to play . Simple as that.

I get that but I thought Atterberry had been getting some touches along with us throwing the ball a bit more. Definitely need to spread the ball around so that he stays healthy. Unfortunately, I have not been able to see a game yet and probably will not until the Petal game.

Or maybe just some Family Tradition by HW Jr. Hank? Why do you drink? Hank, Why do you smoke? I am just carrying on an old Family Tradition. Though in our cases, it’s our football teams that drive us to drink and smoke…:)

Ole Miss is likely to be flat after an emotional win over KY. Ordinarily, they would be ripe for an upset. But while Vandy is improved I don’t see this being the usual tight game between these two. Vandy may have a lead early but Ole Miss wins 31-17 in a semi competitive game early. Arkansas-State might be rat poison coming out of FYV concerning Jefferson. I think he will play and that State has prepared as if he were playing. I like State to continue to play well and win this game. Not sure what the score may look like but I will go with 35-24. Tennessee@LSU. The Vols are the better team but LSU is no slouch this year. I think they burst the Vol bubble. 34-31. Bama wins over A&M but it is not shellacking. Bama still coasts to a win. 41–19. UGA 28, Auburn 10. Missouri is not able sustain the emotions of last Saturday. Florida wins comfortably 28-8. Kentucky rebounds with a win. USCe will play hard but come up short. KY 20, SCAR 10. In the Gameday game, TCU edges Kansas 36-35 in an epic finish.

Mout, What is the issue with the scheme? Numbers for Meridian have been an issue for years now. I think the roster has about 50 players which is terrible for a 6A school. Our OL has been a weakness for years as well. So with regard to the scheme, with regard to the above problems what would you suggest be done different? The other item with Daniel Hill may be a consideration but his Dad is on the staff at Meridian High and is a legendary Wildcat player. I would think he would want his son to play out his HS career as a Wildcat.

Kentucky certainly had their opportunities but credit to Ole Miss with a couple of great defensive turnovers there late. Both teams are good. I would image a lot of players are going to be in the whirlpool today. Very physical game. State’s OL was the MVP. Obviously the turnovers and blocked FG were huge. But Rogers was not sacked yesterday. The teams that have one or two athletic fast pass rushers give State fits i. e. the guy from Bama , can’t think of his name and Sam Williams at OM last year. That is our weakness. Yesterday we blocked and we ran the ball well too. 144 yards on the ground was big as well. The earth got back on its axis last night with Georgia eeking out a win and LSU came back to beat Auburn.

Good win for both State and Ole Miss. Held serve at home which is crucial in the SEC. Auburn is raping LSWHO right now!!! Do not know if it is will hold but they are playing well as now.

Good win for Ole Miss. Gritty win and it does not matter how just getting the win is what counts.

Yep. Which team shows up? We have had two good games and two terrible ones. The NWR game was a puzzler after we had seemingly turned the corner. We have two good RB’s but have found at least a semblance of a passing game. You have to be able to do both against a good team. Certainly a good win last night against Pearl but I have no idea how good they actually are so this Friday will give us a good gauge on how good Meridian is.

It has been a long time since this game has mattered. Last year we were competitive for 3+ quarters but OG was the better team and ran away with it in the fourth quarter. This year, OG is still better but I think we have improved some more. Three keys for Meridian are: Turnovers Penalties Special Teams That is a lot of areas right there. We have the ability but we have got to play a clean game with 1 or less TO’s, limit the penalties and just be solid on ST’s. That is a lot to ask but IF we handle those areas, I believe we will have a chance to win. Always tough to win at OG. I know some of you OG guys have been puzzled at your play so far. I know the old bitterness of the game has melted away. I hope we can rekindle the rivalry but with out the acrimony that existed 10-15 years ago. Just want it to be hard fought and competitive but clean on the field and between the fans.

Back, way back it was done under the table. Decades ago when I was a student at State a good friend of my Dad’s would take care of getting the basketball players TV’s each year. One year when State was playing at Ole Miss in basketball, several of us made a road trip to Oxford to see the game. Ole Miss won. Later we were at a party with some OM friends and several of the basketball players came to join in the fun. One of them said, when they got back into the locker room, each one of them found a $100 bill in their locker. How all this plays out is going to be very interesting over the next several years. But for now it seems to resemble the Wild, Wild West. Unfortunately, IMO, it along with the transfer portal are going to make for poorer and more inconsistent performances on the field.

I mentioned last month when Laurel beat Meridian that Meridian played so badly it was hard to know how good Laurel was. The jury is still out on Meridian but for tonight a win is a win. And Laurel won. Regardless of how. it is a W in the book.

Meridian 51 Pearl 27 Final The Division is a scrambled mess. Brandon /NW Rankin at the top 2-0 but after that I think you have about 4 teams 1-1 and then Petal/Terry 0-2.

I like Ole Miss at home provided they play a complete game. As I mentioned in a previous post, the portal is creating inconsistent play around the country. Teams with a lot of new talented players are struggling to gel and we have seen it already happen around the country. KY is solid but the home crowd will carry Ole Miss to victory. 28-23 Ole Miss with the win. A&M @ State will be decided (like 83 said) on how State’s OL performs against a very good DL. A&M had no business beating Arkansas but they did. I tend to agree that this will be a low scoring game. I think Tulu will make a big play in special teams and that will help State edge A&M in a tight game (28-24). But my confidence in our OL is still shaky so I am not convinced yet that they are good enough to beat a better defense. This weekend will show if they have improved in the last two weeks. Bama-Arkansas. It is tempting to say Arky has a chance but they are not good enough. They will play hard and give Bama all they have but it will not be nearly enough. Bama 42-17. LSU beats Auburn and I know they have voodoo in JH stadium but LSU is much better and I think they win convincingly. LSU 25-Auburn 8.

KY-OM is an intriguing match up. At the LOS, I think UK is a better but OM is at home. UK manhandled FL in the 4th quarter on the road. This is obviously the first big test for OM but they have had 4 games to work out the kinks. The Tulsa game is a bit concerning because they really only played well for one quarter (though as noted , it was enough to win the game). I am kind of like 83 here. I could see this game going either way. It may come down to turnovers and a big special teams play that decides this game.

One thing is very evident. The instant transfer eligibility has created some inconsistent play around the country. A lesser talented veteran team has decent chance to beat an uber individually talented team that has been thrown together through the portal. I think we will see this continue throughout the season. In fact, I will not be surprised if we end the season without an undefeated team. Obviously the big boys, Bama, UGA and Ohio State are still going to be there but it is not out the question that all three of them may drop a game during the season. On another note, congratulations to USM on a very good win @ Tulane. I attended the very first Tulane-USM game in Hattiesburg in 1979. It was a great game that came down to the wire. Tulane won 20-19. USM kicked a FG as time was running out. It appeared to be good but the officials ruled it no good. Because the clock was running they were still running to the end zone to get in position when the ball was kicked. Created a very controversial ending (that you would probably would not see today with replay technology). Both teams left it all on the field. It launched what became a good rivalry for 30+ years before Tulane moved on to greener pastures. But I hope they will still continue to play at least sporadically as they are so close it makes for a well attended game.

I called it earlier in the week.

Shrader for the win. Cuse 22, Virginia 20. Cuse is 4-0. I don’t care who you are, you have to root for player like Shrader. He is not an overly talented QB but there is no doubt he is a gamer and plays every play with all his heart and might. Obviously, he did not and would not fit in Leach’s system but if Mullen had been smart he would have stayed at State. The 2018 season would have been much better and I think despite covid 2020 we would have been more successful. As it was it was a difficult season of transition. Shrader would have been a perfect fit for Mullen. Of course, he is taking it easy these days with about 15 million + in the bank. So he has done well for himself. Oh well but I am Syracuse fan this year and hope they continue to play well. I don’t know if they are capable of winning the ACC, but it would be cool if they competed for it and won it.

And yes that was the other thing that I noticed. 8 home games. When I was growing , we would have 3-4 games in Jackson and 2-3 in Starkville in any given year. Almost all of the big conference games were played in JAN. That started changing in the early-mid 1980’s when they moved LSU/Auburn and some other games to campus and then grew with the first expansion of Scott Field in 1986. The last home conference game we played in Jackson was 1990 against LSU (a victory as well and I was there). The last game in JAN was the following week as the visitor against Ole Miss (a loss but I was there). Rockey Felker’s last game. Coach Sherrill was adamant that all home games should be on campus and the sentiment for that was changing as well. 1991 going forward was all campus with exception of a home game with Florida that they sold to TPA in the early 1990’s. Of course the town has grown immeasurably over the last 30+ years and there have been two more renovations/expansions and now it is a first class stadium with nice amenities. So 8 home games is great but I do agree that there could and will be fan fatigue. Three home games in a row is tough on families economically and in endurance.

I think State will bounce back play well and get back on track. The biggest thing for Ole Miss to get out of this game healthy. Tulsa is an outlaw team similar to Memphis, Houston, Cincinnati, Louisville etc. (especially those latter teams some years back). But they are going to do their best create fights, unsportsmanlike penalties, personal fouls etc. It will be important for Ole Miss to keep their cool and not respond to that crap. I know it is easier said than done. But mostly win the game and pray for no injuries. Auburn and Missouri are both bad but Auburn is at home so they should win, shouldn’t they? or maybe Missouri should lose would be a better way to say it. Arkansaw beats 8&4iet Tennessee finally beats Florida. USM @ Tulane a few years back was a great rivalry game. Sadly those days are over. I hope USM can cover the spread. TCU-SMU is another intriguing rivalry game that has gone through some changes. I like The Stangs over the Frogs in a close game. Changing the subject. Did any of you guys see the 2023 schedule release? Both State and Ole Miss play Bama in September. How weird is that? Not necessarily a bad thing but that has never happened in my lifetime. I don’t like playing USM five days before the Egg Bowl. I know there is a discrepancy in talent but I would much rather play Southern early in the season. That is an Ugggghhhh IMO. State starts with three straight home games. SE Louisiana, AZ and LSU before going on the road @ USCE and then Bama at home. Oh well. It is what it is. Plus we have a long way to go with this season first.

As we have seen early in the year , there are very few guarantees with college football games. Still a lot of football to be played. Ole Miss has looked good so far. State is not as good as everyone thought before last night but I believe we are much better than the team that finished last nights game.

CC, glad that things went well Friday. I was not able to be there but plan on being at some future games. Good win for our guys. Hopefully we can build some momentum and get in a roll in division play.

Our OL was a major concern of mine and we got dominated up front last night. Turnovers were another concern after the first two games. Last night, fumbling a punt at our own 10 yard line was a major turning point. You just cannot have that kind of mistake in a tight game on the road. Williams is usually very sure handed. From that point on, they had all the momentum. But backing up a bit, after we were up 13, our defense completely failed and they went through us like melted butter for a TD and then when our offense had an opportunity to at least put points up before the half, we failed to do so. Those were some of the critical junctions of the game and we failed miserably in each of them. Disappointing; yes but still a lot of games to play and get better and win some games.