2010 NCAA football preview: Mississippi State
The Bulldogs of Mississippi State have not lost a bowl game since dropping the Cotton Bowl to the Texas Longhorns on New Year’s Day during the final year of the last millennium, 1999. However, they have only played in three since then and have been absent from bowl play for the last two seasons.
After leading the team to the Liberty Bowl in 2007, the first bowl game for the team since the 2000 season, head coach Sylvester Croom was not able to follow up with another winning season. In 2008 the Bulldogs only managed four wins and Croom resigned from the team at the end of the season.
With every year a chance for a new beginning, new head coach Dan Mullen came in ready to lead the team back to the promise land. Mullen came with an impressive resume having been the offensive coordinator at Florida and Utah.
In that first year he had his work cut out for him in one of the toughest conferences in football and managed to see moderate gains on the field going 5-7. Another so-so season would not be a surprise, but it would also not be surprising to see Mullen get more out of his team making them dangerous to their SEC counterparts.
Offense
It is not a good sign when a team is forced to bill the offensive line as its stars, but with the most important skill positions not returning for the Bulldogs in 2010 they have no choice. Luckily the line happens to be a pretty good one. Center C.J. Brignone is one of the better ones in the conference as is tackle Derek Sherrod.
Last season the line helped Andre Dixon run for almost 1400 yards. Dixon is gone, but the line should help whoever gets the starting nod will have an easier time getting accustomed to the starting role. Vick Ballard will be the frontrunner after transferring in from Gulf Coast Community College where he rushed for almost 1800 yards and 22 touchdowns on 298 carries last year.
The passing game was almost nonexistent in 2009. The starting quarterback Tyson Lee actually threw 14 interceptions to just four touchdowns. In limited action Chris Reif had a better ration throwing five touchdowns and three interceptions in 41 passing attempts. Tyler Russell could end up being in the mix after throwing 40 touchdowns and just five interceptions his last year in high school.
With his experience of crafting high powered offenses based around versatile quarterbacks, Mullen should be able to get the most out of this position.
Defense
In a conference full of tough offensive teams it is imperative that a team has a top notch defense in order to compete. That is something that Mississippi State has not had lately. However, new coordinator Manny Diaz could have a shot of doing just that with the talent that he has coming back.
Pernell McPhee comes back to lead the line after earning all-conference honors in 2009. The senior from Florida had 56 tackles and five sacks on the year. He’ll be joined by a trio of young sophomores, end Nick Bell and tackles Josh Boyd and Fletcher Cox. Between the three they had 63 tackles in limited time.
The strength of the team appears to be the linebackers. Veteran seniors K.J. Wright and Chris White return after getting more than 70 tackles each last season. Cameron Lawrence is penciled in to start at the open position; Lawrence is a talented, athletic football player that once ran for more than 1000 yards on just 90 carries, passed for another 800, and had a combined 26 touchdowns to go with 73 tackles, one sack, and four interceptions—and that was as a high school sophomore!
With the youth that the secondary had it is not too surprising that they ranked eleventh in a conference full of good passing teams. However, cornerback Corey Bromfield and free safety Johnthan Banks were both good enough to garner all-freshmen team honors in the SEC.
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