It was a tough Saturday to be a college football fan in Mississippi. That is, if you are a fan of the big three; Mississippi, Mississippi State and Southern Miss. All three filled their respective games with missed field goals, turnovers-in every facet-and numerous missed assignments. Not much can be said that hasn’t already to grumbling fan bases. It is quite evident on message boards, call-in shows and newspapers the like. In order to grasp a gleam of hope in an already clouded room, let’s evaluate the positives that have occurred throughout the 2008 season to this point.
Ole Miss- The Rebels outgained the now nationally ranked Vanderbilt Commodores in every statistical category and found a way to lose. Why? Very simple. Six turnovers. You can look at numerous points of the game, you can look at coaching decisions, you can look at personnel changes. It simply doesn’t matter. If you turn the ball over six times in a Southeastern conference game, you have no business winning. Case closed. The Rebels are far improved over the last few years but found a way to lose to the doormat of the SEC East. Unfortunately, the record doesn’t mirror the improvement and the losing streak of consecutive SEC losses continue to loom. Best dust your britches off quick. Mississippi faces Florida on Saturday. Ouch.
Mississippi State. If I were the defense, I would be mad too. The MSU defense held the Auburn Tigers to just three points and gave up a whopping 438 rushing yards to Georgia Tech this weekend. It was obvious the defense letdown after last week. Who could blame them? If the offense doesn’t improve soon, the defense may elect not to make any further trips. Coach Sylvester Croom has tweaked the offense here and there and nothing seems to work. In his weekly press luncheon, he named Robert Elliot the number two back behind Anthony Dixon. Elliot will have another chance to “rock the deuce,” although he will have to do so on Saturday night in Tiger Stadium. The Bulldogs hope the scoreboard does not look like a slot machine as they face LSU on ESPN 2. I have no words to describe this. It almost is unfair for a team struggling to be faced with the task of playing in Baton Rouge. Repeat after me, “Our Father……..”
Southern Miss. When the Marshall Thundering Herd were beating a hapless Memphis Tiger football team, I just simply shook my head. When the Herd traveled to Hattiesburg and held on to beat Southern Miss, I was simply shocked. Coach Larry Fedora can ill afford to drop conference games, at home no less, and contend for the Conference-USA crown. In the loss, Fedora’s confidence was secure in incoming freshman DeAndre Brown and he excited the crowd with a 68-yard touchdown from Austin Davis. The undoing for the Eagles? 11-penalties for 129 yards. USM has an open date to think about it.
While the games are week-to-week and coach speak says put them behind you, it’s quite difficult to do so. The big three have let us down. Here’s to a win this week. Oh, how monumental they would be for UM and MSU. Unfortunately, the odds are stacked against them, in more ways than one.
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