NCAA Football Mississippi State Football

Sly Croom gave the western 'Dogs a banner year in '07. With the painful memories of a 3-9 season fresh in their minds, the Bulldogs turned it around in a big way by going 7-5 (4-4 in the SEC) and then winning their bowl game against UCF, resulting in the first eight-win season since 2000.

Now, Mississippi State is ready to give back... with a giant, wayyy-oversized HD video board. (This is an artist's conception of what the completed project will look like.)

The whole football coaching thing is working out pretty well for Steve Spurrier, but if he ever needs a career change, the OBC may want to look into being a high school counselor or motivational speaker. The recent hiring of David Cutcliffe at Duke was tangentially tied to Spurrier, who supposedly advised Duke on their coaching hire when he met with officials there a few weeks ago. Spurrier also offered some words of encouragement to Coach Cut: "If anyone can [turn Duke's program around], you can." Hey, you can't spell "Chicken Soup for the Revitalized Coordinator's Soul" without S-P-U-R-R-I-E-R.

When he's not getting people new jobs, the OBC is getting them more money. Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster got a nice raise after being offered the same post at South Carolina, and Sylvester Croom is looking for more cash to spread around his coaching staff at Mississippi State now that Ellis Johnson is said to be the leading candidate for the post. Spurrier is reportedly going to give his new defensive coordinator much more than the $195,000 Tyrone Nix made doing the job last year. Nix himself got about a $100,000 raise for leaving Spurrier's staff and joining Houston Nutt at Ole Miss. For the record, Gamecock fans weren't too upset about Nix's departure, more evidence of how Spurrier's keeping everybody happy these days.

My old high school football coach was fond of saying he couldn't make chicken salad out of chicken... excrement, but there's a reason Sylvester Croom was named SEC coach of the year: he can come close. Not long ago, like a couple of months actually, the only time we'd post about Mississippi State here at FanHouse would be to tally their blowout losses, speculate on the next Crooming, or mention in passing that their next opponent could take the day off. Things change quickly. In Sylvester Croom's fourth season, State ended up being a solid football team on their good days and tough out at worst (OK, at worst they were picked off six times and blown out by LSU, but after that).

The Bulldogs' reward for putting together a pretty good year is a trip a couple hundred miles north to Memphis to play Central Florida in the Liberty Bowl. Many SEC teams see the Liberty as just a little better than the Independence Bowl in Shreveport and overall a pretty "meh" consolation prize. But for MSU fans who haven't seen their boys in a bowl game since 2000 and haven't even won more than three games in a season over the last six years, this trip to Memphis might as well be the Sugar Bowl. State fans have bought more than 30,000 tickets to the game, and many more than that will probably show up in Memphis on Dec. 29. State AD Larry Templeton says Bulldog fans "now look forward to coloring the city of Memphis maroon." Good, Memphis could use a fresh coat of paint.

What the Bulldog faithful might find when the game kicks off, however, could be something completely different than what they expect. Central Florida features the nation's leading rusher in junior Kevin Smith (188 yards/game, 29 TDs), while State gives up a middle-of-the-road 159 yards rushing per game. MSU also gave up over 4.5 yards/carry in games against Auburn, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Arkansas. State's ability to stop UCF's running game could be the main factor in how this bowl game turns out.

How 'bout them Bulldogs?

Sylvester Croom has put together a hell of a season in Starkville. A hell of a season.

Down 14-0 against in-state rival Ole Miss, Mississippi State put together 17 unanswered points, all in the 4th quarter, to win. Adam Carlson hit a career-long 48-yarder with 0:12 remaining to seal the deal.

Mississippi State has now gone from winning 9 games in 3 years to winning 7 -- perhaps 8 if they win their bowl game -- in a single season.

The Bulldogs have a nice set of quality wins this season. They beat Auburn at home, #14 Kentucky in Lexington, and #22 Alabama. Their victory over Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl caps a magical season for Croom, the SEC Coach of the Year, and Mississippi State fans everywhere.

FanHouse brought the phrase and concept of "Crooming" into the college football lexicon.

And now, perhaps it's time to take it back out.

Stop the presses: Mississippi State has a 2-game win streak over Bama and Croom is 1-0 against the highest paid coach in the sport.

Although their 17-12 win over Saban's Tide wasn't pretty, it was a win against one of college football's most storied programs.

At 6-4, Croom's Bulldogs are bowl eligible with two games remaining against Arkansas and Ole Miss -- both are winnable. An eight win season, unthinkable just 10 weeks ago, is now a distinct possibility.

The kids from Starkville, MS now own wins over three ranked teams: Auburn, Kentucky, and Alabama. They beat a scrappy UAB team and were competitive against #25 Tennessee and #16 South Carolina.

"Crooming" is a dying concept, because there's no shame in losing to a capable team, and the Bulldogs' record proves that they are certainly capable. And so is Sylvester Croom.

Winning at Mississippi State might be the toughest job in the SEC, and in his third year Sylvester Croom has produced. Croom is a good man doing things the right way, and FanHouse is pleased to revoke the dreaded 'Crooming' label from popular use. Please update your urban dictionaries, folks.

Arguably, Alabama suffered a classic letdown game loss after the effort against LSU last week. Well, except for the fact that Mississippi State was also slated for a letdown game of their own after upsetting Kentucky on the road. Kind of makes that argument a wash, so let's just skip that.

Neither team put on much of an offensive performance. Neither team could break 300 yards of total offense. Only 1 offensive touchdown between both teams in the game.

Mississippi State had only one offensive series that exceeded 50 yards of offense. Alabama had only two drives of over 50 yards. One ended in a field goal and the other was intercepted in the endzone and returned 100 yards for a Mississippi State touchdown.

That interception was the big play of the game. At a minimum it was a ten point swing for the Bulldogs. It not only gave Mississippi State a 1 point lead at the half, but it stopped Alabama from at least getting a field goal.

It also seemed to sap the confidence of Alabama QB John Parker Wilson. It showed as he came out in the second half and promptly threw another interception deep in his own side of the field. Mississippi State converted that into another TD.

Mississippi State's defense kept the Alabama offense off-balance the entire game. The Bulldog offense only seemed to do just enough despite four 3-and-outs

Another wonderful, wild, train-wreck of a day in the Southeastern Conference. Especially on the East side, where a pair of highly-ranked teams -- Kentucky and Florida -- lose to a pair of Dogs -- Mississippi State and Georgia. Plus, in Knoxville, an unlikely contender for the division crown blows a 21-point lead, gets two chances at a game-tying field goal, and wins in overtime over an even more unlikely contender for the division title.

Here's a fun fact for you: after today, Miss. State and Vanderbilt are as close to bowl eligibility as are Tennessee, Arkansas, and (of all teams) Florida. God, I love this conference. In addition to Tennessee emerging as the SEC East leader, here's some more interesting things emerging from this Saturday in the SEC:

Georgia Controls Florida

It's become so typical for Florida to take the Cocktail Party that the game is hardly a question anymore. With the Gators winning 15 of the last 18, there's no wonder that even Georgia fans were reluctant to look at the "what ifs" coming into Saturday. But those 'Dawgs who dared to dream probably didn't envision what came out of Saturday's matchup -- in particular the celebration penalty that UGA took on its first touchdown:

I told them if they didn't get a penalty for celebrating after the first score I would be mad at them

...said head coach Mark Richt. The Bulldog players took their coach seriously on that one, as the bench cleared for a dance in the endzone following UGA's first TD of the game. It was an uncharacteristic move for a coach who lambasted his team just two weeks ago for celebrating on the Vanderbilt logo after a last-second win over the Commies. But uncharacteristic might have been just what Richt was looking for after being only 1-5 against the Gators in his career at Georgia.

It was an act of bravado that could have easily backfired on the Dawgs -- if you're going to celebrate like that, and you lose, you pretty much look like a fool. But it ended up paying off as Georgia controlled the game en route to a 42-30 victory. Knowshon Moreno had an unbelievable day -- 33 carries for 188 yards and three TDs. But if you want wacky, consider this: Matt Stafford out-rushed Tim Tebow. In the process, UGA kept themselves alive for a trip to Atlanta for the SEC Championship, though they'll need some help along the way.

What else to say when you lose to Mississippi State and Jackie Sherrill isn't even their coach?

After two impressive showings against LSU (a victory) and Florida (a narrow defeat), Kentucky football fell back into orbit Saturday. It didn't take much from the Bulldogs, just some defense and a methodical offensive approach. Kentucky was held to 14 points despite solid numbers from erstwhile Heisman Trophy candidate Andre Woodson. Woodson completed 42 of 42 passes (.571) for 230 yards and two touchdowns.

Problem is he also tossed three interceptions.

A few weeks ago, I was looking for absurd victory chains and made this connection:

Miss St. > Auburn > Florida > Kentucky > LSU

Today saves a few steps:

Miss St. > Kentucky > LSU

The same LSU that stomped Mississippi State 49-0 in the season's debut game.

I still have my doubts, but Mississippi State may have found an SEC quarterback in Wesley Carroll. Carroll connected on 60 % of his passes for two touchdowns and did just enough while reserve tailback Christian Ducre broke the Cats' backs with a 34-yard touchdown run in the 4th quarter to provide the winning 31-14 margin.

Add another upset to this wild and crazy 2007 college football season and congratulations to Kentucky, you just got Croomed.

So about that Billy Gillispie . . .

This one is very surprising.

Perhaps nationally-ranked Kentucky has a bit a letdown going this week. They're currently on the wrong end of a 24-7 score against Mississippi State.

Did I mention this game is being played in Lexington?

MSU scored on their first two series. The two drives combined to go 160 yards in 30 plays, and MSU started out hitting their first five third-down attempts.

As I type, Mississippi State has a better than two-to-one edge in first downs (19-9), and the Bulldogs are outrushing the Wildcats 118-47. QB Wesley Carroll has played a mistake-free game, throwing for 136 yards and two scores. Perhaps, after a long wait, they have a decent quarterback in Starkville.

Kentucky has a turnover in this game, and a bad snap on a punt gave MSU the ball with great field position in the third quarter. Mississippi State drove for an Anthony Dixon touchdown run to make it 24-7.

If the Bulldogs can hold on, they'll have the biggest win of Sly Croom's tenure, they'll have their second SEC road win this year (already won at Auburn), and they'll be one win away from becoming bowl-eligible. If Croom truly needed to save his job this season, it appears he's well on his way.

West Virginia didn't waste any time trying make a statement to rise in the ranks with more upsets of teams ahead of them in the polls. A relatively late intersectional game with Mississippi State. Not many people will see this one, so the Mountaineers seem determined to make the score a noticeable blowout. At the half, it's 31-7 West Virginia.

The Mountaineers blew the game open early with a 31-0 lead over Mississippi State, 15 minutes and 6 seconds into the game. It didn't hurt that the Bulldogs committed two turnovers and have played lousy defense for most of the half to give WVU short fields. Pat White has 150 yards of total offense and 3 touchdowns.

The Mountaineers have still piled up over 200 yards of offense while the Bulldogs couldn't even crack 100 yards for the half. The bright spot for Mississippi State has been their special teams. The punting has been outstanding. One punt was sent 70 yards and another pinned West Virginia on the 1. The latter led to a short field that gave the Bulldogs their lone score.