NCAA Football FanHouse

Mississippi State Gets Disproportionately Large Video Board

Ryan Ferguson — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 21:03:00 EST

Filed under: SEC, 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.)

Now, don't get me wrong. Freakin' gigantic replay screens are cool (just ask Texas fans). But maybe this one is just a tad too big for this particular, ah, stadium. Check the uprights and the overall field dimension, then scan back up to look at that monster.

It's going to be blinding for whoever's on offense facing the south endzone... wait. Maybe that's the angle. HUGE HOME TEAM ADVANTAGE. Yeah, that's the ticket. FanHouse approves.

Mississippi State Gets Disproportionately Large Video Board originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Tue, 08 Jul 2008 21:03:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Steve Spurrier, Philanthropist

Andy Katzer — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 12:49:00 EST

Filed under: Tennessee Football, SEC, South Carolina Football, NCAA FB Coaching, Mississippi State Football

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.

Steve Spurrier, Philanthropist originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Tue, 18 Dec 2007 12:49:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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More Cowbell? Memphis WIll Have Plenty as Bulldog Fans Pack Liberty Bowl

Andy Katzer — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Conference USA, SEC, Bowl Games, UCF Football, Mississippi State Football

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.

More Cowbell? Memphis WIll Have Plenty as Bulldog Fans Pack Liberty Bowl originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Tue, 11 Dec 2007 15:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Croom Engineers Late Comeback to Cap Magical Season

Ryan Ferguson — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 16:07:00 EST

Filed under: Mississippi Football, SEC, Mississippi State Football

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.

Croom Engineers Late Comeback to Cap Magical Season originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Fri, 23 Nov 2007 16:07:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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'Crooming' No Longer Reflects Mississippi State Football

Ryan Ferguson — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 11:02:00 EST

Filed under: Alabama Football, SEC, NCAA FB Coaching, Mississippi State Football

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.

'Crooming' No Longer Reflects Mississippi State Football originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sun, 11 Nov 2007 11:02:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Alabama Suffers a Bigger Letdown Than Mississippi State

Charles Rich — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 16:23:00 EST

Filed under: Alabama Football, SEC, Mississippi State Football

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

Alabama Suffers a Bigger Letdown Than Mississippi State originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sat, 10 Nov 2007 16:23:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SEC Wrap: Dog (or Dawg?) Days of October

Andy Katzer — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 02:16:00 EST

Filed under: Georgia Football, SEC, Mississippi State Football

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.

State Makes For a Confusing Victory Chain

The same Kentucky that beat LSU 43-37 just a few weeks ago, and took Florida to the wire, refuses to show up to play Mississippi State -- the same Mississippi State who lost to LSU 45-0 to begin the college football season. So LSU is better than MSU who is better than UK who is better than LSU. Learn to love it, for this is life in the SEC.

Back in reality, State ground out a running game that accounted for 200 yards on 51(!) attempts, controlling the ball for 34 minutes of the ballgame. But it didn't have to be this way, the Cats turned the ball over six (6!) times, ending up minus-five in the turnover battle. State also churned out more first downs and made former Heisman candidate Andre Woodson look average at best. In fact, Woodson looked desperate, chunking up an uncharacteristic three interceptions. Now the once-hot Wildcats have to scramble for bowl position against MSU, who is a win away from being bowl-eligible themselves.

Speaking of Bowl Teams...

Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Florida all need one more win to get bowl eligible. Georgia, South Carolina, LSU, Alabama, and Auburn already are. The only SEC team that can't get bowl eligible is Ole Miss, who at 2-7 only has three games left. Literally, the SEC could have 11 bowl teams. Will they all get invites? That not for sure, but Tennessee has the Sun Belt's UL-Lafayette next week, and that should do it for them. Florida has Vanderbilt, the struggling Gamecocks, and then Fla. Atlantic, so they should be eligible in the next three weeks easily. Vandy has a tough road to hoe, but among Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Wake Forest, they only need one win, so it's doable. State has Alabama and Arkansas before a very winnable match vs. Ole Miss. And the Razorbacks have dates against Carolina, Tennessee, Miss. State and LSU.

Should 11 SEC team get bowl-eligible, it might be a fight among the bottom-feeders to see who makes it. But don't be surprised if bowls shun seven or even eight-win teams to make room for the SEC's eligible.

SEC Wrap: Dog (or Dawg?) Days of October originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sun, 28 Oct 2007 02:16:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It's Back to Basketball for Kentucky

Brian Grummell — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 16:02:00 EST

Filed under: SEC, The Word, Kentucky Football, Mississippi State Football

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 . . .

It's Back to Basketball for Kentucky originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sat, 27 Oct 2007 16:02:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Upset Alert: Mississippi State Leads Kentucky in Third Quarter

Bruce Ciskie — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 14:25:00 EST

Filed under: SEC, Kentucky Football, Mississippi State Football

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.

Upset Alert: Mississippi State Leads Kentucky in Third Quarter originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sat, 27 Oct 2007 14:25:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WVU Seizing Opportunity

Charles Rich — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 17:31:00 EST

Filed under: West Virginia Football, Big East, SEC, Mississippi State Football

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.

WVU Seizing Opportunity originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sat, 20 Oct 2007 17:31:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Can Fulmer Avoid a Crooming?

Andy Katzer — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 13:41:00 EST

Filed under: Tennessee Football, SEC, NCAA FB Coaching, Mississippi State Football

Is that a death-knell you hear, or just the dulcet tones of Sly Croom? You be the judge...

When Ryan Ferguson singled out Phillip Fulmer and Les Miles as the coaches most likely to be Croomed back in June, he probably didn't know LSU was quite the chainsaw-endowed werewolf it has turned out to be, or that Fulmer would have one of the rockiest starts to a season in his long career. He also had no way of knowing that Mississippi State would be a respectable football team, one that is very physical on the line of scrimmage and capable of winning some games (does everybody, or anybody, realize that State is two wins away from bowl eligibility... and it's only October 12?).

Still, even if State is improved, and even if they make it to a bowl game this year, losing to the Bulldogs carries a stigma with it. So even though the Vols' beatdown of Georgia last week gave some hope to the Big Orange faithful, a loss in Starkville this weekend would erase all that. The things Vol fans really want to know are: was that the real UT against Georgia last weekend, or are the Vols really that team that got smoked in Gainesville? And did the run defense get that much better in the bye week, or was UGA just overrated? Was the bye week the key, or can the Vols get that prepared every time out? Answers, or possibly just more questions, after the jump...

It's hard to tell what the real UT is. There was a stunned relief in Neyland Stadium last Saturday when Tennessee showed the ability to both run and stop the run. But Mark Richt admitted back in September that his offense was a "little bit of smoke and mirrors" in the run game. Until some more returns come in, it will be hard to tell if the Vol run defense a week ago was smoke and mirrors, too. Fortunately for Tennessee, the Mississippi State game gives them a chance to see.

On the surface, it looks like Georgia and State are similar. Both want to run the ball... the difference is that MSU actually can run the ball because they're so much more experienced on the offensive line. What Tennessee will need to do to avoid the upset is to score early like they did against Georgia, forcing State to throw the ball. Croom already dared Tennessee to put nine in the box... though it's unclear if that's a challenge to stop the run game or State's best strategy to keep more passes from being intercepted.

There's no reason Tennessee shouldn't beat State this weekend. But this has been a wacky year in college football, and should the Bulldogs pull the upset, Fulmer might just join Ron Zook and Mike Shula as coaches who have been Croomed.

Can Fulmer Avoid a Crooming? originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Fri, 12 Oct 2007 13:41:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SEC Hot Seat Check

Andy Katzer — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 20:40:00 EST

Filed under: Auburn Football, Mississippi Football, Tennessee Football, SEC, Arkansas Football, NCAA FB Coaching, The Word, Mississippi State Football

(BTW: Totally ignoring firecoachnicksaban.com because... well because you people are just nuts)

Back in August, Fanhouse tabbed three SEC coaches in danger of losing their jobs during or after this season. And with the season nearly 1/3 of the way over(!), some have cooled off, while others are squarely in the frying pan. So, it's time to check those coaches' status thus far. I see three levels of heat on the seat of these guys:

1. Hog-roasting, doughnut-glaze-melting heat of a million angry fans: Houston Nutt and Phil Fulmer. Nutt is kind of obvious: he was in trouble before the season (trouble that was completely avoidable), and that was coming off an SEC West title. Dropping games to Alabama and Ken-freakin'-tucky hasn't cooled anything. Plus, he's bat-crap crazy. As for Fulmer, in August I wrote "barring complete and total disaster, Fulmer will be the head coach at Tennessee for awhile, probably as long as he wants it." Yeah, well... the 39-point loss to Florida might not qualify as complete and total disaster, but it's as close to it as Fulmer's been outside of the Season of Which We Do Not Speak. For the first time in his career, Fulmer has lost a significant portion of the fan base and needs some quality wins this year to re-cement his spot on Rocky Top.

2. YAWWEALMOSBEAFLAWDA,YSITSTILLSOHAWTYAW: Ed Orgeron, natch. Ole Miss fans might be encouraged that the Rebs managed to hang with Florida for four quarters on Saturday. After all, the Gators were fresh off their drubbing of Tennessee and being hyped as actually better than last year's national championship team. On the other hand, Rebel faithful might be dismayed that their team threw absolutely everything they had at Florida, were obviously more prepared for the game than the Gators, and still lost. If the seminal win for Coach O wasn't going to come Saturday, it might not come at all.

3. Uncomfortable like an Opelika outdoor wedding in mid-August heat: Sylvester Croom and Tommy Tuberville. Interestingly at a crossroads, these two coaches met in early September and by virtue of MSU's win over Auburn, heat came off Croom and was applied to Tubbs. At this point, I wouldn't expect either of these guys to lose their jobs; despite a rough opener State is a little better than expected, and Auburn's just going through some growing pains. Still, Tuberville is the leader in the clubhouse as this year's candidate to get "Croomed."

SEC Hot Seat Check originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Wed, 26 Sep 2007 20:40:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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YouTubesDay: Brandon Cox Experiencing Technical Difficulties

Brian Grummell — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 19:46:00 EST

Filed under: Auburn Football, SEC, NCAA FB Video, Mississippi State Football

Last Saturday, Auburn quarterback Brandon Cox had one of those afternoons straight out of the cartoons. You know the ones where some villainous but unwitting animal character (think Tom from Tom & Jerry) short-circuits and spends the rest of the day with a glazed-over look, emanating drunk bubbles and making incoherent sounds like ngh, gh, ack, awaawwgh and thndh.

Just watch.

YouTubesDay: Brandon Cox Experiencing Technical Difficulties originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Tue, 18 Sep 2007 19:46:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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College Football Songbook: Losing to Croom Can Get You Fired

John Radcliff — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 18:44:00 EST

Filed under: Auburn Football, SEC, FanHouse TV, Mississippi State Football

The College Football Songbook is a weekly feature in which we'll be making as much fun as humanly possible of the most embarrassing moments in college football. Through words, music, and related video we'll leave a lasting memory implanted on the brains of the vanquished that they are not soon to forget.

This past weekend was certainly a target rich environment with Kentucky beating Louisville, Utah beating UCLA, and Tennessee getting crushed by Florida. But for our money, the best story was Auburn getting upset at home by Mississippi St. So sit back and enjoy. And remember, losing to Sylvester Croom can get you fired!

Special Hat Tip to Pete Holiday for putting the video together!

Photos courtesy of:

Getty Images
The Tide Druid
The Mississippi State Sports Blog

College Football Songbook: Losing to Croom Can Get You Fired originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Mon, 17 Sep 2007 18:44:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Don't Look Now, But Sly Croom Has Won 2 in a Row

Ryan Ferguson — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 16:33:00 EST

Filed under: SEC, Mississippi State Football

... and he could make it 3 in a row with a win over Gardner-Webb next weekend.

The last time the Bulldogs won 2 games in a row was 2004. And they've never hit a triple with Croom calling the shots. In Starkeville, that's the equivalent of a home run.

Say what you want about struggling Mississippi State, but here are some facts. In three years Croom has beaten Florida, Alabama, Kentucky, and now Auburn. Three of those four are perennial SEC powers. (And two of those coaches have since been fired, but we've covered that ground before.)

The trouble is, those four wins represent almost half of MSU's total wins in 3+ years. Croom has to win some more ball games, but he's cooled his seat significantly by dispatching the Tigers.

A 3-in-a-row mark would represent high tide for Croom. Mississippi State's win over Auburn means more winnable games remain: after Gardner-Webb, South Carolina, Tennessee and Ole Miss all offer a not-too-unreasonable upset opportunity.

A four or five win season guarantees that Croom keeps his job, but I suspect he's already gotten a new lifeline with his latest success. It's nice to see a hard-working, high character coach starting to enjoy some level of success in a program facing so many uphill challenges. Go Croom!

Don't Look Now, But Sly Croom Has Won 2 in a Row originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sun, 16 Sep 2007 16:33:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Did Tommy Tuberville Get Croomed?

Ryan Ferguson — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 16:09:00 EST

Filed under: Auburn Football, SEC, Mississippi State Football

In the pre-season, FanHouse theorized some possible Crooming scenarios. After all, Mississippi State's Sylvester Croom has been at least partly responsible for the firing of two Div-IA powerhouse program coaches (Ron Zook/Florida and Mike Shula/Alabama) in his first two years in Starkeville. Who, if anyone, would be a recipient for this dubious distinction in 2007?

It was decided that the most likely coach to receive a full-on Crooming at Mississippi State's expense would be either Les Miles or Phil Fulmer. Les Miles... na ga happa. Fulmer is as ripe for a crooming now as much as ever, but what about Tommy Tuberville, whose Auburn Tigers lost to the Bulldogs 19-14 last Saturday?

Before any games had been played, I wrote: "Auburn? Sheeah, right. Tommy Tuberville has turned them into a perennial contender. While a loss to Croom would indeed be a shock, no one would utter a word about firing the guy who beat Bama five straight times."

At the time, a Crooming seemed impossible. But given that Auburn could just as easily be 0-3 right now instead of 1-2, maybe... ?

Eh, my gut says no. But what if Tuberville gives one up to the Sabanized Tide, who just beat a Top 20 team in Tuscaloosa on the same night? Discuss.

Did Tommy Tuberville Get Croomed? originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sun, 16 Sep 2007 16:09:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Auburn Officially Irrelevant in 2007

Brian Grummell — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 15:48:00 EST

Filed under: Auburn Football, SEC, The Word, Mississippi State Football

Sure, the Tigers can be spoilers this year, but they have no role in the national discussion this season having lost to Mississippi State 19-14 at home today. Mississippi State is awful and playing a freshman quarterback who is at present worse than the terrible Michael Henig.

Granted, Auburn benched starter Brandon Cox in favor of true freshman Kodi Burns. They lost at home to a bad team, though. This comes a week after losing at home to a good not great South Florida. That came a week after nearly losing to middling Kansas State, again at home. Imagine if they had played those games on the road? Yikes.

I'm certain Auburn will improve, but their national role is over for 2007.

The worst part of this for Auburn is that they had a chance to win this thing. With first and goal from the nine trailing 19-14, Auburn failed to get a touchdown, sealing its fate.

Auburn Officially Irrelevant in 2007 originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sat, 15 Sep 2007 15:48:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New Era at Auburn? Brandon Cox Pulled

Brian Grummell — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 13:19:00 EST

Filed under: Auburn Football, SEC, NCAA FB Injuries, The Word, Mississippi State Football

After two sluggish games and a first-quarter interception that was returned for a touchdown, Auburn quarterback Brandon Cox has been benched.

His replacement: true frosh Kodi Burns who Auburn darn near stole from Arkansas. Burns provides mobility and a more powerful arm, but he's also a freshman and proved it by fumbling the ball deep in Bulldog territory for Auburn's third turnover of the first quarter.

Mississippi State is having quarterback issues of its own, as starter Michael Henig is done for the day with a hand injury. Two true frosh quarterbacks are now competing in this game. How about them apples Jimmy Clausen/Ryan Mallett?

New Era at Auburn? Brandon Cox Pulled originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sat, 15 Sep 2007 13:19:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tulane And Mississippi State 'Dead Even'

Pete Holiday — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 12:12:00 EST

Filed under: Conference USA, SEC, Mississippi State Football, Tulane Football

After Michael Henig did his best to earn MVP honors for LSU in a 45 point loss last weekend, Mississippi State turned their attention to the Green Wave. The Bulldogs have faced Tulane nearly 60 times, but in recent years Tulane's given MSU a bit of a fight. So much so that Rick Dickson, Tulane's Athletic Director, thinks the teams are pretty much even:

"I think there's a lot of good in it," Dickson said. "I think we're dead even after four and at the end of the day we could both probably say if we play 10 times and were dead even we'd both be OK with that."

While the disturbing part of this statement for most SEC teams would be the fact that they were just equated to Tulane, Travis from Hail Dear 'Ole State sees a deeper issue:

[I]t does sum up what Bulldog fans have long suspected about Templeton. Being "okay" with splitting a ten game series does not show the commitment to excellence one would expect from an SEC athletic director.

There's no denying that taking the Bulldogs even as far as the top half of the SEC West is a tall order, but there's also been little in the way of progress in quite some time. It's not a stretch to distribute some of the blame for long-term mediocrity to the Athletic Director.

Vegas favors State by five-and-a-half this weekend in Louisiana.

Tulane And Mississippi State 'Dead Even' originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Fri, 07 Sep 2007 12:12:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Croom Finally Nixes Plays That Don't Work

Pete Holiday — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 16:49:00 EST

Filed under: SEC, NCAA FB Coaching, The Word, Mississippi State Football

After three years of dismal performances and countless excuses, Sylvester Croom has finally decided to stop running plays that don't work. That's right, more than three years into his head coaching career and he's figured out something that every 12-year-old who has played Madden already knows: if you run plays that don't work, you'll lose. A lot. And badly.

That process called for hours to be spent breaking down film - from both the games and practices - from the last three years. From there, the coaching staff was able to determine what has worked and what hasn't.

And what hasn't worked is now eradicated from the playbook.

"There are things I feel we can do, but we can't," Croom said. "And the things we haven't been able to execute, they've been eliminated."

Well, that's refreshing. Nice work, Coach... and don't let anyone tell you that you should've thought of this two years ago.

(Hat tip: Hail Dear 'Ole State)

Croom Finally Nixes Plays That Don't Work originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Wed, 05 Sep 2007 16:49:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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