Party Rockin...

Party Rock Antehm

"Every day I'm shufflin..."

It's game week, bitches! At the time of this posting kickoff will be a mere 6 days away and speculation will have reached a fevered pitch, no doubt. But with the first opponent will we really see all that MSU has to offer for the coming season?

In a word, no. Mississippi State enters the season with a ranking of 20 for the first time in a decade or more, and their first opponent is the Memphis Tigers team which weighs in at a ranking of 120. That's one hundred and twenty. I think there are 121 Div-1 football teams total, soooooo yeah.

KEYS TO THE GAME -

OFFENSE -
The MSU Bulldogs wrapped a stellar 2010 season by hanging 52 points on the storied Michigan Wolverines. You can see a great highlight reel here, good work, TXMudDawg! The 2011-12 offense figures to be much the same, if not incrementally better. Chris Relf really showed progress in the later half of the season with his passing game, and is expected to be one of the premier QB's of the SEC this year. Then there's the stable of backs, namely Vick Ballard, LaDarius Perkins, and freshly rehabbed running machine, Robert Elliot. THEN there's the slew of receivers. Chad Bumphis, Arceto Clark, Michael Carr, Brandon Heavens, Jameon Lewis, etc. etc. etc. The only question on the offensive side of the ball is at the line, where some shuffling and retooling will take place. Injuries not withstanding there won't be much drop-off there.
The key to the offense for the Memphis game? Well that's easy... just play your game and avoid injuries. The Bulldogs are likely to jump out to a 2-3 touchdown lead in the first quarter, which would be a beneficial situation for the 2nd and 3rd stringers across the board. Chris Relf will probably be on the sidelines for the entirety of the second half, leaving the offense in the hands of drop-back passer Tyler Russel and possibly pigskin-slingin cowboy Dylan Farve.

DEFENSE -
On the defensive side of the ball MSU looks to be relatively consistent with where they were last year. While the Dog's O dropped 52 on Michigan, the D shut down media darling Denard Robinson and the Wolverine offense, allowing only two touchdowns on the game.
The biggest losses are Chris White, KJ Wright and Pernell McPhee, all of whom have taken the next step by joining the ranks of the NFL, so of course I'd like to take this opportunity to offer up my congratulations on outstanding careers as Bulldogs, and wish you all the best in the future.
Luckily with the likes of Chris Hughes, Cam Lawrence, and stand-out transfer Brandon Maye the losses won't sting quite as much. Also, considering the level of competition with Memphis, the backups will figure prominently in finishing out the game on the defensive side of the ball as well.

BOTTOM LINE -
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER -
Don't take it personally, Memphis, because we've definitely been on the outside looking in before, and not terribly long ago at that, but this will be a rout. That being the case Dan Mullen will have the luxury of seeing much of his depth in action which should allow him to fine-tune his team for the week 2 match up with Auburn. Mullen is also not very likely to tip his hand with a lot of creative plays and misdirection. Look for good old fashion, straight forward, smash mouth football with a lot of running between the tackles and around the ends.

FINAL SCORE -

WILD AND WOOLLY PREDICTION -
MSU 52 - MEMPHIS 0

REALISTIC PREDICTION -
MSU 47 - MEMPHIS 10