Bulldogs and Tigers and Corndogs, oh my!

Tool - Bottom

Shit adds up, shit adds up, shit adds up, shit adds up at the bottom...

If I let you, you would make me destroy myself.
In order to survive you, i must first survive myself.
I can sink no further, and I cannot forgive you.
There's no choice but to confront you, to engage you, to erase you.
I've gone to great lengths to expand my threshold of pain...
I will use my mistakes against you, there's no other choice.
I'm shameless now, I'm nameless now, I'm nothing now, I'm no one now.
But my soul must be iron 'cause my fear is naked...
I'm naked and fearless...
And my fear is naked!
 

Last week's first ever poll for this week's theme song ended in a tie (2 whole votes!), so I made an executive decision following the Auburn game to go with a alternative that is far more apropos given the results.  Shit adds up at the bottom, after all.  But that's not what this selection is about...

I chose that particular excerpt of lyrics for a very good reason.  Ok two reasons... first off, the song is just badass.  But also, this song isn't just about "shit happens" or "shit rolls down hill" or any of that.  It's more like "shit happens, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let you dictate the shit that happens to me.  I will rise above your short-sighted, preconceived notions of what you believe I should be and reinvent myself."  And that is exactly what this MSU team will have to do if they want a chance at knocking off arguably the best team in the country in week 3.


PICK OF THE SIX -

Sexy maaan, sexy maaaan!

We're starting a new feature this week on the blog, the Pick of the Six.  This is where I post a link to a funny/informative/entertaining thread from the Six Pack Speak website.  This is a great website for all things MSU, and if you're not on there yet you're already behind the game.  A few important notes:  I highly recommend you DO NOT dive in and start posting right away.  Read more, post less is the name of the game here.  Also, 17 is not a number, it's an expletive.  And finally, you'd do well not to offer any grammar/spelling advice as you'll only be exposing and embarrassing yourself, even if your write. (see what I did there?) The Pick of the Six will vary depending on the day of the week, the upcoming/previous opponents and quality of board content, but I'm sure you'll be entertained.

And with that, I give you this week's Pick of the Six: Coach34's Sunday Morning QB - Auburn Edition. Now a little background on Coach34, he is the number one troll on the Six Pack and he's not afraid to stir the pot.  Half the time (half? ok, 90%) he posts shit to get folks riled up, but he knows a thing or two about football and he is a true fan.  Also he's kind of an ass, but that's a prerequisite for trolls anyway...


LAST WEEK -
They say the most improvement happens between week one and week two, but there is (or at least should be) a caveat to that.  The most improvement is going to happen after you're able to accurately assess your abilities.  Memphis did not test MSU's defense, and so the question marks remained question marks instead of turning into exclamation marks.  But now that Auburn has exposed the issues at hand for this defense, those questions can at least be addressed.  Disregarding the short week, you can expect to see some significant adjustments on the defensive side of the ball.

Must fight urge to photoshop 'f' onto shirt!

So my predictions may have been wrong, but I was right about a few key factors.  The offenses were able to move the ball and score almost at will, MSU ran the ball quite well, and Guz Malzhan fine tuned his offense to a much improved result.  As I told some friends in casual conversation, I was a little concerned to see the numbers that Auburn's special teams unit put up, as that's where most of their yardage came from vs. Utah State(Auburn rushing: 78 yds, Auburn special teams [returning yardarge]: 270 yds) and what that meant for our kicking game/special teams situations.  Turns out I was right to be worried.  Auburn's special teams are, in a word, special.  I may end up eating crow thanks to my parting shot at Auburn in the pre-game blog... but we'll cook that bird when we come to it.  Meanwhile MSU has yet to find a kicker that can consistently produce touch backs, and that resulted in many short field opportunities for the Tigers, while the Bulldogs had to go to work inside their own 20 yard line more times than any coach likes to see.  I mean is it really that hard to find a hot-ass coed who can boot the pigskin 75 yards?  Hell, if Kathy Ireland can do it...

THIS WEEK - This is a short week, so the Bulldogs got back to work less than 24 hours after the humbling loss to Auburn.  LSU put on a clinic in week one against a very good Oregon team who turned around and pounded out some frustrations on Nevada to the tune of 69 points.  The smart money is on LSU to coast to a win here, but in football terminology that translates into "Trap Game."  Will the Bayou Bengals be focused?  Will Chris Wilson make the necessary adjustments?  Why do LSU fans smell like corn dogs?  Will the Bulldogs be over the loss?  Will ESPN send an uber-hottie sideline reporter?  All these answers and much more on the next episode of Soap...  er, wait.  Sorry, I get distracted easily... Right! On with the show!

KEYS TO THE GAME -
This week the Bulldogs have a daunting task ahead of them.  LSU is loaded at nearly every position, even after losing their starting QB and another player due to some off the field shenanigans.  After the gut-wrenching loss on the Plains MSU returns home for their season and conference home opener.  Can Mississippi State collect themselves and put an improved product on the field, and if so will it be enough to keep LSU from steamrolling the Bulldogs for a 12th straight time?
In a word, maybe.  As I said earlier, the Auburn loss was valuable from a self-evaluation stand point for our defense.  Whereas Memphis barely tested our 2nd and 3rd string defense, Auburn exposed some weaknesses in players, schemes and techniques.  So this is MSU's "week two" and we will see what sort of adjustments are made to staunch the bleeding.  Can Chris Wilson rally his troops and make the necessary adjustments or will he go the way of the Torbushes or the Joe Lee Dunns of the world?

OFFENSE -
Dan Mullen has definitely improved the product MSU is putting on the field, there is no doubt about that.  Even in the disheartening loss to Auburn, Mississippi State was able to put up solid offensive numbers.  333 rushing yards, 198 passing yards... both of these eclipse Auburn's efforts on the day.  The difference was special teams and starting field position. The offense needs their defense and special teams to put them in a more favorable position if they're going to beat the Tigers.

A few injuries to the offensive line did not help matters, although Mullen feels Quentin Saulsberry will be available Thursday night.  Dillon Day put in some good time in his absence, leaving many to wonder if Saulsberry wouldn't be better off moving to a guard position and letting Day handle the snaps going forward.  Still, LSU is stacked on both O and D lines, so this unit will have their work cut out for them.  Look for MSU to continue to look to Vick Ballard as the workhorse of the offense, with Chris Relf also sneaking in a surprising number of yards with his own two feet.  LaDarius Perkins is not to be forgotten either, but speaking of forgotten, where the hell is Robert Elliot?  The buzz out of the spring was that he had returned to his pre-injury greatness and his speed would astound and amaze.  Certainly it couldn't hurt to throw a wrinkle out for Les Miles' crew to deal with?

DEFENSE -
Where do you start?  Missed tackles, soft coverage, bad scheming... the list goes on.  It's too early to start the fireChrisWilson.com chatter just yet, but he's definitely got something to prove if he wants the Bulldog faithful to remain in his camp. Unfortunately for him, LSU is not quite the punching bag you hope to see when you're looking to get over a loss and put up some better stats for a little bit of the feel-good magic.

But it's not all bad.  Corey Broomfield is proving himself a valuable asset, as is Johnathan Banks who had an interception returned for TD Saturday.  Cam Lawrence also posted some solid stats, with 14 tackles, 12 solo, and 1 sack for a 10 yard loss.  If you want to take a positive away from the negative, it's that one of the underlying problems is fundamentals, which is coachable (is that a word? ...well it is now!) and correctable.  The defense has to get back to the basics, namely finishing tackles, in order to get back in the game.  Do that, and we should see marked improvement from the D, even against the likes of LSU.

BOTTOM LINE -
I'd love to say it's about who wants it more... as Gene Hackman says in The Replacements, "Heart."  But LSU is the proverbial Goliath to MSU's David.  MSU is more likely to find themselves looking up from the quicksand than they are to be looking down from the mountaintop. The question is whether or not Dan and his Bulldogs can shake the loss to Auburn, move on in this short week, and really get up for the game Thursday night.

There is an awful lot going in favor of MSU, believe it or not.  Home opener.  SEC opener.  Thursday night game.  ESPN will be on hand.  Oh, and let's not forget the cowbells.  All of these will have the home crowd whipped into a frenzy, and the team can and should feed off that energy.  Will it be enough?

FINAL SCORE -
MSU started last season 1-2 after three games, so the world doesn't end if they lose to the Tigers Thursday night.  However the road to Atlanta would essentially be closed if that ends up being the case.  Still, it's a young season and anything could happen.  As much as I'd like to predict a win, it's so unlikely that even I am hesitant.  With that said...

WILD AND WOOLLY PREDICTION -
MSU 24 - LSU 21

REALISTIC PREDICTION -
MSU 21 - LSU 42

Yeah yeah, I hear you... that's what a wild and woolly prediction is for, though.  If you look back at my past prognostications you'll see I don't always predict MSU to win, even in wild and woolly fashion, but this team's offense is going to sneak up and surprise someone this season, and I'd sure like that someone to be #2 LSU.  So if you take issue with anything I've said here then just drop me an email by hitting the link at the top.  Also be sure to vote for next week's theme song, and check back with us next week for a very bold prediction regarding MSU upcoming match with LA Tech... oh wordplay, how I love thee.

Woolly Bully!!!! Woolly Bully...