Mississippi State Bulldogs
Southeastern Conference
Raise your hand if you are aware of the fact that Mississippi State was ranked in the top 25 coming into this season. Is that someone’s hand in the back? Nope? Okay. Preseason polls are often as useful as Monday morning quarterbacking and yet Mississippi State was supposed to be good this year after their big bowl win a season ago. Instead, it took them until the very last game of the season, against “hated” rival Ole Miss to gain their sixth win and their bowl eligibility. It won’t be the Cotton Bowl but congratulations nonetheless. Now Dan Mullen can mark 2011 as a bowl season on his resume when applying to coach Penn State.
2011 Record: 6-6, 2-6
Last Bowl Appearance: 2010 Gator Bowl vs. Michigan (W 52-14)
Big Wins: 10/29 at Kentucky (28-16), 11/26 Mississippi (31-3)
Bad Losses: 9/10 at Auburn (34-41), 11/19 at Arkansas (17-44)
Coach: Dan Mullen (20-17 at Mississippi State, 20-17 overall)
Bowl Record: 1-0 at Mississippi State, 1-0 overall
Offensive Coordinator: Les Koenning
Defensive Coordinator: Chris Wilson
Strengths:
Mississippi State had, to phrase this judiciously, few strengths. To say quarterback Chris Relf was a strength would be a year late and patently false. What the Bulldogs relied on in 2011 was their respectable defense. They allowed less than 20 points per game, surrendering just 19 in their loss to LSU and just 14 in their loss to South Carolina. When the offense was nowhere to be found, the defense tried their best to keep Mississippi State in the game. Led by the linebacker corps of Cameron Lawrence (114 total tackles), Brandon Wilson (92 total tackles) and Deontae Skinner (tied for second on the team in forced fumbles), the defense was solid although unspectacular. In support of the linebackers were two ball hawking corners. Nickoe Whitely intercepted four passes through his team’s first seven games. Fellow defensive back Johnthan Banks finished with five total picks to lead the Bulldogs. For a team finishing just 6-6 on the season, the Mississippi State defense ranked fairly well against the pass while ending the year with a positive turnover differential: perhaps a positive sign for next season as none of the aforementioned contributors were seniors in 2011.
Weaknesses:
A lot must go wrong for a team with this type of preseason pub to fall to a .500 record. The main surprise for this team was out of their quarterback. Chris Relf was superb at the end of last season both in the air and on the ground. He collected over 2,500 total yards of offense, picking apart Michigan in their huge Gator Bowl win to finish out the year. For whatever reason, 2011 was not so kind. Relf struggled out of the gate, throwing five interceptions in his first five games before being benched for sophomore Tyler Russell. Relf eventually got another chance in his final game, a blowout over Ole Miss, but could never get much going all season, even running the ball. Russell, as his replacement, faired okay but was still a far cry from what Bulldog fans were expecting out of the quarterback position this season. Of course Mississippi State was bad at a lot of other things too. They had trouble scoring, especially against teams not in the Ohio Valley Conference; they struggled to stop the run or get to the quarterback consistently; the Dawgs were also lacking on kickoff returns. Yet with all these other faults, it certainly seemed like the success and subsequent failure rested with the struggles of the quarterback position.
Statistical Leaders:
Rushing: Vick Ballard, RB, 1,009 yards
Passing: Chris Relf, QB, 1,083 yards
Receiving: Arceto Clark, WR, 404 yards
Tackles: Cameron Lawrence, LB, 114
Sacks: Fletcher Cox, DT, 4.0
Interceptions: Johnthan Banks, CB, 5
2011 Team Stats:
Rushing Offense: 168.83 (45th in nation, 6th in conference)
Passing Offense: 186.25 (94, 6)
Total Offense: 355.08 (87, 6)
Scoring Offense: 25.50 (72, 8)
Rushing Defense: 161.00 (65, 7)
Pass Defense: 194.92 (25, 9)
Total Defense: 355.92 (42, 8)
Scoring Defense: 19.92 (20, 5)
Turnover Margin: 0.33 (32, 4)
Sacks: 1.75 (71, 8)
Sacks Allowed: 2.00 (64, 5)
