Bulldog Blitz!

 BULLDOG BLITZ!

Well, that game was about what most of us expected ... and what the 'Dogs needed. I found myself remembering that there's a thin line between enjoying seeing your team succeed on almost every level and feeling almost repulsed by a total mismatch. Perhaps because I've been on the other side of this scenario -- I was at the Astrodome (for a half) in 1969 when State was edged 🙄 74 - 0 by the Houston Cougars -- I felt sorry for Alcorn State and somewhat ashamed that we were beating them pretty mercilessly. I was delighted to learn that NCAA football has adopted the equivalent of baseball's 10-run after 7 innings "mercy rule" that allows the teams to agree to shorten the quarters by 5 minutes in the 2nd half. [At an American Legion baseball tournament my son's team played in around the turn of the century the organizers referred to the 10-run rule as "the murder rule." That adjective certainly fit last night's game.] 

Remember that we said that the Bulldogs needed to accomplish 3 things in the Alcorn game to be a success. Let's see how they did:

1. Win convincingly .  ✔
2. Play lots of players. ✔
3. Avoid serious injuries. ✔ (at least to my knowledge)

Highlights

It's hard to highlight a 63 - 0 game, but let's give some recognition to State for the following:

• The passing game, especially from Shapen to Evans and Thompson, continued to shine. So far we have been impressive with the deep passing game. 
  
• And yes, MSU ran it well too. Not many explosive plays by the first line backs, but they (particularly Fluff) ran hard and moved the sticks. And our reserves, against a worn down and disheartened Braves' D, were explosive with both Gayten and Davis hitting home runs. Speed kills.
• The defense created some turnovers and generally controlled the game. 
  
  
  
• The special teams weren't called on much for anything but punt returns, PAT's, and kickoffs, but they did those things well. Shout outs to Evans for being a constant problems on punt returns 
  
  (until it occurred to Alcorn to kick out of bounds), and Marlon Hauck, our kickoff man, put most of his kicks into the end zone.
• Hats off to our two young QB's. Both Taylor and Kromenhoek looked poised, ran well, and passed well. 

  

  Luke scores

  
  
• And finally, I'd like to complement the Bulldogs for not taunting Alcorn or showing their derrieres after big plays. I thought we played with some class.

Also, kudos to the Braves for keeping their heads in a difficult situation. I recall decades ago when I played sports that it's often hard to keep your cool when another team is thrashing you. The reaction is often to literally fight and try to inflict as much pain as you can, legally or otherwise. Alcorn kept their composure and took their whipping with dignity.

Worries

Although it seems a little silly to complain when your team scores almost at will and shuts out the opponent, there were a few things that left me concerned. Here were some things that I saw that worry me as we near SEC play:

• The defense only had 1 sack and didn't pressure the Alcorn QB until late in the game when they were playing tired linemen and reserves.
• I also thought that there were a couple of possessions in which we gave up too much rushing yardage, particularly in the 1st quarter.
• The Bulldog OL didn't open up many holes during the 1st half. Too many of the yards our backs gained were hard-earned. There were no "chunk" runs until our depth eventually wore them down. 
• Shapen has scared me with some of his decisions, particularly sometimes taking off and running or holding the ball too long on designed pass plays. I think he's really a good QB and that he gives us our best chance to win. His propensity to sustain 

  

  "Get down, Blake!"

  
  injuries, however, makes me shudder when he gets "Will-itis" and holds the ball too long, and too often takes unnecessary hits.

Caution Sign

Next up: NIU, the school that last season went to South Bend and gave Notre Dame their only regular season loss. They're a MAC team, as was Toledo and some other teams that through the years we have struggled with when heavily favored. State will certainly be picked to win, and I think if the Bulldogs play as well as they've played in most of the first 3 games, they should win. It's hard to imagine that a team that won but 2 games last year might be overconfident against anyone. However, with a 3 - 0 record and a win over a team in the Top 15 at the time we played them, we're likely to get some votes in the polls. This is our best (and probably last) chance to reasonably feel fat-headed as favorites. Let's hope that we remember how much better it feels to win than lose, and that we adhere to the exhortations of Curtis Mayfield & the Impressions [https://youtu.be/X6ZCXQ4tsQQ?si=yJN2TmKOoSuDUd15&t=26 ].

Sidebar

Side Bar -- get it??

I'm a bit of a history buff, so please allow me to digress with a little land grant history in recognition of our sister institution from Lorman ... 

I think most of us MSU alumni tend to think of ourselves as THE land grant institution in Miss. Many years ago in Miss. History I learned that we're not only; recently I learned that we're not even the first. 

• The first Morrill Land Grant Act was passed by Congress in 1862, which as you may recall, is a year after the state of Miss. had seceded from the Union. As a member of the Confederate States of America, quite naturally MS believed itself unaffected by legislation of the USA. Then after the war, like all Confederate states, MS was essentially placed in "time out" and had to go through the process of being readmitted to the Union. That happened for MS in 1870.
• In 1871 Alcorn University was opened as a college to educate the children of freed slaves by the state of MS (then under the Reconstruction government following the war) on the site of a former Presbyterian college called Oakland in Lorman. Then in 1878 Alcorn University became Alcorn A&M, the first public land grant institution for blacks in the U.S. https://www.alcorn.edu/discover-alcorn/history/
• You probably recall that Miss. A&M was chartered in 1878, but the first year that students were enrolled was 1880. 
• After the Civil War schools in the South continued to legally restrict enrollment in state institutions to white students. The Supreme Court ruled in 1896 in Plessy v. Ferguson that segregation was legal under the doctrine of "separate but equal," a decision that stood until the Court ruled in 1954 that segregation was inherently unfair and illegal.
• However, in keeping with the separate but equal policy of the times, in 1890 Congress had passed the Second Morrill Land Grant Act which required all states (including the readmitted ones in the South) to provide opportunities for black students to have access to education at land grant schools, which taught agriculture (including research and extension services) and mechanical arts (engineering).

We're not likely to ever play a return road game with the Braves, but here's a quick overview. If you've not been to Alcorn State, it's an attractive campus in the small town (population just over 2,000) of Lorman. It's an area rich in history between Vicksburg and Natchez, with nearby historical sites such as the iconic steeple of the First Presbyterian Church in Port Gibson (15 miles away),

the Ruins of Windsor (5 miles away), 

              

             

and the ghost town of Rodney, once a thriving river port and railroad hub  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRwwTB53x-Y (5 miles away).