Call Dr. Redwine!

 CALL DR. REDWINE!

Today's title is an expression used occasionally in a story in Ferrol Sams's Run With the Horsemen, a book about Porter Osborne, Jr., the fictional protagonist in a humorous trilogy about a young man growing up in the rural South in the 1930's and 1940's. The expression (the complete version of which is "Call Dr. Redwine! She done it to herself!") refers to situations in which someone needs help because he/she has unwittingly inflicted harm upon him/herself or others. Miss. State's masochistic loss to Texas last night was just such a painfully vivid display of self-harm. In our 4 game SEC losing streak I've been sad after the OT loss to nationally ranked UT-E (Tennessee) when we had it but lost it. I felt depressed after the loss to nationally ranked aTm in which we fought hard for 3 quarters on the road, but eventually just ran out of gas against a better, deeper team. On the road against a Florida team that was in the midst of falling apart and firing their coach, I was mad because terrible decisions and mistakes cost us a game against a lesser team. But last night against UT-W (Texas), a team stumbling over its inability to approach fictional preseason expectations, State absolutely blew a game they had under control, and I felt -- and still feel -- despair. As the late John Gourrier and his Playboy Band sang, [click here https://youtu.be/gG18WimwtrI?si=N3AhW0NGvnJewDmy ]. Only for now it appears that the correct adverb in the title is always, not sometimes. 

And the SEC drought continues ... now at 16 games. With the 9 SEC games left we have a chance to inch ever closer to the infamous 22 game conference winless streak from the second conference game in 1958 until the second SEC game from the end of the 1961 season. I've seen such a skid up close before, as during my 4 years as an undergraduate at MSU our teams went winless in the SEC (but did manage a tie, there having been no overtimes to lose back in those days). We have become the new Vandy and have put ourselves in position to secure a 3rd straight SEC cellar finish. We need to hope the SEC doesn't adopt the EPL soccer policy of relegation! Do you think USM might speak for us for a spot in the Sunbelt Conference?  And for those who are ready to can Lebby, hey, Sunbelt Billy is available for a return engagement ... and shouldn't cost that much.

The Debacle

Neither you nor I want to relive last night's sinking, but a few things can't be ignored:

• The Bulldogs came stumbling out of the gate with a 3 and out, then watched the 'Horns gallop 63 yds. in 2 plays to take a 7 - 0 lead. 
• MSU followed with another 3 and out before driving into UT-W territory and having a FG attempt blocked. (I think I saw Lebby smirk, given the criticism he had received for not playing for the FG at the end of the UF loss.)
• State came alive in the 2nd quarter, forcing a 3 and out and intercepting a pass, while awakening offensively behind outstanding passing from Shapen to build a 24 - 14 lead by halftime. [Did our Wheaties just kick in after a quarter?!]
• The 3rd quarter was highlighted by defensive play until State expanded its lead to 31 - 14. [This game is over ... right?!?]
• But Ole Mo (Mentum) slipped on a white jersey. UT-W scored early in the 4th, but State responded with a 3 play TD drive to restore the margin to 17 with 12:29 left in the game. [No, really, this game is over!! Then I looked at the clock and thought, "We can't blow this ...! Can we??]
• We did. The Longhorns scored 17 straight points, the last on a 79 yd. punt return by the nation's 2nd leading punt returner. [I double-checked; there were sidelines on the field.]
• Deja vu all over again from the other orange UT OT game. They got the ball, scored immediately, and we didn't. DOS snatches defeat from the jaws of victory. SEC losing streak stretches to 16. 💩

The "If Only's"

As with any close game -- and they don't get any closer than overtime games -- there were a number of plays that left us fans saying, "if only ...." In fact, as I heard Bart and Charlie say on their Sunday Coffee podcast (the Sunday version of their Out of Left Field podcast series, in my opinion clearly the best of those covering MSU sports), there were a number of plays in last night's game, had any one of which been made, the game would've had a different outcome (i.e., winner). But, nooooo ... call Dr. Redwine, we done it to ourselves!) Examples:

1. Clearly at the top of the list is the roughing the passer penalty on State for a late hit out of bounds when we had stopped Texas on 4th and 1 at their 34 with State ahead 38 - 28 and 11 mins. left.
2. With a 7 point lead and 1:47 left, kicking to the nation's #2 punt returner, who had recently iced the OU game with a TD on a punt return, rather than kicking out of bounds. His 79 yd. TD tied the game and sealed our fate.
3. Having a FG in makeable range blocked in the first quarter.
4. On an ill-considered play late in the 1st quarter MSU was unsuccessful on 4th and 1 from their own 37 after having been short on a 3rd and 1 on the previous play. The short field led to a  UT-W TD and a 14 - 7 lead. And on that drive MSU had held Texas to a FG from the 7, but a personal foul penalty on State gave them a 1st and goal from the 3, which they turned into the TD.
5. Back to back pass interference calls against State aided the 'Horns in scoring a TD and pulling within 10 points early in the 4th quarter.
6. On MSU's last chance on 4th and 10 in OT, they had 2 consecutive false start penalties so doubling the difficulty to a 4th and 20.
7. 2 key reviews of calls late in the game went the Longhorns' way.
8. MSU converted only 1 of 4 on 4th down, any one of which could've changed the game if converted.
9. The decision-making in the 4th quarter left me bewildered. It looked like we couldn't decide whether to try to win by eating up the clock or by continuing to score. We were stuck in no man's land and sealed our own fate by doing neither. One would think I wasn't the only one in the stadium who had never considered the possibility that we might be up by 17 in the 4th quarter. 😕

Conclusions

Even though we're winless in the SEC, I still think we're a substantially improved team. Additional thoughts:

• In my humble, fair, and balanced opinion, this was the second consecutive SEC game in which we've lost to a team which we outplayed and were superior to. That's disappointing because that's coaching.
• The stats tell another tale: Last year in our 8 SEC games the average score was 39 - 21, a margin of 18 points per game, and the closest games were two 10 point losses. This year the average score in 4 games is 35 - 25.5, a margin of 9.5 points with 2 games ending in OT.
• I think that even though we have much more depth than last season, we still don't have enough to compete in conference games. We seem to run out of gas in the 4th quarter against quality opponents (every SEC team we've faced and even AZ State). 
• And finally, unfortunately I'm still apprehensive about finding an SEC victory. We'll battle Arkansas for the cellar, and they've lit up the scoreboard against almost every team they've played. Plus mobile QB's still seem to be our poison. Maybe since Mizzou lost their QB to injury we have a chance there? 

If all of this sounds like I'm slip sliding more toward the SOS side, maybe I am. During the Moorhead Error (sic) I quit going to home games because I didn't want to see us screw up and blow games. I'm almost that disenchanted now. I want to support my school, but I find that getting built up then let down is even more unpleasant than getting the hell beaten out of us. Neither is enjoyable, and fun is why I watch sporting events. Maybe, just maybe, there are some grins left for us in this season. We'll see.

Hail, State!