Black Friday

 BLACK FRIDAY

Lame Train leaving the station

Seldom has a day been more appropriately named. It was a truly dark day for Miss. State football and Bulldog fans. In fact, let's pause and let those sweet, age-resistant boys who gave us the song "Sympathy for the Devil" pay a fitting tribute to this past Friday with their iconic [you know the drill ... click on it] Paint It Black . 

All too often in my life I have passed on the opportunity to allow myself to be overcome by good judgment. After witnessing in the UGA and Mizzou games the inability of our defense to slow down -- much less stop -- a potent running game, and knowing that our upstate rivals sported the 2nd leading rusher in the SEC, however, I caved. I chose to stay home with my remote in my hand, locked and loaded in the ready position with the safety off, to watch this year's edition of the Battle for the Golden Egg. [Damn good thinking, if I say so myself. I've learned a little something in these 68+ years of following State football.] I couldn't bear to see hordes of poseurs in that sickly sissy blue sitting across from me or hear their incessant, singular, nonsensical cheer. Nor could I stand to see their devoted coach prance around, pump his fists in the air, and bitch to spellbound SEC refs all day. I stayed tuned in until late in the 4th, when the nausea wouldn't subside, but it was comforting to know that I could end the pain whenever I chose with a slight punch of a tiny button. Eventually I yelled, "Calf rope!"

The Alleged Contest

Unlike some of my fellow MSU fans, I just couldn't set aside rational thought and expect the Red (& Sissy Blue) Sea to part and the 'Dogs to march through to an upset. I badly wanted to believe State had a chance -- that Lame's Magical Mystery Tour would totally distract his team, and State would play their best game in the past 3 years. Some prayed that it would be 2009 revisited with Kamario in the role of Chris Relf, romping through flinching Lambsharks, as I heard and read uttered a few times by the desperately hopeful among us. When I read that the line was only TSUN by 7 1/2, I thought "there's money to be made there" ... but I still have some pride and loyalty. I simply hoped upon hope that the Gridiron Gods and the Courts of Justice would place a Lame-induced restraining order on the TSUN offense, and our 'Dogs could reap the benefits. Alas, as I feared, Hope was only the surname of a legendary comedian. Although the score was arithmetically closer than I expected for 3 quarters, it always seemed that if threatened, the Lambsharks could step on the gas and lap us. Eventually they pretty much did.

Let's face it: We are, to borrow the late Dennis Green's rant, who we thought we were. And on the other hand, they were who we were afraid they probably were, but didn't really want to accept it. The time it took for events to fall into place may have been a little puzzling, but the Great Truths of this season were on full display:

For TSUN -

• They are an explosive, talented team offensively, led [oops! make that formerly led] by a creative, self-absorbed, self-promoting, maybe autistic coach. More on that in a minute.
• TSUN also displayed some uncharacteristic toughness, manhandling our lines on both sides of the ball. 
• They made big plays in crucial situations, e.g., when their DB caught up with Thompson on a slightly underthrown ball and raked a TD catch out of his hand and 2 impressive, toe tap TD catches themselves (though both aided by not-so-subtle push-offs by the receiver. Think it was a coincidence that Lame was constantly whining to the refs?)  

  

  The Victim?

  
  
• Although it's apparent that Lacy saw the handwriting on the wall at Mizzou with their recruitment of Hardy, he is also talented and is a good fit for the Lame Train. He runs hard and has good speed.
• Likewise, Trinidad Chambliss, the Pride of Ferris State, completed 68% of his passes for 359 yds. and 4 TD's. He was a godsend for TSUN.

For DOS -

• Our front 7 allowed Lacy to gain over 5 yds./carry and had no sacks or tackles for loss. I'm not sure we ever one-hand-touched Chambliss on drop backs.
• The MSU OL allowed 3 sacks and 5 TFL's.
• The secondary (other than Kelly Jones, who was cleverly avoided like the plague), gave up 359 yds. passing and 4 TD catches, 10+ yds./attempt, and 15+ yds./completion.  

  

  TD for TSUN

  
  
• Lebby handed out some substantial cannisters of gasoline that have surely fueled the fires of his detractors, who had been asking why we didn't play Taylor more, by giving him a chance to actually show what we'd been missing. 
• Kamario was our offense with 184 yds. rushing and 11 yds./carry (before the 11 yds. on 3 sacks are deducted) and 2 TD's. I don't think this stat is kept, but not included in his spectacular rushing stats are the number of sacks he avoided by running around and through attempted tackles on drop backs. He had lots of those.

  

  TD for KT & MSU

  
  
• To be fair and balanced, Taylor completed only 48% of his passes. There were some drops, but some were caused by his humming a 99 mph fastball on a soft toss to first. And he flat missed a few receivers. It happens. A reasonable question I've heard posed, however, is whether it's more likely that KT might have thrown more accurately if he had been used as a QB, not just a short yardage runner, in more games this season. 😕

Summation

The game is over, and with it, the season. No Poulan Weedeater Bowl to look forward to. There was no upset on Black Friday -- not even close. But State didn't lie down; they were just whipped by a better team, one that will advance to the CFP ... but that has its own peculiar set of problems to deal with. For State, questions about coaching staff changes, recruiting (both HS, juco and especially portal), and fan support (emotional, ticket-buying, and NIL) take center stage. 

It's worth acknowledging, if only to bitch about it a little, that Black Friday got even blacker for MSU fans when the men's basketball team blew a lead and lost in OT to SMU that night. Then to rub more salt in the wound -- a wound actually shared with TSUN fans -- the rest of the weekend we college football fans were incessantly bombarded by the Adventures of the Lame Train: I think he will ... I think he won't ... I don't really give a damn ... Hit the road, Jack!  I'm not sure that any events in my lifetime except Apollo 11 and the O.J. car chase got this much national attention!! To our TSUN friends, tough break. Been there, done that with our own egotistical football coach. Kiffin? He told you he loved you. But he didn't love Ole Miss, and he didn't love Oxford. He just loved the crazy money he was making, the worshipful adulation, and moving the pieces around on the game board of his electric football game ... and mostly he loved Lane. 

Make no mistake, Clark Lea of Vandy is absolutely the exception -- maybe the lone exception in D-I -- of a coach who truly loves his school and is loyal. The rest of them are all about the money and their ego. As are most players. And we fans don't get off free ... we've helped slay the goose that laid the golden eggs by giving all of those eggs to grown men to watch them coach and play a game little boys play in their backyards and on vacant lots for the fun of it. Now more than ever we're expected to buy lots of goose feed and to clean up the goose crap ... and like it. "May I have more, Drill Sergeant?!?"  Okaaay, that's more than enough. I'll ask the Chambers Brothers to put an end to this lament [click here I Can't Stand It ].

Hail, State!