Chitlins

CHITLINS

Hogs wallowing at Reynolds Razorback Stadium

It seems only fitting that 2 teams that were winless in the SEC would play a game that some would refer to as a rock fight, but most would consider a hog wallow. It was sloppy, nasty, dirty, messy, and ugly ... but it was a streak-breaking win for the Miss. State Bulldogs. The spirit of Johnny Baker, who broke a 22 game SEC winless streak from 1958 - 1961 with a diving catch on a 2-point conversion to beat Auburn at Legion Field in Birmingham, loomed over the the game.   

Johnny Baker's (#84) streak-busting catch

The 'Dogs, who had been mired in the muck with the Pigs, came from behind to pull out the win. In one of life's great ironies for long-time MSU fans like yours truly, one of the main keys to victories was the liberal strewing of laundry by the SEC's finest, the traditionally pernicious (toward DOS) zebras. 

It was as if an accord had been reached, and the refs grudgingly agreed to make up in this one game for decades of screwing State stretching across The Millennium [we still see you, Dick Pace!] by clearly seeing and forthrightly calling Piggy penalties, which were legion. Why, even Arkansas fans were dumbfounded by the abrupt departure from the conference zebra tradition of shafting State! With all of the zoological references today, it seems only fitting that this tradition-defying contest took place in the Natural State, leaving Bulldogs and us fans on a [click here] Natural High !! [But I don't want to make too big of a deal out of the refs' administration of justice and tempt fate. Normalcy could quickly return, and after Saturday's hanky shower we might not get another call in my lifetime ... or my grandson's.😲]

What the Heck Just Happened?

As you readers know, even though our 'Dogs had won twice as many games as Arkansas, and they had fired their coach and hired a retread temp, I didn't expect MSU to win. Both were winless in the SEC, and both had played some of the best teams in the conference extremely close games and were coming off heartbreaking home losses. I honestly thought State was the better team. Since the Hogs were at home, however, I gave their potent offense a better chance against our improved but inconsistent defense than I gave our sometimes sputtering offense against their porous defense. And honestly I wasn't sure our spirit hadn't been broken by blowing a huge lead and losing yet another close game against Texas. Plus, as I've said often, a dual threat QB has been our Kryptonite, and Green has been the best running QB in the league. It pained me to pick against us, but I anticipated another close loss (and truthfully was afraid we could get hammered if we were emotionally drained). Apparently I was not alone since Vegas (Las, not Stark) favored the Pigs by 5 1/2 points. (Hope they took lots of that Walmart, Tyson, and J.B. Hunt money!) 

Of course, when State drove down to take the 7 - 0 lead, I thought to myself, "Oh, ye of little faith!" As has often been the case this season, we scored fast and still led after a quarter. Then Taylen Green began to run and throw, as he customarily does against everyone. To make things worse, one factor MSU had not counted on, being dominated on the ground, occurred in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Maybe it shouldn't have been a surprise since Arkansas was 2nd in the SEC in rushing, but State hadn't been punished by running backs like they were against the Pigs. MSU stayed in the game by answering with a ground game of their own -- but inconceivably one led by the zebras, who had a record-setting game. And here we must give the Hogs credit for 

"That's Miss. State over there! No more rides on my motorcycle!"

consistency -- they steadily committed incredibly stupid penalties at the least opportune times, specializing in 15 yarders. They, in effect, opened gaping holes for the zebras to go marching through, ball in hand! [As Jack Cristil would've cried, "Big hole!"] Although the Bulldog running backs were completely shut down by Arkansas, the State passing game caught fire with both Shapen and Taylor finding Evans and Thompson for key completions. Just as UT-W had overcome a 17-point deficit in the final quarter last weekend, State scored 17 points in the 4th quarter to overcome a 14 point deficit against Arkansas. And after taking the lead the 'Dog defense completely slammed the door shut on the Pigs' last possession. Wooo, Pig, phooey!!

Although Miss. State finally broke through with a win to break the SEC losing streak, I felt more like sighing with relief than gloating over the win. It was nerve-racking, and it was ugly; but it was a win -- a conference win, no less. And it came just a day after Halloween, so staying in the spirit of that holiday, let's size the game up thusly:

Tricks

• Playing like it was 2024 the MSU line was dominated on both offense and defense for most of 3 quarters.
• The linebackers and secondary missed numerous tackles.
• The receivers had some big drops, one of which was a ricochet which turned into an interception that led to a Pig score.
• Our 2 running backs, who had been averaging 5 yds./carry, combined to rush for 30 total yds. and average 1.6 yds./carry.
• Once again the Bulldog D had no answer for a dual threat QB, who ran for 46 yds. and a TD and passed for 194. 

• 

  Let's start a GoFundMe for Taylen's graduation gift.

  
  

Treats

• Although the 'Dogs' running game was stuck in park for most of the game, the OL protected the QB well, giving up only 2 sacks and conceding just one 3 and out. Shapen and Taylor had time to combine on chunk plays of 45, 39, and 42 yds. and 3 TD's.
• Both Evans and Thompson had over 100 receiving yds.
• In his brief time in the game Kamario was our leading rusher with 55 yds. and a TD on 6 carries and threw for 40 yds. and a TD. The future is looking bright enough for shades!
• The Bulldog D had 3 sacks and numerous QB pressures.
• This season injuries that cost him a few games, and assistance by the improved play of some other quality DB's have lessened last season's need for Isaac Smith to make nearly every tackle. But when we needed him to take over, #2 was again everywhere with 11 tackles. (I hate that he didn't get that INT late in the game to add to his long list of achievements.)
• And while the Razorbacks were having a record-shattering day with 18 penalties for and incredible 193 yds., State was unusually law-abiding with a mere 4 penalties for a paltry 30 yds. [Maybe Petrino should've spent a little more time in practice teaching them the rules than choreographing celebrations?!] As Chris Rock listed as Rule #1 in his classic educational video of How to Not Get Your A** Kicked By the Police, "Obey the law." [For full details and to laugh your a** off, click here https://youtu.be/uj0mtxXEGE8?si=wQcKDvarLJxTzq0d .]
• MSU was 3 of 4 on 4th down conversions, including 2 on the winning TD drive (one on an amazing catch by Thompson and one on a catch and run by Evans), the latter of which was for the go-ahead TD. 

  

  Dagger!!

  
  
• Of the State defense's 3 sacks, 1 was on the Piggies' final possession, and to prevent yet another sack Green committed intentional grounding, which turned the ball over on 4th down. 
• Our guys were clutch in the clutch! They made the plays they had to make to win the game.

With homage again to Arkansas's nickname, Naturally we State fans feel pretty darn good about the win, despite the ugliness of the game, the lack of SEC wins by both teams coming in, and the huge assist by the Pigs through their amassing school records for number and yardage in penalties. Oink! After running out of steam and getting nipped at the finish game in 3 conference games in which they had led, MSU turned the tables and got that elusive SEC victory. I am tempted to raid the Beatles' White Album and use lyrics from the eponymous song "Piggies," but it was most assuredly not a "damn good whacking." It was a determined, hard earned win over an opponent that, like our 'Dogs, had made a living blowing close games. They earned an assist with their total rejection of conforming to the rules of the game. So no pork chops ... no ham steak ... no pork tenderloin ... just chitlins. A win. I'm happy for Lebby, who showed he can win a close one, can beat at least one SEC team, and can hold a team together in the midst of an epidemic of heartbreak. I'm happy for Shapen, who overcame injury, bad luck, the usual love affair fans seem to always have with the backup QB, and lots of doubters to win a big one on the road. And I'm happy for the team for having the guts to wallow in the mud with the Pigs, keep fighting through adversity, and pull out a road win in the SEC.

Around the Next Corner?

Our reward for winning that first SEC game? This trifecta: #5 Georgia, #17/19 Missouri, and #7 TSUN.  Now that the monkey is off our backs, and we have demonstrated that we can win, it would not surprise me if State won 1 or more of the next 3 games and became bowl eligible. It's very unlikely that we'll be favored to win any of the games, but we have demonstrated that we had some talent and fight ... and now have shown that we can win. But will we? Stay tuned. UGA has lost a close game to UAT and has won cliffhangers over UT-E, TSUN, and Florida, and had to fight back with help from the dearly departed Freezus's friends in stripes to get a come from behind win over Aubrin. They aren't the dominating UGA of championship years past. While I don't expect a win, I would not be shocked if we pulled the upset. We have a puncher's chance if we protect Shapen reasonably well and can reinvigorate our running game. Fingers crossed!

Hail, State!!

P.S. Please allow me a moment of personal privilege to celebrate an anniversary. On Nov. 2, 1957 I attended my first Miss. State football game. My dad bought us tickets to a football doubleheader in old Hinds Memorial Stadium (predecessor of Miss. Memorial Stadium/Veterans Memorial Stadium) with the then-Miss. State College Maroons playing then-SEC foe Tulane Green Wave in the afternoon and TSUN playing the Houston Cougars that afternoon. Billy Stacy, who became my first State football hero and was later an All-Pro DB for the Chicago/St. Louis Cardinals, led the Maroons to a 27 - 6 victory over the Greenies, who were led by future NFL All-Pro and coach Richie Petitbon and Claude "Boo" Mason. State went on to finish 6 - 2 - 1 and #14 in the nation, and Stacy was 1st team All-SEC. Somewhere in the stands in this photo of that game, which was in the 1958 Reveille, sit an elementary school principal and his not quite 10 yr. old son enjoying the Maroon victory.