Mississippi State will take on #8 Auburn today as they’re in the midst of a two-game slide to begin SEC play. MSU beat reporter for SportsTalk Mississippi Brian Hadad took to Twitter to ask Bulldog fans what’s on their minds as the team has hit their first rough patch under new head coach Joe Moorhead. Hadad posted the following story to supertalk.fm yesterday ahead of today’s matchup.
It’s been too long since we hit Twitter up for a little Q&A, so I asked Bulldog fans for their questions, and here’s what we got.
first team to score 14 wins tomorrow. agree or disagree?
— Will Burford (@BurfordWill) October 5, 2018
I could not agree with this more. Both of these teams are struggling offensively, both are really, really good defensively. I don’t think (hope?) it will be a repeat of 3-2, but tomorrow’s game definitely strikes me as a low scoring old school SEC affair. If either team can get a couple of touchdowns on the board, it will be hard for the other to return in kind. Which reminds me, if you haven’t already, run to your local casino, hit the sportsbook, and hammer the under.
@brianhadad Moorhead says Whop will not redshirt. Why is he standing on the sideline rather than playing?
— Chris Nail (@Pulaskidawg) October 5, 2018
This is a great question. Coming into the season, the majority of MSU fans and media members I spoke to expected true freshman Devonta “Whop” Jason to play a big role in the offense. So far he’s been relegated to special teams, only seeing action on offense in MSU’s blowout wins. I’m not sure why you wouldn’t redshirt him if he’s only going to be getting reps on special teams, surely there is another player that could handle that role. Whether it speaks to a larger role for Jason in the coming weeks, I don’t know, but the Bulldogs could use some more help at the receiver position. It might be worth a shot to give Jason some chances.
Would you be willing to suffer through a 5-7 win season this year IF it leads to us being a perennial Top 15 team?
— Scott Quint (@MSState2002) October 5, 2018
I have been puzzled by Moorhead and his staff’s constant references to culture in the past few weeks. I wasn’t aware Mississippi State’s culture was a huge issue, I saw a program that was consistently winning and poised for its best season in a long time. So while in a perfect world, the answer to this question would be yes, in the real world, it’s a resounding no. The easiest way to become a perennial top 15 program is to win, and MSU isn’t doing that. Wouldn’t capitalizing on expectations, putting a product out that is exciting to offensive recruits, and pleasing your fanbase go a lot further in creating an elite program than anything else?
I have started hearing words like rebuild for this year on discussion boards. Should we be very concerned? Is this going to be “give him three years to get his players”?
— Kyle W Fogarty (@KyleWFogarty2) October 5, 2018
Same thing here. Who is saying rebuild in regards to Mississippi State? The Bulldogs are coming off a nine win season, returning 18 starters, and starting the year in the top 25. Anybody using the term rebuild now is simply trying to rationalize their disappointment in Mississippi State football. This was never going to be a rebuilding year, unless Joe Moorhead was telling Jeffery Simmons to learn his ring size for a future Super Bowl appearance, and telling Nick Fitgerald to clear a spot on his mantle for the Heisman because somebody else was going to put one there. Don’t be fooled by any message board hero telling you this was going to be a tough season.
Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. Follow Brian and the rest of the SportsTalk Mississippi crew throughout gameday for pre and post-game content. To do so click – here
