Bowl prep begins for Bulldogs
With a coaching staff in a state of flux and a starting quarterback on crutches, no one could blame the Mississippi State Bulldogs if they had a group of players not all that excited about football right now.
However that seemed far from the case on Friday as MSU began practice for the upcoming TaxSlayer Bowl that will take place on Dec. 30 in Jacksonville, Florida. Though the weather was cold and cloudy in Starkville on Friday, the Bulldogs had a bounce in their step at practice knowing a trip to the Sunshine State awaits.
“Everybody was pretty hyped up,” Mississippi State running back Kylin Hill said. “It has been a little while since we'd been on the field. Everyone is excited.”
Playing actual football again was a welcome experience for the Bulldogs after what has been, in some ways, a tumultuous couple of weeks. MSU lost the annual Battle for the Golden Egg to instate rival Ole Miss on Nov. 23. Bulldogs starting quarterback Nick Fitzgerald broke his ankle in the game and had surgery a day later.
Two days following Fitzgerald's surgery, former Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen was announced as the new head man at Florida.
Since then, MSU has hired Joe Moorhead to lead its program and Moorhead has begun putting together his first coaching staff.
None of that mattered much on Friday because it was back to football for the Bulldogs.
“I thought we came out with a lot of juice and a lot of energy,” Greg Knox, Mississippi State's interim head coach for the TaxSlayer Bowl, said. “The guys came to work. We were back in our element back out on the field.”
With all the drama off the field, now MSU's focus has returned to what happens
on the gridiron. Through a coaching transition and all that has come with it, the Bulldogs insist they are stronger than ever as they return to work.
“I think (the off-the-field situation)
has made us tighter as a group,” Mississippi State defensive lineman Montez Sweat said. “We just all know we have each other's backs.”
For the next few weeks, the Bulldogs have
a football game to prepare for. Everything else is just background noise to the team. The group couldn't be happier with that. “It felt good to be back doing what we love,” Hill said.