Moorhead: ‘We’re going to get this freaking thing right’

STARKVILLE – Joe Moorhead didn’t sound pleased Monday afternoon. Who can blame him?

After rolling through the first three weeks of the season outscoring opponents 150-23, unbeaten Mississippi State’s hype train violently derailed Saturday from its tracks at Kentucky, The Wildcats stomped the then-No. 14 Bulldogs 28-7.

Moorhead belabored about his “championship standard” all offseason. It’s hard to win conference titles when you drop the first SEC game of your coaching career to a team that State had beaten in eight of its last nine tries.

The road ahead gets tougher for the Bulldogs (3-1, 0-1 SEC West), who fell five spots to No. 19 in the latest USA Today coaches poll.

A losing start in conference play isn’t ideal with an emotional game against Florida and former MSU head coach Dan Mullen set for this weekend here in Davis-Wade Stadium. State’s battle with the Gators (3-1, 1-1 SEC East), who are coming off a 47-21 win at Tennessee, will be followed by matchups with No. 10 Auburn and No. 5 LSU.

Moorhead said his standard won’t fully materialize overnight, and he’s not backing down anyway.

“I’m single-handedly responsible for elevating the expectation level amongst our players, amongst our program and amongst our fans by using the term `championship standard,’” Moorhead said. “I’m fine with that. And I’m not going to apologize, I’m not going to backtrack, and I’m not going to waffle for one second or one minute.”

Moorhead said his coaching staff didn’t become dumb overnight, and the players didn’t get bad overnight, either.

He said his team played with too much emotion in the 21-point loss to the Wildcats. He brought a different type of emotion to his Monday press conference.

He spoke with a conviction the media hadn’t heard this season. He sounded angry and frustrated, but also exhibited a tone of determination. The loss to Kentucky has clearly motivated Moorhead to reestablish his vision for his program.

“I promise you this, we’re working tirelessly and we’re going to get this freaking thing right,” Moorhead said.

Saturday night, especially in UK’s 21-0 second-half shutout of the Bulldogs, nothing looked right.

The offensive line couldn’t pass protect or run block, players racked up four unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and the defense couldn’t tackle UK’s standout running back Benny Snell Jr. who ran for 165 yards and four touchdowns.

MSU senior defensive end Gerri Green and junior defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons called a players-only meeting Sunday to address the personal fouls. Moorhead harps on composure and his players showed hardly any against the ‘Cats.

For months, Moorhead has had a mantra that his team play with emotion without being too emotional. He doesn’t want a repeat performance of what happened at Kentucky.

“One game is not going to define this damn team, and we’re going to get this thing back right,” Moorhead said.