Mullen’s impact gives Bulldogs an edge
STARKVILLE – He went into their homes to recruit them. He prepared them to play in maroon and white. He won or lost with them, most often it was the former. Now he’s coaching against them. Florida first-year coach Dan Mullen returns to Davis Wade Stadium this week as the Bulldogs’ enemy after being the man they lauded for the better part of nine seasons. When Mullen has been asked about what it will be like to return to Starkville wearing different threads, he has always circled around to the Bulldogs' players.
He knows them all well as people and athletes. Mullen said such intimate knowledge will aid in his preparation as his unranked Gators (3-1, 1-1 SEC East) try to take out the No. 19 Bulldogs (3-1, 0-1 SEC West) Saturday at 5 p.m.
“You have an understanding of personnel on the team,” Mullen said in his Monday weekly press conference, “and familiarity with the players, so as you’re watching them do things that, helps a little bit. Instead of having to spend a lot of time having to study every strength and weakness of every guy on the field, you have a good idea of what their strengths and weaknesses already are.”
Much has changed since Mullen left the MSU program at the end of last year. New State head coach Joe Moorhead and his staff have altered schemes on both sides of the ball so much that Mullen won’t have much of an advantage.
MSU offensive coordinator Luke Getsy called Mullen’s advantage “minuscule.”
Ironically, Mullen had a leg up in almost the exact inverse of this week’s situation. In his first season as MSU’s head coach in 2009, Mullen faced Florida, the team for which he was the offensive coordinator from 2005-08.
Mullen helped Florida quarterback Tim Tebow win the Heisman Trophy in 2007 and won national titles with him in 2006 (Tebow as a second-teamer) and 2008 (Tebow as the starter).
Then in Mullen's first MSU season, he knew Tebow’s tendencies and Florida’s offensive system. The Bulldogs almost upset the nation’s No. 1 team, losing 29-19 after tying the game 13-13 in the third quarter.
Tebow had arguably the worst passing performance of his storied career. He went 12-of-22 for 127 yards, throwing two interceptions that State's Johnthan Banks returned for touchdowns of 100 and 20 yards.
Mullen doesn’t expect the same to happen Saturday to MSU senior quarterback Nick Fitzgerald, because of the drastically different scheme Mississippi State now operates. As far as schematics go, the Bulldogs actually have the upper hand.
“Our players have the advantage of being underneath their scheme,” Getsy said. “So they know that part of it and they’ve practiced against it a lot, so hopefully we can use that to our advantage.”
Senior tight end Justin Johnson said he knows “all that stuff” when watching the Gators’ film. Fitzgerald said it looks like the most base form of the Mullen offense he grew to know during his first three seasons at State.
“It’s basically the same stuff, maybe just not as far along as we had it here,” Fitzgerald said.
Defensively, MSU’s veteran front seven went up against Mullen’s run-first offense in practice for the last handful of years. The likes of Jeffery Simmons, Montez Sweat, Gerri Green and the rest of the Mississippi State defensive line should be familiar with what they see.
Mullen knows that, and there’s really no way for him to circumnavigate it, which yields an edge to Mississippi State on both sides of the ball.
“Unfortunately, they’re going to have comfort against the scheme,” Mullen said. “That defense has gone against our offense. Their offense has gone against our defense. There’s going to be some comfort for them against the scheme that we run even. We’re a little bit different this year than we were last year, but overall, there’s still a lot of similarities. That gives their players on the field an advantage.”