Where MSU stands at halfway point
STARKVILLE – Joe Moorhead came to Mississippi State with ambitions of winning big. When he broke the ice by asking multiple players for their ring sizes, senior quarterback Nick Fitzgerald included, it became evident that he immediately wanted to win big.
But SEC losses to Kentucky and Florida reminded Moorhead and his team that there’s a broader goal in mind. Moorhead said he wants to turn Mississippi State from good to great. Everybody in Starkville heard it countless times during the summer.
Changing the perception of a program doesn’t happen in one year.
“We’re looking for short-term success this season but to also build a program over the course of time that can have sustained success,” Moorhead said. “I think the kids have bought into the fact that this is a process.”
Some Bulldogs' fans weren’t expecting a process. They look at State’s 4-2, 1-2 SEC record with disappointment. This was the year the Dogs were supposed to lose two games all season – not two games before the calendar flipped to October.
With 17 returning starters, the Dogs were picked by analysts across the country to contend for an SEC West division title. They’ll have to win out now to do so.
Everyone seemed to gloss over the fact that those 17 returning starters came back from a team that only won eight games in last year’s regular season. Mississippi State is on pace to win the same number this year.
Moorhead said after last week’s 23-9 victory over then-No. 9 Auburn that his team is headed in the right direction. It took Dan Mullen, arguably the most successful coach in program history, six seasons to record his first win over a top-10 team.
Moorhead did it in his first. If No. 12 LSU beats No. 2 Georgia this week, Moorhead will have an opportunity to do it in back-to-back games. But even if he doesn’t, nobody in his locker room will hang their heads.
“We’re not just building a team,” Moorhead said. “We’re building a program here to make sure we have longterm, sustained success in addition to what we're going to accomplish this year.”
Even if the first half of Moorhead’s inaugural season has been a bit below his self-proclaimed “championship standard,” the second half of the year will go a long way in determining whether Moorhead really is turning State from good to great.
Opportunities against those Tigers in Death Valley and at No. 1 Alabama await. Moorhead’s first SEC road game at Kentucky was a 28-7 loss that didn’t go smoothly. Proving to himself, his team and potential recruits that MSU won’t be pushed over by the conference’s elite will be paramount to building the program he envisions.
If State somehow manages to win one or both of those games – along with snagging home victories against Texas A&M, Louisiana Tech and Arkansas – then reclaiming the Golden Egg from the in-state arch-rival will be all that stands between Moorhead and Mississippi State’s greatest regular season since 2014.
When Moorhead said after the Florida loss that all of MSU’s goals are still on the table, that’s probably what he has in mind – even if he won’t say so publicly. For it to come to fruition, his offense will have to play much better.
State’s top 10 defense has what it takes to carry the team, but it can only do so much. It needs more help from the nation’s No. 50 offense if the Bulldogs are to pull some upsets and ascend near the top of the conference standings.
The Dogs took a step closer against Auburn, but Fitzgerald’s inability to throw for more than 100 yards in each of the last two games is concerning. He believes a total breakthrough is close, though, and so does one of his most important teammates.
“Overall, all around, it’s just consistency that we have to work on,” Fitzgerald said.
Sophomore running back Kylin Hill concurred.
“Once we execute, we can beat anybody,” Hill said. “We know we can win. With the talent we have, it’s all about executing and doing what we have to do.”