Crossing the Mississippi - Coaching Dynasty

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The Mississippi State Bulldogs have never really been a force to be reckoned with in the SEC since winning the title back in 1941. The likes of Florida, Georgia, LSU, and Alabama have always been the face of the SEC for the past decade, but the Bulldogs are looking to change that. Mississippi State fired coach Dan Mullen after a surprisingly great 2010 season. Many fans were outraged at the news, but when they heard that the great Urban Meyer was coming out of "retirement" to head their football teams, many quickly forgot.

Could this be the change the Bulldogs need to push them over the top and become top contenders in the SEC? Only time will tell.

2011 Team Information:
Athletic Director: Billy Sprinkle
Head Coach: Urban Meyer
Rival: Ole Miss (41-60-6)
Offensive Captain: Donovan Umenyiora (TE)
Defensive Captain: Brian Thompson (CB)
Projected Conference Finish: 7th

Side note, I too am using Bowl Bound College Football so team rosters wont reflect their real life counterparts.

Next Update: Introducing the 2011 Mississippi State Bulldogs

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Mississippi State Bulldogs Depth Chart - 2011
Regular Offense
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
WR	P. Angsman (61 OVR)	T. Green (45 OVR)
TE	D. Umenyiora (74 OVR)	J. Musso (52 OVR)	J. Jackson (40 OVR)
LT	J. Smith (62 OVR)	P. Browning (51 OVR)	E. Bell (33 OVR)
LG	S. Lake (65 OVR)	N. Sanders (57 OVR)	C. Sloan (46 OVR)	J. Scott (41 OVR)
C	J. Marsh (49 OVR)	G. Todd (40 OVR)	R. Hunter (40 OVR)
RG	C. Furrey (57 OVR)	N. Sanders (57 OVR)	C. Sloan (46 OVR)	J. Scott (41 OVR)
RT	N. Ingram (56 OVR)	P. Browning (51 OVR)	E. Bell (33 OVR)
WR	G. Baber (65 OVR)	P. Taylor (57 OVR)	R. Evans (33 OVR)
QB	M. Howry (61 OVR)	K. Lewis (46 OVR)	P. Garcia (50 OVR)
FB	D. Pisarkwiewicz (52 OVR)	J. Smart (47 OVR)	S. Crawford (40 OVR)
HB	K. Smith (67 OVR)	B. McCray (63 OVR)	P. Perry (58 OVR)	O. Stickles (52 OVR)
Base 3-4 Defense
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
LDE	A. Swilling (57 OVR)	R. Adams (48 OVR)	J. Lofton (45 OVR)
NT	N. Watson (55 OVR)	D. Dunsmore (50 OVR)	A. Parker (41 OVR)
RDE	K. Okeafor (56 OVR)	R. Adams (48 OVR)	J. Lofton (45 OVR)
LOLB	K. Sims (63 OVR)	S. Williams (45 OVR)	A. Gardner (40 OVR)	D. Cowsette (37 OVR)
LILB	J. Kittner (57 OVR)	S. Williams (45 OVR)	A. Gardner (40 OVR)	D. Cowsette (37 OVR)
RILB	W. Kotite (63 OVR)	S. Pile (54 OVR)	S. Thomas (47 OVR)	N. Overstreet (36 OVR)
ROLB	S. Pile (54 OVR)	S. Thomas (47 OVR)	N. Overstreet (36 OVR)
CB	B. Thompson (64 OVR)	S. Tucker (53 OVR)	K. Rhome (50 OVR)
SS	T. Thompson (51 OVR)	E. Nock (51 OVR)	I. Boyd (48 OVR)
FS	D. Gaiter (58 OVR)	R. McMillon (51 OVR)	G. Clay (41 OVR)
CB	V. Webb (62 OVR)	R. McMillon (51 OVR)	E. Nock (51 OVR)
Special Teams
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
K	J. Campfield (66 OVR)
P	J. Johnson (47 OVR)
H	P. Garcia (48 OVR)
PR	G. Baber (65 OVR)	D. Dishman (49 OVR)
KR	D. Dishman (49 OVR)	G. Baber (65 OVR)
LS	D. Umenyiora (74 OVR)

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Mississippi State Bulldogs 2011 Schedule
DATE	OPPONENT	RESULT
Sep 3	at #14 Purdue Boilermakers
Sep 15	vs Memphis
Sep 24	at Alabama
Oct 1	vs Arkansas
Oct 8	at #15 Georgia Bulldogs
Oct 15	vs #8 LSU
Oct 22	vs Tennessee
Oct 29	at Troy
Nov 5	at #10 Oklahoma
Nov 12	vs #9 Auburn
Nov 19	at #12 Florida
Dec 3	at Ole Miss

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NCAA Football Rankings - AP Top 25 - Updated: Sep 3, 2011
RK	LW	TEAM (VOTES)	W	L	POINTS
1	--	USC	--	--
2	--	Texas	--	--
3	--	Nebraska	--	--
4	--	Michigan	--	--
5	--	Oklahoma	--	--
6	--	Miami	--	--
7	--	Oklahoma State	--	--
8	--	LSU	--	--
9	--	Auburn	--	--
10	--	Florida State	--	--
11	--	Notre Dame	--	--
12	--	Florida	--	--
13	--	Texas A&M	--	--
14	--	Purdue	--	--
15	--	Georgia	--	--
16	--	Boston College	--	--
17	--	Ohio State	--	--
18	--	Missouri	--	--
19	--	Kansas State	--	--
20	--	Wisconsin	--	--
21	--	Colorado	--	--
22	--	Virginia Tech	--	--
23	--	Washington	--	--
24	--	Texas Tech	--	--
25	--	Washington State	--	--

Best Conference:
Big 12: 9
ACC: 4
Big Ten: 4
SEC: 4
PAC 10 - 3
Independents: 1

[Zeekesimo]

Week 1 Preview

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West Lafayette, IND -
Urban Meyer and the Bulldogs head north to the campus of the Purdue Boilermakers for their first test of the season... and boy is it a big one. Urban and his coaching staff are going to have to figure out how to crack this tough Boilermaker defense led by Steven Williams. It's going to be tough to get the run game going against such a strong front line provided by Purdue. Freshman running back Kim Smith may have a long day in his first ever start at Mississippi State, but if he can get something going, it might keep things close.
The matchup I am looking forward to the most is Purdue's top receiver Mark Furgeson going toe to toe with the defensive captain in Brian Thompson. Thompson may have his hands full in this game for sure.

Projected score: Purdue 21, Mississippi State 10

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Ross-Aide Stadium, IND -
Boy this game got ugly quick. I don't know if it was the 86 yard return by Purdue's Derrius Dawsey to open up the game, or the 14 yard pass play just seconds later that opened up the flood gates. The Bulldogs fell behind quickly and never were able to get much going. It was an offensive showcase by both teams, with a total of 67 points being put up on the board. Mississippi State did manage to hang 520 yards of offense on the #14 Boilermakers, but their defense couldn't make a stop to save their lives. Special teams was awful and left Purdue in great field position all game.

The rough and tough Boilermaker team knocked out a few of the Bulldog's in this game, which didn't help their cause with trying to come back. Matt Howry was knocked out of the game in the first quarter with a reported neck strain. After a great first half, Kim Smith left at the beginning of the second half with a lower back injury, and is expected to miss 3-5 weeks. Gayle Baber tore his hamstring and is out for the season... Donovan Umenyiora is out for 2-4 weeks with a concussion he suffered on the first play of the game, and Nat Watson is also out 1-3 weeks with an elbow injury. The team got beat up in this game, and a lot of players had to step in a fill some big shoes.

All in all, Urban has some work to do this season.

Sep 3, 2011 - MISS at PUR
TEAM	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	OT	SCORE
Mississippi State Bulldogs (0-0)	7	3	6	6	--	22
#14 Purdue Boilermakers (0-0)	13	10	8	14	--	45

Team Stats Comparison
MISS		PUR
502	Total Offense	369
142	Rushing Yards	79
360	Passing Yards	290
27	First Downs	25
21	Punt Return Yards	0
117	Kick Return Yards	221
640	Total Yards	511
3	Turnovers	1
9/20	3rd Down Converstion	4/8
2/2	4th Down Conversion	0/0
--	2-Point Conversion	--
1/1	Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	4/0
10-68	Penalties	3-25
37:03	Posession Time	23:06

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		MISS	PUR
14:01	(PUR) A. Walker, 14 Yd pass from J. Brown	0	7
9:01	(MISS) T. Green, 14 Yd pass from M. Howry	7	7
7:12	(PUR) M. Ferguson, 48 Yd pass from J. Brown (missed kick)	7	13
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		MISS	PUR
11:05	(PUR) O. Crosby, 14 Yd pass from J. Brown	7	20
1:52	(MISS) J. Campfield, 24 Yd FG	10	20
0:00	(PUR) W. Johnson, 49 Yd FG	10	23
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		MISS	PUR
8:22	(PUR) B. Flanagan, 76 Yd INT return (2 pt-good)	10	31
5:51	(MISS) J. Campfield, 35 Yd FG	13	31
0:00	(MISS) J. Campfield, 32 Yd FG	16	31
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		MISS	PUR
11:28	(PUR) R. Petty, 1 Yd run	16	38
9:07	(MISS) J. Musso, 26 Yd pass from P. Garcia (2 pt-failed)	22	38
7:12	(PUR) O. Crosby, 3 Yd pass from J. Brown	22	45

Mississippi State Bulldogs Boxscore
PASSING	RATING	C/ATT	YDS	TD/INT	AVG
P. Garcia		21/37	322	1/2
M. Howry		4/5	24	1/0
K. Lewis		1/3	14	0/1
RUSHING	ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
K. Smith	22	86	3.9	0	14
B. McCray	9	32	3.5	0	10
K. Lewis	1	19	19.0	0	19
M. Howry	3	12	4.0	0	5
D. Pisarkiewicz	1	4	4.0	0	4
O. Stickles	1	3	3.0	0	3
BLOCKING		PANCAKE		SACK
J. Smith		3		0
S. Lake		3		0
N. Ingram		1		2
C. Furrey		1		0
J. Marsh		0		1
RECEIVING	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
P. Angsman	6	115	19.1	0	30
P. Taylor	7	111	15.8	0	45
J. Musso	2	40	20.0	1	26
T. Green	3	29	9.6	1	14
D. Pisarkiewicz	1	18	18.0	0	18
R. McCray	2	13	6.5	0	11
O. Stickles	1	12	12.0	0	12
R. Evans	1	12	12.0	0	12
G. Baber	2	6	3.0	0	4
K. Smith	1	4	4.0	0	4
DEFENSIVE	TACK	SACK	INT	PDEF	TD
D. Gaiter	6-3	0	0	0	0
W. Kotite	5-3	0	0	0	0
K. Sims	5-0	0	0	0	0
S. Pile	4-0	0	0	0	0
B. Thompson	2-1	0	0	0	0
J. Kittner	2-0	0	0	0	0
V. Webb	1-2	0	1	0	0
R. McMillon	1-2	0	0	0	0
T. Thompson	1-1	0	0	0	0
R. Adams	1-0	1	0	0	0
N. Watson	1-0	0	0	0	0
KICKING	FGM/A	PCT	LONG	XPM/A	PTS
J. Campfield	3/4	75%	35	1/1	10
PUNTING	PUNTS	YDS	AVG	IN20	TB
J. Johnson	3	114	38.0	0	1
KICK RETURNING	RET	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
D. Dishman	6	117	19.5	25	0
PUNT RETURNING	RET	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
D. Dishman	2	21	10.5	14	0

Purdue Boilermakers Boxscore
PASSING	RATING	C/ATT	YDS	TD/INT	AVG
J. Brown		22/26	290	4/1
RUSHING	ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
B. Barrington	18	62	3.4	0	10
J. Brown	1	17	17.0	0	17
P. Barbaro	7	13	1.8	0	7
R. Petty	1	1	1.0	0	1
RECEIVING	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
M. Ferguson	7	105	15.0	1	48
O. Crosby	7	97	13.86	2	27
A. Walker	4	48	12.0	1	14
A. Betts	1	19	19.0	0	19
B. Barrington	2	15	7.5	0	12
B. Wire	1	6	6.0	0	6
BLOCKING		PANCAKE		SACK
W. Rubick		6		0
L. Watson		2		0
R. Sims		2		1
DEFENSIVE	TACK	SACK	INT	PDEF	TD
A. Young	10-2	1	1	1	0
J. LeJeune	6-5	0	0	1	0
C. Hayes	6-3	0	1	0	0
B. Flanagan	6-1	0	1	1	1
R. Plummer	5-3	0	0	0	0
C. Pope	4-2	0	0	0	0
E. Long	2-2	0	0	2	0
S. Williams	2-1	1	0	0	0
C. Rademacher	1-3	0	0	0	0
R. Lindsey	1-1	0	0	0	0
J. Lofton	1-1	1	0	0	0
F. Engelberger	1-0	0	0	0	0
KICKING	FGM/A	PCT	LONG	XPM/A	PTS
W. Johnson	1/1	100%	49	4/5	7
PUNTING	PUNTS	YDS	AVG	IN20	TB
A. Williams	4	157	39.2	0	0
KICK RETURNING	RET	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
D. Dawsey	4	192	48.2	86	0
E. Long	1	28	28.0	28	0

[Zeekesimo]

With the first game in the books for the Mississippi State Bulldogs, a lot of questions are left on the table. Were they physically prepared going into the season? With six players leaving the game for Urban Meyer's Bulldogs, fans question their athletic ability and desire to win.

Some want to blame the tough schedule that Meyer put in as his first year. The Bulldogs come in with the 17th toughest schedule in the nation, a tough test for such a young team. Half of their schedule is against teams in the Pre-Season Top 15, and it could prove to be more than the first year coach asked for. If he can rally his troops and pull out a winning season, then the fans will be praising him... if not, they will be asking for his head on a platter. With the next week off, Mississippi State will look to rehab some of it's injured starters in hopes of having them return for their home opener against Memphis.


Around the Top 5
#1 USC 13 @ #11 Notre Dame 34
#2 Texas 28 @ Akron 21
#3 Nebraska - BYE
#4 Michigan - BYE
#5 Oklahoma 38 @ Rutgers 24


Around the SEC
Oklahoma State 61 @ Vanderbilt 12
Florida Atlantic 10 @ Tennessee 54
Duke 14 @ Auburn 44
Arkansas 0 @ Marshall 12
Arkansas State 3 @ Ole Miss 44


Around Mississippi State
Offense Rank: #9
Defense Rank: #68
Injury Report:
Matt Howry - Strained neck (0-2 weeks) Questionable
Kim Smith - Slipped disk (3-5 weeks) Doubtful
Gayle Baber - Torn hamstring (12-14 weeks) Out
Donovan Umenyiora - Concussion (2-4 weeks) Doubtful
Nat Watson - Tennis elbow (1-3 weeks) Probable
Steve Tucker - Pulled groin (2-4 weeks) Probable

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Week 3 Preview

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Starkville, MS -
Mississippi State will look to bounce back after a tough loss when they host the Memphis Tigers (0-2). Memphis is coming off of two close loses against New Mexico State and Alabama to open their season. The Tigers offense comes from their running back Clint Rasby and will look to bruise up the defense of Mississippi State. Memphis overall is a pretty average team on both sides of the ball, which could prove to be a problem with the high powered offense of the Bulldogs. It could turn into a shootout, and so far the Bulldogs are 11 point favorites.

Key Matchup: Clint Rasby vs Bulldog front 7
The Bulldog defense held Purdue to just 79 yards on the ground in their first game, and will look to continue their smash mouth defense against Rasby, who comes into the game averaging 89 YPG through the first two weeks.

Projected score: Mississippi State 33, Memphis 19