Grind Thesis, Part 2. Streaks Do End .... Sometimes

I gave fair warning in the thread title that this was a follow up to yesterday’s TL, DR crowd.

21 out of the last 22, including 14 straight. That’s where we stand in history with the LSU-MSU series. Hell, the one blip in 1999 is so controversial than many State fans, including this one, believes that instant replay would have overturned the winning touchdown in a 17-16 slugfest.

Prior to the streak that is LSU’s dominance over MSU (I think the naysayers will allow my use of dominance in this instance …) there was another streak that lived in MSU lore. It was a streak against Alabama.

The 1980 win over Alabama had very little in common with MSU’s 1999 win over LSU. LSU was an unranked team that ended up 3-8 and firing their coach, and Alabama was the two-time defending national champion coached by Bear Bryant and had not been beaten since 1977. Quite simply, even though that 1980 MSU team was talented, it was a monumental upset, perhaps one of the greatest in SEC history. 6-3.

One thing that those two games have in common is that they were both blips between two long, frustrating streaks. As mentioned above, State has lost 21 of 22 to LSU, the 1999 win sandwiched between streaks of 7 in a row and now 14 in a row.

The Alabama 1980 game was preceded by 22 consecutive wins over MSU by Alabama, and followed up with 15 straight. Alabama won 37 out of 38 games against MSU from 1958-1995. Makes 21 out of 22 look tame.

Alabama simply did not ever expect to lose to Mississippi State, and rightfully so. And like the current MSU-LSU streak, very few times did MSU even have a chance to compete, much less have fans that expected to win.

But there were moments. In 1991, a first year coach Jackie Sherrill went into Tuscaloosa and faced a Tide team that finished 11-1. The Bulldogs gave Alabama everything they wanted, falling 13-7 in a defensive contest. Just three years before, Bama dropped 53 on MSU and the season before was a 22-0 shutout. 13-7 was definitely progress.

Most Alabama fans will tell you that in 1992, their toughest game was a trip to Starkville. Jay Barker led the Tide on a comeback 30-21 win, and then won the national championship. Two years later, State nearly knocked off a 12-1 Alabama team, falling 29-25 in a heartbreaker.

Four times in a five year period, MSU gave Alabama everything they had. But still fell short. The streak kept extending, reaching 15 in a row when Alabama survived another thriller, 14-9 in 1995. It was simply not to be. State just could not beat Alabama. MSU had given their best shots to Alabama in a five year period, and fell short each time. It was never going to happen.

That ’95 MSU team finished 3-8 and lost homecoming to Northeast Louisiana (who was a second year Division I-A team). The ’96 season started slow again for the Bulldogs and Jackie Sherrill was on the hot seat after a 2-4 start. An injury to Keffer McGee, who was a bright spot during the mid-90s for MSU, was crucial as State lost to a 4-7 Kentucky squad. And to make matters worse, here came Alabama, ranked #8 in the country and winners of 15 in a row against Mississippi State.

After a slow start, a couple of turnovers played into MSU’s hands and MSU took the lead. The MSU defense played hard and basically held attack after attack in check until the final whistle. MSU had won 17-16. The long streak was over.

MSU would go on and win four of the next five against Alabama, and while the Tide have won six in a row (Ha Ha Sly Croom beat Nick Saban), its nothing like it was when it was 37 out of 38.

In the Dan Mullen era, games between LSU and MSU have been a mixed bag, LSU, of course has won all five, beginning with a 30-26 win in 2009 that was the Chad Jones show. The 2010 game ended 29-7, but State showed a ton of grit against a vastly superior LSU team. LSU kicked five FGs in that game, and it was a 12-7 game midway through the third quarter before LSU pulled away.

2011 was another close game until the Tigers pulled away for a 19-6 win. MSU actually had a fourth quarter drive stall that would have given them a lead. Despite the final score of the ’13 game (in which State was within one score headed into the fourth quarter, where LSU outscored them 28-0), the ’12 game was the only game in the last five years that was never in doubt. State led at the end of the first quarter, but 17 second quarter points ended any chance that LSU would lose that game.

Dan Mullen said something this week that I disagree with. He talked about the streak and how those games have nothing to do with this one. While they will not put points on the scoreboard for LSU winning 15 straight, I disagree that the streak has nothing to do with this game. It has EVERYTHING to do with it.

I attended a small 2A school in a rural area. Like most boys at my school, we played football. We weren’t very good. We went 2-8 one year and made the playoffs though - that’s hard to do. But we got better. My senior season we went 6-4 in the regular season.

The thing about rural areas is that they love their Friday night football, win or lose. About 14 miles South of where I went to school was another school that loved their football. And they were winners. Playoffs every year. A state title or two, Consistently ranked in the polls. There weren’t many jobs in our little rural area, so all the talent went to that school.

Something happened my senior year. They were down a little bit, and like I said, we were a little bit improved. We found ourselves up 15-14 with the ball with about 6:00 remaining in the game. Coach had been telling us all week that the streak did not matter. But in the huddle, it was a completely different story. Our assholes were so tight diarrhea couldn’t get through. We were scared. It was complete crap that the streak did not matter. We won that game, but only because their kicker missed a chip shot field goal after we fumbled away the ball. Maybe he was scared a little as well - that streak was important to them as well.

The law of averages say it will happen one day. Saturday night might be another blowout win for LSU. It might be rare close game that MSU has a chance to win, or it may be a lot like that Saturday night thriller in 1996 against #8 Alabama. Years of frustration ended in a single joyous moment when the clock hits 00:00

Hey, what is LSU ranked this week?

Grind On.