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Are the days of Mississippi State being a trap game over?
Posted on 7/27/25 at 6:39 am
Posted on 7/27/25 at 6:39 am
I really hope not. I always enjoyed State putting a snot knocker on a few decent teams a year.
20
Posted on 7/27/25 at 6:56 am to collegefootballisbroken
So now Auburn is decent? 
Posted on 7/27/25 at 6:57 am to collegefootballisbroken
For now yes.
Posted on 7/27/25 at 7:30 am to collegefootballisbroken
No one in the SEC retires from trap game status. Either you win or scare people from time to time. In my lifetime, I can only name 2 head coaches that gave the dawgs some relevance in the sport of football. Jackie Sherrill, who is still the all time winningest HC with 75 wins and 75 losses and 2 ties. That's only break even country, if you're counting. And second is Dan Mullens, who was more dominate at 69-46. That gave Danny Boy the highest winning percentage. They may have actually gotten beyond trap game status for a few years. Imagine if he ever tried to recruit. The rest, either stunk to high heaven, or, like The Pirate, at 19-16, was more noted for his wit then dominance on the gridiron.
Conclusion: Miss State will always be the lovable trap game.
Conclusion: Miss State will always be the lovable trap game.
Posted on 7/27/25 at 8:41 am to collegefootballisbroken
We’ve never been a trap game for Bama. Don’t think we’ve beat Bama since ‘08. Maybe for Aggie, Auburn and sometimes LSU.
This post was edited on 7/29/25 at 6:46 pm
Posted on 7/27/25 at 8:59 am to collegefootballisbroken
State is Southern Miss' trap game this year. If USM sleeps on State at home, they could pull an upset and be well on their way to exceeding their 2 wins from last year.
Posted on 7/27/25 at 9:03 am to bamameister
quote:
Jackie Sherrill, who is still the all time winningest HC
Sherrill was paying players and got caught and fined way before NIL. His record isn’t legit.
Posted on 7/27/25 at 9:09 am to GatorOnAnIsland
quote:
Sherrill was paying players and got caught and fined way before NIL. His record isn’t legit.
Stop it.
Posted on 7/27/25 at 10:04 am to collegefootballisbroken
I used to spend $ going to comedy clubs for laughs, now I just read posts like these. But to answer your question,
“Toledo routs SEC host Mississippi State in 41-17 blowout.”
We will be lucky to win 4 games this year and I seriously doubt anyone that has a program with a pulse is in danger of losing to us, except the Rebels, they did lose to Kentucky.
Posted on 7/27/25 at 10:59 am to collegefootballisbroken
No. We are in a bad spot obviously but I dont think you can understate the loss of Mike Leach. That and the subsequent handling of the football program by our university president (we didn’t have an AD at the time) set us back big time. Cohen also didn’t help when he was here with the way he handled NIL off the jump
We are inching our way back. Raised the most money in history of the athletic department in the last 12 months. Selmon has done a good job on the fundraising front but we have got to show some sort of pulse this year or I doubt Lebby is able to dig out. Maybe we hire Mullen back in a couple years or hit on some other young coach and get back to being competitive.
Obviously we aren’t likely to be a perennial playoff type program but we can still be somewhat competitive. We have just had the perfect storm of frick happen over the last 3-5 years with a legendary coach dying, bad hires, poor leadership and fundraising etc but we are making some strides in the right direction it just may not show on the field for a couple years
We are inching our way back. Raised the most money in history of the athletic department in the last 12 months. Selmon has done a good job on the fundraising front but we have got to show some sort of pulse this year or I doubt Lebby is able to dig out. Maybe we hire Mullen back in a couple years or hit on some other young coach and get back to being competitive.
Obviously we aren’t likely to be a perennial playoff type program but we can still be somewhat competitive. We have just had the perfect storm of frick happen over the last 3-5 years with a legendary coach dying, bad hires, poor leadership and fundraising etc but we are making some strides in the right direction it just may not show on the field for a couple years
Posted on 7/27/25 at 11:48 am to Gifman
quote:
sometimes LSU
That is just a false statement. LSU has lost to Mississippi State a grand total of 4 times in the last 30 years.
Posted on 7/27/25 at 12:09 pm to GatorOnAnIsland
quote:
Sherrill was paying players and got caught and fined way before NIL. His record isn’t legit.
Tell us all about Charlie Pell.
Posted on 7/27/25 at 1:14 pm to Mstate
quote:
Maybe we hire Mullen back in a couple years
As on Ole Miss fan I desperately want this to happen
Posted on 7/27/25 at 2:30 pm to collegefootballisbroken
I like Lebby (see OU's offensive abortion this year) and really like Kroenhoek for them. I hope they can figure it out.
Guys like Mullen and Leach were perfect for State--great coaches in their own right--but had their limitations that prevented them from being elite and succeeding in top jobs (recruiting for Mullen and philosophical stubbornness)
Guys like Mullen and Leach were perfect for State--great coaches in their own right--but had their limitations that prevented them from being elite and succeeding in top jobs (recruiting for Mullen and philosophical stubbornness)
Posted on 7/27/25 at 3:15 pm to collegefootballisbroken
Sylvester Croom isn't walking back through that door.
Posted on 7/28/25 at 2:09 pm to collegefootballisbroken
Mullen wasn’t really a trap game coach… he won the overwhelming majority of the time as a favorite and lost the overwhelming majority of the time as an underdog. Did pretty well in toss ups.
But I mean State has played Bama within single digits a grand total of twice since 2008. They’ve beaten LSU 3 times in the last 25 years. Their only win against Georgia in the modern era was 2010 which was a down year for UGA and it was early in the year when AJ Green was suspended.
If you look at State’s best wins of the last 15 or so years, most of them are against teams that finished pretty comparable to State record-wise or finished somewhere in the 8-4 or 9-3 range. They were never really giant killers, just beat some good teams that finished in the 15 to 25 range for a stretch.
That’s not to diminish what the successful coaches at State have done. You’ve gotta be a very good coach to average 6 to 8 wins a year there, it’s just the fact of the matter. If you don’t know what you’re doing you will get eaten alive there.
We will see what happens with Lebby, I think he’s here in 2026 regardless but they need to be noticeably improved for anyone to feel decent about things. And when I say noticeably improved, I mean if you offered me 5-7 right now I would take it no questions asked. They went 2-10 last year and weren’t even close to getting to 3-9. Nine losses by double digits, and the one single digit loss was a game where they trailed 30-3 basically until garbage time.
But I mean State has played Bama within single digits a grand total of twice since 2008. They’ve beaten LSU 3 times in the last 25 years. Their only win against Georgia in the modern era was 2010 which was a down year for UGA and it was early in the year when AJ Green was suspended.
If you look at State’s best wins of the last 15 or so years, most of them are against teams that finished pretty comparable to State record-wise or finished somewhere in the 8-4 or 9-3 range. They were never really giant killers, just beat some good teams that finished in the 15 to 25 range for a stretch.
That’s not to diminish what the successful coaches at State have done. You’ve gotta be a very good coach to average 6 to 8 wins a year there, it’s just the fact of the matter. If you don’t know what you’re doing you will get eaten alive there.
We will see what happens with Lebby, I think he’s here in 2026 regardless but they need to be noticeably improved for anyone to feel decent about things. And when I say noticeably improved, I mean if you offered me 5-7 right now I would take it no questions asked. They went 2-10 last year and weren’t even close to getting to 3-9. Nine losses by double digits, and the one single digit loss was a game where they trailed 30-3 basically until garbage time.
Posted on 7/28/25 at 2:18 pm to Captain Falcon
Hard to believe but based on final AP ranking, State’s best win of the last 25 years was a game coached by Zach Arnett. Beat Arizona in 2023 who finished 11 in the polls. You have to go all the way back to Jackie Sherrill in 2000 (beat SEC champion Florida) to find a win against a team that finished in the Top 10.
Posted on 7/28/25 at 2:38 pm to No Colors
quote:
As on Ole Miss fan I desperately want this to happen
I don't. Mullen was the best coach in school history and had a winning record against us. Let them suck for a while.
Posted on 7/28/25 at 2:40 pm to collegefootballisbroken
The fact that Mississippi State is so well liked on this board tells you all you need to know about their program….
Posted on 7/28/25 at 2:45 pm to Mstate
quote:
loss of Mike Leach.
Hated we lost Leach. He was a treasure. I don't think state would have tanked, but I don't see where they would have been more than a 6-7 win team at best.
State raised a ton of money for baseball. They are going to live for Spring sports for awhile!
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