The bottom line on MSU last year is / was that they simply weren’t very good. They had fewer than three Pythagorean Wins, and the passing game was atrocious. They were known - known, which is not to say that the perceptions were in accordance with reality - as a team with a good running game and a good defense.

One problem, though… they weren’t a very good rushing team, and the defense wasn’t anything overly special. Dixon was the leader of the rushing attack, but he averaged well under four yards per carry, and as a whole they finished 10th in the conference in rushing offense. Defensively, they couldn’t rush the passer, finishing 9th in Adjusted Sack Rate. The pass defense, as a whole, was average as could be… sixth overall in the conference in opponent QB rating. Finally, the run defense wasn’t anything special either, finishing seventh overall in the conference.

Again, the bottom line was / is they weren’t very good. They couldn’t throw the football, and they weren’t overly effective at running it either. They couldn’t pressure the quarterback defensively, and the pass defense was mediocre-at-best, and so was the run defense. Again, they weren’t very good… they did nothing very good. According to Pythagorean these guys were a 2-6 team… but with a couple of huge turnovers, they are suddenly 4-4 in the conference. You take two huge turnovers away - INT returns for TDs against both Alabama and Auburn - and this team finishes 5-7.

Croom, however, really does deserve a lot of credit. In the big picture, I like where this team is heading. Croom is clearly building on the 8-5 campaign, and he is doing very well on the recruiting trails. Take a look at the state of Mississippi’s top recruits… LSU will get a couple, Alabama will get a couple, but the rest of the top guys are all going to Mississippi State. He’s almost entirely shutting out Ole Miss in a state that they should rack up most of the major guys. If the MSU people are patient, it will pay off with some good seasons to come.

Statements like this, though, I just don’t think are bright. Again, MSU wasn’t very good last year, and they’ve still got a bleak outlook the next couple of years. Croom has done well enough to buy him some time, but when you start talking about BCS games and conference championships as realistic possibilities, fans are going to get pretty damn upset when you end up with a losing season or two. And yes, Croom might deliver and MSU might have a big year, but I just don’t see how it’s possible. They just aren’t very good at anything in particular, and they are far behind the top half of the conference in terms of talent and depth. All I’ll say is this: if Croom can get that kind of success out of this roster, then he should win national coach of the year, with no arguments whatsoever.

All of the foregoing said, though, I will say that I do hope that it works out for Sly. Being blunt, I’m not going to be all coonass about his situation, and I’m not going to spew hate and vitriol because he is at same other SEC West school. Personally, I like Sly a lot, and I think every program in the country should be proud to have a man of such high character. He has done a lot for this university for decades now, and honestly I hate that things worked out like they did in 2003. That’s all in the past now, though, and you simply cannot dwell on it. All I will say is that I truly hope he does well at MSU, and I’ll be pulling for him 364 days out of the year.

hates simply because they’re not Alabama. Seriously, focus more on rooting for your own team than hating on us. Stop acting like Auburn or UCLA fans, who hate their rivals more than they love their own team.