Losses to Ole Miss and Alabama Expose Mississippi State as Far from Elite

Mississippi State's College Football Playoff chances disappeared in Oxford on Saturday, as Ole Miss topped the fourth-ranked Bulldogs 31-17 in a game in which Ole Miss' defense rattled quarterback Dak Prescott and the potent Bulldog offense.

In a contest that featured two teams on the rise this season, only one—Ole Miss—looked like it had staying power.

It was the second time this month—the first being the loss to Alabama in Tuscaloosa—that the Bulldogs looked outmanned.

USA TODAY Sports

What made Mississippi State's 2014 run so special is that they did it with only one 5-star recruit on the roster. By contrast, Alabama had eight 5-star starters on its depth chart entering this season, according to Drew Champlin of AL.com. Scheming, coaching and heart can make up for a lot, but if you are going to be an elite team in the SEC, you need to have elite talent.

A Bulldog defense that was torched all season long by teams that could consistently stretch the field was lit up by Ole Miss on Saturday, as quarterback Bo Wallace hit big passes when they mattered to rack up 296 yards in the 31-17 win in Oxford.

This is a defense that came into the game with the worst pass defense in the conference (281.4 yards per game) and had been living off red-zone defense.

Ole Miss took red-zone defense out of the equation, though, scoring its final pair of touchdowns from outside the red zone to pull away from the Bulldogs in the second half.

Thomas Graning/Associated Press

This is with two defensive backs—Taveze Calhoun and Jamerson Love—who were 3-star prospects. This is with a safety—Jay Hughes—who was a 3-star prospect. Those players played great at times, but natural talent creates consistency, and that was what was lacking in Starkville this season.

Recruiting rankings don't matter all that much to Mullen.

"If you get caught up too much in trying to win national signing day and not getting the guys you need, you hurt your program," he said on the SEC coaches teleconference on Nov. 12.

Winning national signing day, though, gets you players like Ole Miss defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche, defensive end C.J. Johnson, Alabama running back T.J. Yeldon, wide receiver Amari Cooper and safety Landon Collins—all of whom have been instrumental in Mississippi State's only two losses of the season.

Thomas Graning/Associated Press

It's not just the X's and the O's, it's the Jimmys and the Joes.

Mullen is a tremendous play-caller, and his staff clearly knows how to coach his players up, but when he runs into some of the best coaches in the SEC, sometimes talent wins out.

Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

Talent won out on Saturday, it won out in Tuscaloosa and it is the reason Mississippi State will be sitting at home during the College Football Playoff.

Mississippi State's average recruiting-class rank over the last five years is 30th. The six other SEC West teams combined have only posted recruiting classes lower than 30th five times over that same time span.

This was Mullen's window, as Bud Elliott of TomahawkNation.com points out:

The entire SEC West is bowl-eligible this season, but aside from Alabama, none of those teams are elite. The Bulldogs have 16 seniors on their current two-deep depth chart, and junior running back Josh Robinson and quarterback Dak Prescott will, at the very least, explore their NFL options after the season.

Stacy Revere/Getty Images

It was a great year for Mississippi State, but if it is going to become a trend and not an occasional blip on the radar, the recruiting is going to have to pick up. A prolonged stint in the national conversation will certainly help that become reality, but when you have Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and LSU recruiting their respective tails off on an annual basis, it has to happen consistently.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a co-host of the CFB Hangover on Bleacher Report Radio (Sundays, 9-11 a.m. ET) on Sirius 93, XM 208.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of cfbstats.com, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.