Mississippi State Bulldogs Scheming To Upset No. 2 Alabama

A lot has been written over the past week about the impending matchup between the two SEC divisional champions; Alabama in the west and Florida in the east. But there is still yet much more football to be played and scores to settle.

While the SEC championship game is set in stone, records are on the line and a slip up by either team will significantly alter National Championship aspiration. The remaining games have even more significance because of the national rankings and undefeated regular seasons for both SEC schools.

Don't get caught looking ahead

The Mississippi State head coach would like nothing better than for the Alabama team to waltz into Starkville pumped with pride, looking ahead three games down the line. Regardless of the state of mind for the Alabama team, Dan Mullen will be ready with his Bulldogs; ready to bite.

Heaven forbid a comparison between Michael Vick and Dan Mullen but both have experience training dogs to fight. For Mullen, his Bulldogs are legal and they are getting meaner as the season progresses.

The Mississippi State offense has shown substantial improvement since last year. Yet their record sits at 4-5. Mullen, in his first year, will certainly not lead his team into the postseason with a bowl bid unless the team finishes with two out of three monstrous wins against Alabama, Arkansas or Ole Miss.

A betting man would say that a strong finish is very unlikely, but the head coach and his feisty Bulldogs expect nothing short of a two win finish against the remaining three west division teams. A win against the MSU Bulldogs in the next three weeks will be earned, not conceded.

MSU Offensive Productivity

Passing

Quarterback Tyson Lee boasts a 60 percent pass completion(112 of 189), but a quarterback rating of only 111.89 on the year. This is primarily because he has thrown only four touchdown passes against eleven interceptions.

Despite his rating, Lee is a legitimate pass threat and would love nothing more than to have a breakout game against the Tide.

In his two best games of the year, regarding pass efficiency, he threw very few passes but was extremely accurate. Against Auburn, Lee connected on 6 of 10 passes for 53 yards and one touchdown (139 rating). At Georgia Tech, he hit on 20 of 30 attempts for 278 yards (148 rating).

The Auburn game was early in the season, in fact Lee did not start the game as QB for the Bulldogs. He entered in relief of Chris Relf after the starter threw two costly interceptions. Midseason, against Georgia Tech, Lee had his best quarterback rating of the year, despite having one interception in the game.

Higher ranked defenses have stymied the veteran quarterback. Against LSU, Lee completed only 39 percent of his passes (15 of 38). The stingy Bengal Tigers defense picked off three of his passes in a hard fought, closely contested game.

Against Florida, Lee completed 15 of 23 passes (65 percent) but once again threw three interceptions, lowering what would have been an excellent rating against one of the toughest defenses in the nation ( finished with a 90.09 rating).

He followed up with a very good outing against Kentucky, completing 10 of 17 passes for 153 yards. But once again, the defense snatched two interceptions off the paw of the Bulldog quarterback. Despite the two errant throws, he finished with rating of 126.35 at game end.

Lee's favorite targets are RB Chad Bumphis (26 receptions) and WR Marcus Green (22 receptions). Bumphis and Green have combined for 554 yards and five touchdowns. O'Neal Wilder, Leon Berry and Christian Ducre each have more than ten receptions, and play significant roles in the Bulldog passing attack.

Rushing

The Bulldog rushing game is led by veteran Anthony Dixon. He surpassed the 1000 yard mark in the last outing against the Kentucky Wildcats, averages 5.5 yards per carry and has scored nine touchdowns.

Dixon has the Lion's share of carries for the MSU backfield, and is clearly the most productive scorer. Chris Relf is a dual threat and enters the game intermittently to relieve Tyson Lee. On the year, Relf has 43 carries for 292 yards and one TD, he averages 6.8 yards per carry.

Christian Ducre has 45 carries for 263 yards and one TD, averaging 5.8 yards per carry on the season. His best performance came against Houston, carrying the ball nine times for 87 yards (9.7 YPC). His lone touchdown came against Georgia Tech.

The Bulldog offense is averaging 26.8 point per game. With the exception of the Auburn game, each loss has been closely contested with the Bulldogs having a shot at the win in the fourth quarter of play. Four of the five losses have been by 11 points or less.

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