SEC Media Days 2011: Nutt and Ole Miss Don't Take Kindly to Mullen's Billboard

Ole Miss head coach Houston Nutt and running back Brandon Bolden don’t take too kindly to Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen’s billboard proclaiming “welcome to our state.”

At the 2011 SEC Media Days, both Nutt and Bolden were asked multiple times about the controversial billboard, and both were quick to respond. When asked if the sign would affect recruiting for the Rebels, Nutt pointed to his recent success in recruiting to answer that question.

“You checked recruiting this past season, right?” Nutt said. “It didn't affect us. We had the best recruiting in the state of Mississippi. You know, the thing that I want to do, I want our staff and I want to go to Atlanta.”

“And to waste your time on energy, using just valuable energy on something like that is a waste of time,” Nutt said. “You better be concentrating on recruiting, concentrating on winning, helping your players become a better person and a better football player.”

Bolden, a player from Baton Rouge, La., sees the sign every time he heads to Oxford and can’t help but laugh.

“Everybody in Oxford thinks it’s funny, especially me,” Bolden said. “I drive from Louisiana to Oxford, so I drive past the Starkville exit and you can see a big billboard of (Mullen) pointing saying 'this is our state.'”

Mullen has found his fair share of success when it comes to playing in the Egg Bowl as his Bulldogs have won the last two contests. Mississippi State defeated Ole Miss 41-27 in 2009 and defeated the Rebels 31-23 a year ago.

“I mean he can say that right now. They did beat us two years straight, so they can talk,” Bolden said. “But we still have to play another game.”

“It's all about winning, the bottom line. And the reason they're loud right now is they've won the last two years. But, again, my energy is going to be what's going to help us win,” Nutt said. “You know, that first year we beat Mississippi State 45-0, didn't think nothing about it because the previous nine out of 10 years we'd beaten them.”

Bolden laughed about the billboard and said if this is Mullen’s state then why isn’t Starkville the capital of Mississippi?

“Ok, if this is your state, then why isn’t the state capital right there?” Bolden said. “Why does everybody go to Ole Miss. It’s just all talk right now, but like I said we still have another game to play.”

The Rebels will all have to see that billboard right before the last game of the regular season as Ole Miss will travel to take on the Bulldogs Nov. 26 when they renew their rivalry in Starkville.

Jake Martin is a Member of Bleacher Report and a sports writer for the Concordia Sentinel in Ferriday, La. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained first-hand or from official interview materials from the Concordia Sentinel.