Mississippi State welcomed the Texas Longhorns to Davis Wade Stadium over the weekend for a homecoming heartbreaker. For the second time this season, Coach Lebby and the Bulldogs lost another overtime SEC game at home, while losing a third out of four by a touchdown or less. Heartbreak has been the name of the game for the Bulldogs this season as they appear to be right there before defeat itself creeps back in at the last second to steal the joyous feeling of victory from the Mississippi State. Despite that, and facing the harsh reality of going 0-8 in Southeastern Conference play for another season, going 0-16 over the last two years inside of Southeastern Conference play, can lead to a moral killer across the fan base, but the truth is, a program takes much longer to build and despite the lack of conference wins, Coach Lebby remains the right man to lead the Bulldogs into the future. 

Often, before taking the next step, a program must go through the wringer to reach the other side, leaving the fan base forced to trust the process. We’ve seen this team do it once this season, with a thrilling win over a top-15 program in Arizona State, but we’ve also seen the same team take Tennessee, Florida, and Texas down to the wire before ultimately losing in agonizing defeat. There have been folks who want to find a replacement for Coach Lebby and his staff, but it takes a lot longer than two years to build a program; it takes at least three to four years to get his guys into the system to finish the close games while taking the next step to bring Mississippi State football back to relevance. 

So, how does the fan base trust the process when we live in a results-driven world? 

For the fans on the fence, continue showing up for this team. What they do to finish this season will lay the brickwork for the future. There are four games remaining, two at home against Georgia and Ole Miss, and two on the road against Missouri and Arkansas. Three out of the four have the potential to deliver Mississippi State the two wins needed to make a return to the postseason. Going from two wins last season to four this season is already a massive success, and outside of the Texas A&M game, every game has been competitive, again showing improvements from year one of the Coach Lebby era in Starkville. 

On the field, continued signs of improvement give the guys the mometum needed to split the final four games of the season to reach the postseason. Coming into the season, four wins and being competitive would have been enough for many people to be content with the program’s direction. Now, the Bulldogs have the opportunity to pick up a 5th win over a depleted Arkansas team on Saturday before rolling the dice against Georgia, Missouri, and Ole Miss to close out the season. The guys on the roster have done it once this season; they can definitely do it again a time or two before the season ends. Not to mention, Mississippi State will likely have Fluff Bothwell back against Arkansas or Georgia at the latest, giving the offense another weapon for defenses to try to scheme for. 

So what would success look like for the remainder of the season? 

A split in the final four games is the obvious answer, but realistically, a 5-7 final record with a win in the Egg Bowl would give the Bulldogs a decent amount of in-state mometum to carry into the offseason for next season. Once they pick up the first SEC win in two seasons, then the floodgates might open up a bit for the Bulldogs as they play with the monkey off their back, as they finish out the season with the negative losing streak hanging over the ceiling of the program. The most obvious answer is finishing the regular season with a sixth win, earning a trip to the postseason, but first comes winning the first conference game, then the rest will come naturally without the pressure. 

Mississippi State will return to action on Saturday afternoon as they head to northwest Arkansas to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks before returning home to Davis Wade Stadium on November 8th to take on the Bulldogs of Georgia. 

Photo Credits- Mississippi State Football on X