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| Monday, August 13 Underrated offense coming out of defense's shadow By Pat Forde Special to ESPN.com |
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Mississippi State Bulldogs 2000 record: 8-4 (4-4). Coach: Jackie Sherrill (11th year, 67-48-2). Starters returning: 8 offense, 5 defense. Outlook: Sherrill has begun touting senior quarterback Wayne Madkin as the Jay Barker of his time -- an underappreciated winner. Make it Barker Lite and he's onto something. Madkin has started 33 games the last three years and is 23-10 in that time, quietly become the school's career leader in passing yards and completions. As was the case with Barker, give a huge assist to the defense, but Madkin has finally earned recognition for something other than his uncanny resemblance of Chris Rock. Defensive coordinator Joe Lee Dunn's super-aggressive defense is led by two All-America candidates, linebacker Mario Haggan and safety Pig Prather. (There always seems to be a porcine-named player at State, if you remember offensive lineman Pork Chop Womack.) Last year's Bulldog D caused turnovers and scored points, but Dunn would like to see the other guys punt more often. Keep an eye on: Dicenzo Miller and Dontae Walker, the league's best running back combination. Miller had six 100-yard games last year and finished the year over 1,000. Walker had five 100-yard games and finished at 795. Miller is coming off shoulder surgery that kept him out of the spring, which could give an advantage to Walker, who had a big spring game. Either way, both will play a lot. Jackie loves handoffs. Key game: LSU, Oct. 20. The Western Division looks like a six-team stampede to the wire again this year, but these two might be the ones in front when the Tigers come to Starkville. Mississippi State is 3-13 against LSU since 1984. It's a good year if... State can continue its rather remarkable four-year run of winning seasons and three-year run of bowl games. This program doesn't have the resources that some others in the SEC do, yet it has managed to establish itself as an annual competitor in the West. Sherrill is the oddest of birds, but he's won more games than any Mississippi State coach -- including the Wildest Bowl Game Of All Time, 43-41 over Texas A&M last year in the Independence Bowl, a New Year's Eve freak show in the Louisiana snow. Six of State's first eight games are at home this year. With some luck, the 'Dogs can be 6-2 at worst heading into a closing stretch at Alabama, at Arkansas and home against Mississippi for the Egg Bowl. Pat Forde covers college football for the Louisville Courier-Journal. |
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