6. Dan Mullen is a very good coach. He has a very good team that played very well Saturday night. But he and defensive coordinator Todd Grantham will have to live with some decisions that didn?t work out well in that agonizing loss to Alabama.
https://sports.yahoo.com/10-takeaway...064045324.html


Twice, Mississippi State had fourth-and-short in Alabama territory ? once in the first quarter and once in the fourth. Both times, Mullen opted to punt. The first time was the opening possession of the game and the Bulldogs faced fourth-and-2 at the Tide 36 ? State took a delay of game and kicked the ball away. The last time was a fourth-and-3 from the Tide 42 with seven minutes left in a tie game.

In a vacuum, both decisions were defensible. But in the big picture of trying to take down the king of the conference, they could be second-guessed. Fortune favors the bold, the saying goes, and Mullen was anything but bold in making those decisions.

Grantham, meanwhile, erred to the other extreme ? he was far too bold with his blitz calls on Alabama?s winning touchdown drive. Specifically: on third-and-15 from the Alabama 43 with 31 seconds left, Grantham blitzed and Hurts burned him with a 31-yard completion to Calvin Ridley.

But that at least is who Grantham is and has been ? he goes after the quarterback on third downs, even if it means putting his defensive backs in single coverage that can result in big plays. Georgia fans coined the term, ?Third and Grantham? years ago because of aggravation from surrendering first downs in those situations. Grantham has done great work with the Mississippi State defense this year ? but his unit couldn?t get the stop it absolutely had to have to shock the Tide.