By my quick count- Sherrill was 8-28 vs ranked teams at State

[Coach34]

all the grief Mullen gets, thought it would be interesting to see how Jackie fared vs ranked teams

1991 - Alabama #7, Texas #13, Tennessee #6, Florida #14....1-3 and Texas didnt finish in the top 25
1992 - Florida #13, Alabama #2, Mississippi #24, UNC #19- 1-3 and Florida was a top 10 win
1993 - Florida #5, Auburn #22, Alabama #12- 0-3
1994 - Tennessee #23, Auburn #9, Alabama #6, UNCSt #23- 1-3 with Tenn finishing 22nd
1995 - Tennessee #15, Auburn #11, Arkansas #18, Alabama #16- 0-4
1996 - Auburn #18, LSU #13, Alabama #8- 1-3 with Bama finishing 11th
1997 - LSU #10, Georgia #18, Auburn #11- 1-2 Auburn finished 11th
1998 - Arkansas #9- 1-0 UPig finished 16th
1999 - Alabama #11, Arkansas #22, Mississippi #23- 1-2 OM finished 22nd
2000 - Florida #3, Auburn #13 2-0...Fla finished 7th
2001 - USC #18, Florida #2, BYU #10- 0-3
2002 - LSU #22, Alabama #11- 0-2

Jackie finished 8-28 vs ranked teams

[CadaverDawg]

Interesting. His poor record against ranked teams was masked by his beating of a few top 10-15 teams, and the fact that he was pretty competitive against ranked teams for the most part.

I think we can all live with Mullen losing to these top 10 teams, but we need to start seeing more competitiveness in those games. 38-7 style losses, and 28-0 half time deficits against Bama and A&M need to quickly become a thing of the past for Mullen or he will continue to be criticized some. Still no reason for him to feel any heat though as long as we are beating teams we are supposed to beat plus Ole Miss, Auburn, Arkansas, Tennessee, etc on a year or every other year basis like he's doing now, and making bowl games.

[Todd4State]

Jackie had the benefit of following coaches that didn't have any sustained success unless you go back to the 40's. He won more consistently than anyone other than Bob Tyler who gets forgotten because of all of the games that were forfeited. Bellard had two good years and that was it. He was crap the rest of the time. Rockey had one winning season and even then he lost the Egg Bowl and didn't make it to a bowl. At the time, our fans didn't believe we could compete at all in football and Jackie changed that. We should be forever grateful.

Dan is following Jackie who had sustained success and some memorable wins and also as weird as this sounds- Croom had a couple of very memorable wins as well. For whatever reason, our fans don't consider many of Dan's wins as memorable as many of Jackie's. But the thing is, he has had some very big wins and I think our fans don't realize the context of how big those wins are or were. For example- beating Georgia in 2010. We hadn't done that since 1974. Beating Florida on the road in 2010- we hadn't done that since the 1960's. Beating Michigan in the Gator Bowl- yes, our fans celebrate that, but I don't think very many of them realize that was the first NYD bowl win we have had since the 1940's. We all know that he has beaten Ole Miss three times in a row. The only non-expansion SEC members he hasn't beaten are Alabama, LSU, and South Carolina. He has faced Texas A&M once and hasn't faced Missouri yet.

Dan has practically beaten everyone that he is supposed to with the exception of Ole Miss last year on the road, Northwestern in the Gator Bowl, and MAYBE Houston his first year where they had Kevin Kolb and we got royally screwed over by the officials. Compare that to losing to: Louisiana-Monroe, Troy, and yes- Maine as some of our coaches in the past have done.

[Coach34]

and to be clear, I'm not downing Jackie. Sherrill will always be a hero of mine because State football was changed the day he was hired. But I think looking at that brings in some perspective

[LeakyD]

It pisses me off when our fans don't appreciate Jackie as they should. He had a few bad losses along the way and it unraveled at the end. But he played the game in recruiting and it pissed off rebel fans that he beat them at their own game. He never lost to them twice in a row til the end. I applaud Mullen for recognizing the formula for success and embracing Jackie when he was hired.

[LeakyD]

I'm in full agreement with Todd and Coach on both posts.

[FlabLoser]

I think it is really neat that one of Jack Cristil's last comments on the air was "The Mississippi State Bulldogs have demolished the Michigan Wolverines."

[EnterpriseDawg]

I think it is really neat that one of Jack Cristil's last comments on the air was "The Mississippi State Bulldogs have demolished the Michigan Wolverines."

Wasn't that also the worst beating Michigan has ever sustained in a bowl game in their "long, rich tradition?"

[mcain31]

yes it is

[Homedawg]

all the grief Mullen gets, thought it would be interesting to see how Jackie fared vs ranked teams

1991 - Alabama #7, Texas #13, Tennessee #6, Florida #14....1-3 and Texas didnt finish in the top 25
1992 - Florida #13, Alabama #2, Mississippi #24, UNC #19- 1-3 and Florida was a top 10 win
1993 - Florida #5, Auburn #22, Alabama #12- 0-3
1994 - Tennessee #23, Auburn #9, Alabama #6, UNCSt #23- 1-3 with Tenn finishing 22nd
1995 - Tennessee #15, Auburn #11, Arkansas #18, Alabama #16- 0-4
1996 - Auburn #18, LSU #13, Alabama #8- 1-3 with Bama finishing 11th
1997 - LSU #10, Georgia #18, Auburn #11- 1-2 Auburn finished 11th
1998 - Arkansas #9- 1-0 UPig finished 16th
1999 - Alabama #11, Arkansas #22, Mississippi #23- 1-2 OM finished 22nd
2000 - Florida #3, Auburn #13 2-0...Fla finished 7th
2001 - USC #18, Florida #2, BYU #10- 0-3
2002 - LSU #22, Alabama #11- 0-2

Jackie finished 8-28 vs ranked teams

For comparison what is Dan against ranked teams.

[Pollodawg]

And several people had Michigan picked to beat us that game if I am not mistaken. We were told that we would never stop Denard Robinson and one his receivers whose name escapes me just like the rebs think we will never stop Wallace and Moncrief.

But Jackie was the best thing that ever happened to State football when he was hired, and I think Mullen will be the second best thing that has ever happened to Bulldog Football.

[Coach34]

For comparison what is Dan against ranked teams.

Mullen is currently 2-16....and just 4 years in, he has already played more top 10 opponents than Jackie did in 13.

If you'll notice, Jackie was 4-2 from 98-00 (his 8th-10th seasons as coach)- his big run as State coach. The other years he was 4-26.

Perspective

[msstate7]

Mullen is currently 2-16....and just 4 years in, he has already played more top 10 opponents than Jackie did in 13.

If you'll notice, Jackie was 4-2 from 98-00 (his 8th-10th seasons as coach)- his big run as State coach. The other years he was 4-26.

Perspective

During that '98-'00 run, jackie faced 6 ranked teams. Dan will face at least 5 (Osu, lsu, USCe, aTm, and bama) this year.

[Homedawg]

Mullen is currently 2-16....and just 4 years in, he has already played more top 10 opponents than Jackie did in 13.

If you'll notice, Jackie was 4-2 from 98-00 (his 8th-10th seasons as coach)- his big run as State coach. The other years he was 4-26.

Perspective

Good stuff. Thanks

[Bullmutt]

Todd mentioned our win over GA in '74. State crucified GA in that game played in Jackson- pushed them around all night. That was the most fun MSU game to watch it was ever my pleasure to see, especially after remembering several prior long trips to Athens only to see us get our asses handed to us.