98 in review

[Maverick91]

Worth the watch.

https://youtu.be/aprziD_5Yw4

[Dawghouse]

Awesome. Spotted myself in there helping tear down the goalposts.

[Extendedcab]

It was good to watch the video. I miss Jackie.

I do have a question though, in the video the team, on average, looks bulkier (more muscles/better built) than our team today. Is it the conditioning, the uniforms, the shoulder pads, thigh pads, maybe the video itself or what? Are we taller today on average than before and that makes todays athletes look leaner?

Just asking.

[Maverick91]

It was good to watch the video. I miss Jackie.

I do have a question though, in the video the team, on average, looks bulkier (more muscles/better built) than our team today. Is it the conditioning, the uniforms, the shoulder pads, thigh pads, maybe the video itself or what? Are we taller today on average than before and that makes todays athletes look leaner?

Just asking.

Training has definitely changed, I think back then it’s was power lifts, oly lifts. They lifted for size and power. I think today the boys do the same lifts the difference is today there is a lot more time spent on injury prevention and speed. Meaning the volume of training isnt as intense on growing size as it was back in the day.

Also, I do think the boys are taller today than they were back then as well. Also, the nutrition has changed drastically cornbread and beef back then.

[STATEBALLIN]

It was good to watch the video. I miss Jackie.

I do have a question though, in the video the team, on average, looks bulkier (more muscles/better built) than our team today. Is it the conditioning, the uniforms, the shoulder pads, thigh pads, maybe the video itself or what? Are we taller today on average than before and that makes todays athletes look leaner?

Just asking.

All of the above really. I would say the equipment is smaller now but mostly with the emergence of the spread offenses the speed on the field has upgraded which means a leaner athletes.

[starkvegasdawg]

I miss, Jack.

[memsu06]

Man that defense was just nasty that year.

I love a good nasty defense and I think Arnett/Brock is pretty close to what we had with Joe Lee Dunn.

[R2Dawg]

I miss, Jack.

Ditto. Boy Jack is MSU football.

Miss Ole Jackie too.

[R2Dawg]

It was good to watch the video. I miss Jackie.

I do have a question though, in the video the team, on average, looks bulkier (more muscles/better built) than our team today. Is it the conditioning, the uniforms, the shoulder pads, thigh pads, maybe the video itself or what? Are we taller today on average than before and that makes todays athletes look leaner?

Just asking.

Agree. We were bigger and more physical at every level. I think others have hit on it. Pads, training, etc. But you are right, it is obvious we were thick in the Jackie days and brought the beef.

[R2Dawg]

Man that defense was just nasty that year.

I love a good nasty defense and I think Arnett/Brock is pretty close to what we had with Joe Lee Dunn.

Totally agree. 98 D led to the 99 D which was even nastier. That stretch of 97-2000 was some of best defense ever fielded by MSU and in the SEC.

[cujo]

Thanks for posting

[DownwardDawg]

Agree. We were bigger and more physical at every level. I think others have hit on it. Pads, training, etc. But you are right, it is obvious we were thick in the Jackie days and brought the beef.

Gen X'rs. Built tough, mean, and nasty.

[Leeshouldveflanked]

Losing 41-6 to a LSU Team that finished 4-7 was a head scratcher.

[R2Dawg]

Losing 41-6 to a LSU Team that finished 4-7 was a head scratcher.

Yep that one made no sense. Play that game again or in Starkville and that is not the score.

[DownwardDawg]

Losing 41-6 to a LSU Team that finished 4-7 was a head scratcher.

LSU owned JWS. They were to him as Bama was to Mullen.

[R2Dawg]

LSU owned JWS. They were to him as Bama was to Mullen.

True but a few differences. Jackie did beat LSU. Jackie may have lost to LSU a lot but he didn't coach scared like Mullen did with Bama. Jackie beat Bama his fair share too so there is that.

[smootness]

It was good to watch the video. I miss Jackie.

I do have a question though, in the video the team, on average, looks bulkier (more muscles/better built) than our team today. Is it the conditioning, the uniforms, the shoulder pads, thigh pads, maybe the video itself or what? Are we taller today on average than before and that makes todays athletes look leaner?

Just asking.

It is all equipment/pads. Look at a video from the 80s and they will all look much bigger than in 98, just because the shoulder pads were ginormous.

A kid back then who was 6-3, 230 would have looked like a true beast; now they look lean. Just the way the equipment and uniforms are made. Kids on average are bigger now.

[Todd4State]

Here's how 1998 went.

1997 we were hungry because we missed a bowl even though we won 7games and lost on the last play of the Egg Bowl.

We started off really strong with a win over Vandy and a win over Memphis and then Wyatt looked awful against Oklahoma State where we were just flat. Then we switched to Wayne Madkin who was a freshman. We beat South Carolina who was awful that year and we beat Auburn in what might have been the best MSU special teams performance I have ever seen. Destroyed East Tennessee State on homecoming. I remember Anthony Kapp blocking one of their guys clear out of the end zone.

Then LSU happened. That loss put us behind the eight ball. I was really disappointed and pissed about how we played that game. We were much better and we just didn't show up. If we couldn't run the ball our offense was screwed. That happened that night for whatever reason. Then we lost to Kentucky on a Thursday night with Mike Leach as their OC. We couldn't stop their pass game. They couldn't stop JJ. If that game was in Starkville we probably would have won like we did in 97 and 99. As it is we lost in Lexington by a field goal. Winning the SEC didn't seem like a reasonable expectation. Didn't matter to me at the time- I just wanted to go to a bowl. We were 5-3 after Kentucky. It looked like our bowl fate was going to come down to the Egg Bowl again maybe.

The last three weeks were pretty crazy.

We played a great game against Alabama at home. They weren't peak Saban good but they were a solid 7-4 team that year and had Shaun Alexander on their team. JJ had his best game of the year with like 200+ all purpose yards. They stacked 9 in the box all game and couldn't stop JJ. It was a solid win and got us bowl eligible. This was our third year in a row to beat Alabama so it really wasn't THAT shocking that we beat them. That night is when thoughts started to creep in our heads as fans. Tennessee and Arkansas played in an all time classic and Arkansas was hot that year with their first year coach Houston Nutt. It looked like they were about to beat Tennessee in Knoxville and then their QB tripped when he was dropping back and literally set the ball on the ground for a fumble when they were trying to salt the game away. Tennessee recovered and had a last minute win. That set the stage for MSU/Arkansas in Starkville which a lot of people think was for the SEC West Championship and it kind of was but really the winner was simply in the driver's seat.

So then Arkansas happened the next week and I think we probably win easily if JJ hadn't gotten hurt. But he did. It was close. Wayne Madkin became Joe Montana on the last drive and we kick the game winning field goal to win. It was a great win and we tore the goal posts down. But we still had to beat Ole Miss in Oxford. They had Romaro Miller and Deuce but their defense was average. Anyway we had to win the Egg Bowl to win the West otherwise we would have needed Arkansas to lose their last game to a bad LSU team. Well Ole Miss was playing Georgia and Romaro got hurt and because Ole Miss had been on probation for being Ole Miss their back up QB was a walk-on. JJ was hurt and certainly not 100% so that probably evened things out somewhat. Anyway Ole Miss ran Deuce like 40 times and we contained him we scored enough to win comfortably to get the win and get the hell out of there with the West. Some Ole Miss fan said something about Jackie's daughter to his face after the game and Jackie would have killed the guy if his security detail didn't hold him back. It's always something when we beat them.

Tommy Tuberville was also leaving for Auburn- this was his "pine box" game. I was waiting on him to surprise everyone and play Romaro since he did crap like that at Ole Miss it seemed like. I didn't really believe he was hurt until after halftime when he didn't come out.

It was cool to play in the SEC Championship- I think we beat Tennessee with a healthy JJ. I won't walk about the Cotton Bowl although it was cool to go. I got tired of hearing about Ricky Williams this, Ricky Williams that.

Believe it or not 1999 was as good or better in my mind. I think our offense in 1999 would have been even better had we started Dontae and Dicenzo but I don't get to make those decisions.

[Todd4State]

Agree. We were bigger and more physical at every level. I think others have hit on it. Pads, training, etc. But you are right, it is obvious we were thick in the Jackie days and brought the beef.

We may have been one of the first teams in the SEC to embrace S&C. We got attention for doing some Navy SEAL stuff in the offseason and also we had the Iron Dawgs which was for players that hit certain benchmarks. They had posters and everything made were all over Starkville. Sports Illustrated even had an article about it.

[Todd4State]

True but a few differences. Jackie did beat LSU. Jackie may have lost to LSU a lot but he didn't coach scared like Mullen did with Bama. Jackie beat Bama his fair share too so there is that.

Jackie beat them twice- once in 1991 where we came out and ran the wishbone out of nowhere and then LSU almost came back on us.

And in 1999 we BARELY beat them in Starkville when we were 10-2 and they were like 2-9 that year or something.

I know a guy that used to be on our staff during the Sherrill era and he told me Jackie always acted really weird during LSU week.

[DownwardDawg]

True but a few differences. Jackie did beat LSU. Jackie may have lost to LSU a lot but he didn't coach scared like Mullen did with Bama. Jackie beat Bama his fair share too so there is that.

Oh no doubt. Jackie wasn't scared of anyone. He beat Bama several times. He just never seemed to care about the LSU game.