Welcome in the latest episode of that SEC podcast. I'm your host Michael Bratton. I go by SEC Mike on Twitter and I'm joined as always by my cousin Shane who goes by big orange balls on Twitter.

What do you do? You big Tennessee homer? Hey, Mike, what's going on? Oh, it's been a long one, Shane. I want to crack what open with you, but I am excited, brother, because we're going to talk some Mississippi state foosball Shane. And you know that they're one of the best fan bases in the SEC and they've all spring it basically said, hey, you ain't talking enough Mississippi state

football. Well, we're about to do a deep dive on your entire program. So how's that sound, buddy? Oh, I love it, man. I'll tell you, man, I've been doing these big orange walks. You know, it just got done with one still wearing the garb tomorrow's way in. I'm excited about that. And you know, it's funny. I've been putting them out every day. And the most reactions I ever get is for Mississippi state fans. When I put that deck press caught, you know, the year that they were undefeated and they they barely beat Arkansas there to tell you and help us

grow. It was just like I said, it was the most viral big orange walk clip I put out there. So this fan base is hungry. And they want to be good. They want to be back on top of that mountain, Mike. Are we going to get there this year? Well, we're about to find out, brother, but let's do a quick recap, though, of last season. Yeah, nine and four, third in the SEC West, exceeded expectations. Like they seemingly always do. They get discounted in the preseason. They do better in the

fall, Shane. But for me, you know, I don't want to say we wrote them off early because they lost to LSU, but that was when we all had circled. It seemed like a game they could

have won. It was in Bat Rouge, first year under Brian Kelly. And they dropped that one. And I don't know about you, Shane, but I was just sitting here saying, well, you know, we were

hyping us up as a possible 10 win team. And that's usually the game that defines it. And technically, I guess it did for a 10 win season. But we are at a point,

now, Shane, we're nine and four. I don't want to call it a disappointment. But it was, you know, that's a standard now at Mississippi state. And of course, we have to

mention the legend, Mike Leach. It was his final season. They finally got over Lane Kiffin and won that egg bowl and in dramatic fashion. Thanks in large part to the defense of

the defense is been criminally underrated under Zach Arnet. They have been the stronger side of the ball, in my opinion, over the three years of the Mike Leach era, aside from maybe some of those, you know, his debut was just electric beaten LSU, defending

the LSU shape. So we all remember the big offensive showcases. And of course, Will Rogers, he's already Shane, the school's all time leading passer. And he could play for two more years, if he wants to. But it's been that defense under Zach Arnet. And I think that's why Mississippi state fans are so confident in their bulldogs, because Zach Arnet has been elevated to the head coach, Sharon Starkful.

Yeah, man. And again, off the last note, obviously losing the pirate, that was, that was tough for us, especially, I know it's tough for all those Mississippi state fans. And going into last season, it felt like, like, you know, this was the year. This was the year that they take that big step forward. And it was kind of, I'm not going to lie, man, it was a little awkward at first. It was tough for me to put my finger on what this Mississippi state team was last year.

Because you would see just absolute blow, blowouts. And then, and then they'll turn around. And like you said, the LSU is a prime example. It's like, what do we do? And it felt like, we felt like we squandered that game. I'm not going to lie, you know, if you rewatch that thing, it felt like there was an opportunity. And so now you're looking at possibly 10 wins, you know, even, I mean, they're really even Georgia, they played those guys tough. And if things could have went their way, maybe, maybe they could have gotten them an upset victory there.

But it was just, it was just a wild wacky season. And of course, ended on a, on a tragic note. But you look back, not a three. That's not that bad, brother.

No, no, I mean, that's a hell of a year for most programs in the SEC. But like I'm saying, shade, that's, I don't want to say that's, you know, the expectation every year. But the expectation is to have a winning season, go to a bowl game, win the bowl game, beat Ole Miss.

Mississippi State, I believe she has got a 13 year bowl streak. The only SEC teams that currently have a longer one are Alabama and Georgia. So that's where we're at here with Zach Arnett taking over his first year in

Starkville. So let's jump into it. Doesn't have the stats like these other head coaches, because obviously he's only coached one game as a head coach. And it was the big bowl win over Illinois in the

Reliah quest bowl, but he's two time broiles award nominee. That's an award given to the top assistant coach in the country. And he was Mike Leach's defensive coordinator, his entire time at Mississippi State. So this was certainly a play for continuity and keeping that defense together. And they kept the roster together, because a lot of times when there's coaching changes, Shane, everybody jumps to that portal. But Mississippi State and a hell of a job keeping his defense.

Together, we'll get to the offense here in just a minute, but it's going to be lead Shane by. I don't want to call him a question mark because his numbers are prolific Shane, but the offense of coordinator Kevin Barbae, who was at Appalach in state last year.

Remember, that was the team that went into college station and they gave Texas A&M their first loss. Well, how about this shape? Before that, he was at Central Michigan under Jim Mcawain, the old shark boy down there at Florida.

But according to our, our buddy, they bar to Shane, his analytics, Kevin Barbae, our new offensive coordinator ranks number one among all active college football offensive coordinators in career average passing game efficiency. So what that means is his quarterbacks, his passing game, more efficient than any other offensive coordinator in the entire nation.

So maybe Mississippi State got them a little gem here, Shane. And that's not the only stat that Dave Bartos dug up for us, Shane. Top 15% passing touchdowns per attempt. Top 20% view is the interceptions per attempt. Top 25 in quarterback rating and quarterback efficiency in top 30 yards per attempt. So what that means, Shane, explosive passing plays.

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