NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A one-time sports writer and an English major during his time at Fordham, Mississippi State coach Joe Moorhead has long used literary devices and SAT-type words in his weekly press conferences.
Monday, Moorhead again employed his writing background as he addressed the media following a 38-28 loss to Louisville in the Music City Bowl to cap a 6-7 season.
“Sometimes at the end of your career you think you’re going to write a book and talk about a season, talk about your career and each season is a chapter,” he said. “This season was a book in and of itself, and certainly 6-7 was not the outcome we desired.”
While there’s literary guise to Moorhead’s point, MSU’s year is likely worthy of a book. With 10 players suspended eight games due to the academic misconduct scandal that was uncovered by the NCAA ahead of the season, the Bulldogs suffered major depth issues throughout the year. Injuries also took their toll. Quarterback Tommy Stevens was in and out of the lineup with a litany of issues, while safeties C.J. Morgan and Maurice Smitherman were both lost for the season due to lower-body injuries. Junior cornerback Cameron Dantzler also missed major time due to injury.
And though 2019 was a year marked by its unique set of circumstances, the 2020 season doesn’t necessarily line up more favorably for the Bulldogs schedule-wise.
Admittedly it’s still early to discuss next year, but MSU should be favored in all four of its nonconference games. A road trip to face an N.C. State team that was decimated by injuries of its own this year could be tricky, while Tulane has reached bowl games in back-to-back years, but neither should pose too much of a threat.
A Week 3 meeting with Arkansas will open Southeastern Conference play for the Bulldogs with the Razorbacks now under the leadership of former Georgia offensive line coach Sam Pittman. New coach aside, Arkansas is a program in need of a four-to-five-year rebuild, and Hogs shouldn’t be an issue in 2020.
As for the rest of conference play, October could prove as brutal as it did in 2019, when MSU lost three of the four games it played. Facing a four-game stretch between Oct. 3 and Oct. 31, the Bulldogs get a Texas A&M team that should be primed for a breakout season in Jimbo Fisher’s third year at home before heading to Alabama and LSU the ensuing two weeks. MSU will then close the month with a home contest against Auburn — a squad that should take a step back given what it loses defensively but welcomes deposed Arkansas head coach Chad Morris as its new offensive coordinator, hoping to spark a more efficient offense with former five-star recruit Bo Nix under center.
Assuming things hold to form and MSU doesn’t lose a trap game in Raleigh in Week 2 — like it did against Kansas State this past season — the Bulldogs likely head into their final four games at 4-4 with losses in all of the aforementioned October games.
For context, Moorhead’s bunch headed into November 2019 at 3-5 and won three of its final four games against Arkansas, Alabama, Abilene Christian and Ole Miss.
If MSU is to make a jump in 2020, that likely comes down to the Nov. 7 and Nov. 14 meetings with Missouri and Kentucky. The Tigers, like Arkansas, will be in the first year under a new regime guided by former Appalachian State coach Eliah Drinkwitz. This will also mark the first time since joining the SEC that Mizzou has played in Starkville — MSU won the lone matchup as conference opponents in Columbia in 2015 — and sans quarterback Kelly Bryant, it should be in a state of transition.
Should the Bulldogs handle Drinkwitz and company, the road game at Kentucky likely decides whether MSU can win eight games for the third time since 2017. While the Wildcats figure to be down given the loss of do-it-all receiver/quarterback/offensive Swiss Army knife Lynn Bowden, Mark Stoops has proved year after year he gets the best out of his bunch.
MSU should be favored against Kentucky, but it also was against Tennessee in 2019 when a disastrous offensive showing sank the Bulldogs in Knoxville against a Volunteers squad that looked to be dead in the water to that point.
If the Bulldogs fall in Lexington or against Missouri, another 6-6 season becomes a real possibility given Lane Kiffin will be taking over a flawed but talented roster at Ole Miss.
In all, the 2019 season may have been book-worthy for Moorhead, but if MSU fails to handle its business against the teams it’s favored against, 2020 may be the last chapter in Starkville for a coach who was firmly on the hot seat this past year.
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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