COLUMN: Saturday brings some hope for the future for Bulldog football

There is something special about sports in that, no matter how bad things seem to be, fans always seem to find a glimmer of hope.

Without hope, there is no reason for fans to grab a hold of a team and have them affect the mental aspect of one’s daily lives. The emotional response all derives from that one word – hope.

As things stand heading into Mississippi State’s bye week, hope is all that Bulldog fans can scrape from the current landscape of the football program. The program has been in an identity crisis for several years to this point with a short detour during the Mike Leach era.

Jeff Lebby is trying to bring the stability  that Starkville and MSU so desperately needs, but it’s not going to come over night and it certainly won’t be easy. After three-straight weeks of what appeared as dire circumstances, that hope we’re talking about could be coming around inside the program.

Van Buren, Dawgs show spirit in defeat

Saturday’s 35-13 loss to No. 1 Texas continued what is now a four-game losing streak for the Bulldogs, but the game felt different than the last few weeks. In three-straight losses, State dropped games against defeatable opponents Arizona State, Toledo and Florida and looked helpless on the defensive end while the offense failed to hold up their end in the first half of those games.

In the middle of State’s 45-28 defeat to the Gators in game four, matters were made worse when senior quarterback Blake Shapen went down with a shoulder injury. The worse was soon known that Shapen would require surgery and would miss the rest of this season.

For many, the loss of Shapen signaled the loss of the Bulldogs’ season. The team was already 1-3 with the toughest part of the schedule on the way and now it’s up to a true freshman in Michael Van Buren to take over the State offense.

The thing about injuries is that it also breeds opportunity. While Lebby’s goal was to bring along his QB slowly and allow him time to marinate in the system behind a seasoned signal caller, Van Buren now has a chance to get a head start on what could be a very bright future.

MSU went to Texas with several key injuries and even a couple of players choosing to sit out the rest of the year in wide receivers Creed Whittemore and Trent Hudson. For a team that has seen its share of uninspiring moments early in the year, the ones that were there to play on Saturday didn’t look like a team ready to mail it in the rest of the season.

Van Buren was poised during his four quarters of action and delivered a performance that impressed many of the Bulldog faithful and beyond. There were some plays he’d surely like to have back and there are a few more that were outside of his control, but Van Buren was prepared and he was not intimidated.

The way that the first-year QB handled the atmosphere inside Darrel Royal Stadium was exactly why Lebby recruited him in the first place. Lebby knows a thing or two about evaluating and developing QBs and Van Buren is showing early signs of being another good one.

It was also encouraging to see the play of new face Johnnie Daniels at running back. In a year where the Bulldogs have tried to find their guy at that position, Daniels looked like RB1 because of how hard he ran and all of the little things he did beyond carrying the football.

On the defensive side, there was nothing close to perfect from the Bulldogs. At this stage in the game, there probably won’t be a game where that is going to be the case. State needs a retool of the defensive roster and there’s still a lot to be desired on how the unit is being coached.

 Flipping sides, it was a group that played hard and played tough, despite the differences in experience, size and speed. Coleman Hutzler’s unit did what it had to do to stay in the ball game. The group got off the field on five different occasions and forced a couple of turnovers along the way to bend but not break against one of the nation’s premiere offenses.

The rest of the way, times are still going to be rocky for this Bulldog team. State has a bye week this week and then prepares for an angry Georgia team on October 12. The goals going into that game will be similar in that the Bulldogs of State need to show resiliency, toughness and heart.

It’s not what State fans want at this point in time, but it’s what everyone needs. While this season might be a dark time, it’s hopefully the beginning of good things to come for Lebby and a lot of young and exciting talent.

Without hope, what’s the point?