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Let the verbal jabs begin |
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Tuesday, 24 November 2009 |
 David Quinn/The Associated Press Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen, left, talks to an official during the third quarter of the 42-21 defeat against Arkansas. Mullen went his entire Monday press conference without mentioning Ole Miss by name. By MATTHEW STEVENS
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Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen did not say the words Ole Miss, school up north or Rebels but did discuss ‘them’ Monday with the media.
While not mentioning the Rebels program by name during his 10-minute conversation, Mississippi State’s first-year head coach did throw out some quick jabs to the program in Oxford without delivering a knockout blow.
When asked about the talent on the overall talent of Ole Miss, Mullen bluntly mentioned the recruiting job the previous Rebels staff accomplished.
“They had some NFL talent last year and it looks like they have NFL talent this year,” Mullen said. “Coach Orgeron did a great job recruiting to that staff there. That’s what he does. He’s done that everywhere he’s been.”
In a recap of the discussion Mullen mentioned the former Ole Miss coach, who is now the defensive line coach at Tennessee, one more time than the current Rebels head coach that has a 7-0 record in November since taking the job in Oxford.
When asked about Nutt’s concerns over rival SEC program using the Ku Klux Klan rally Saturday on the Oxford campus to negatively recruit Ole Miss, Mullen made sure got off on the exit clearly marked high road but let’s just say he sped while he did it.
“We don’t negative recruit. You come to our game day and you see the atmosphere, the family atmosphere we have here on game days, great sense of community with our fans and those things.”
In his press conference Monday Nutt corrected what he said the previous day and said only four recruits missed their scheduled on campus visits last Saturday instead of the eight he stated didn’t show up in Oxford.
Mullen has said he and his staff are not focusing on the 45-0 loss last year in Oxford because obviously he was not a part of that game.
The Bulldogs head coach has stressed making this a more competitive contest every year.
“Our focus has been on making this a rivalry game,” Mullen said. “You feel that here at this school, the rivalry game. Here we have one big in-state rivalry game so that’s what I think is exciting.”
Lee’s playing time still unknown in final Egg Bowl
While referring to the Rebels ‘the school up north’ twice to the media, MSU quarterback Tyson Lee tried to reflect on the week before the final football game of his career.
“It’s hard to believe this is the last game of my career here at Mississippi State and football in general,” Lee said. “Got a lot of things going through my mind right now and I guess we’ll see Saturday how everything turns out.”
One of the things on the senior’s mind is how many snaps he’ll get Saturday if any at all.
“I have not (gotten any word on playing time),” Lee said. “After tomorrow once we start and talk with the coaches I guess we’ll get an indication of what they want to do this week as far as the gameplan.”
Lee said Sunday’s practice was ‘normal’ in terms of the rotation of snaps given to both him and backup Chris Relf.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 25 November 2009 )
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