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One of the many unfortunate side effects of the Cam Newton nhl replica jerseys Affair (a list that now includes yet another Lane Kiffin retrospective on his days at USC) is the giant shadow the drama has cast across Mississippi State ahead of the most significant regular season game the Bulldogs have played in ages. MSU goes into Alabama Saturday with a 7-2 record, a rare top-20 ranking, wins over Georgia and Florida in the bank and a shot at a Jan. 1 bowl game still in sight. The bold neon headline of the week: What did they know about Cam Newton in Starkville, and when did they know it?
No one is authentic ncaa jerseys nearly as interested in the fact that Mississippi State is actually, like, winning football games for a change. Consider the leap in Dan Mullen's second year compared to any point in the wasteland of the last decade.
The Bulldogs' discount ncaa jerseys longest winning steak from 2000-09 was three in a row, and they only made it that far once, in early 2007. The current team has won six in a row. Before Mullen's arrival last year, they hadn't averaged more than 21 points per game in any season since 2000. The current team is averaging more than 28 points. The offense endured 81 consecutive games over almost seven full seasons from 2002-08 without scoring 40 points a single time. The current team has topped 40 points three times. The defense finished ninth or worse in the SEC in scoring defense nine times from 2000-09, topping out at sixth in '07. The current team ranks ninth nationally in scoring D, having yet to allow 30 points in a game.
Among the baseball jerseys kind of people who keep an eye on the futures market in head coaches, though, the mere suggestion of sentient life from the perpetually moribund Bulldogs is a feat that's already put Mullen on the short list for Coach of the Year and Most Likely to be Targeted by a Prestige Job He might have achieved that status a long time ago if he'd actually convinced Newton to sign at MSU last winter, but the potential payoff without a true standout athlete is that much higher. If the Bulldogs somehow manage to get out of Bryant-Denny Stadium Saturday at 8-2, after the sideshow that descended on the program over the last week, even the chatter over Cam Newton's eligibility won't be able to drown out the stampede to get in on the Dan Mullen Bubble before the stock plateaus.
