STARKVILLE — Mississippi State football coach Dan Mullen isn’t going to start taking teams lightly after a 25-20 loss last week at Alabama.
Mullen knows any letdown could deny MSU a chance to win the Southeastern Conference Western Division crown and have a shot at playing for a SEC title and a national title.
So as No. 4 MSU (9-1, 5-1 SEC) prepares for its home finale against Vanderbilt (3-7, 0-6) at 6:30 p.m. Saturday (SEC Network), don’t expect the Bulldogs to start taking things easy.
Asked if his team would struggle to get motivated to play Vanderbilt, Mullen dismissed the notion.
“Go ask our team’s opinion of Arkansas, who you could have said the same thing about a couple weeks ago,” Mullen said. “You ask any of our players their opinion of Arkansas, and they’d say that they’re one of the best teams in the country. When you look on film and you look at how teams play, a lot of times you’re not watching the TV game copies. You’re watching the cut-ups, and you’re watching how Vanderbilt has some very young players that have improved throughout the season. They have won two of their last four games. They’re coming off a bye week, so they have had the extra week to get ready. They’re going to be healthier and fresher with more preparation time. Our guys understand that stuff and understand what a hard challenge it’s going to be.”
On Nov. 1, MSU edged Arkansas 17-10 in Starkville. Arkansas snapped a 17-game SEC losing streak last week with a 17-0 victory against at home. Using Arkansas as an example, Mullen said Vanderbilt, under first-year head coach Derek Mason, is capable of a similar turnaround.
“They have a very young team,” Mullen said. “I think they have really made some strides (Johnny) McCrary now at quarterback where they had a bunch of issues early in the season. I think they’ve made an awful lot of improvements.”
For MSU, the game is less about Vanderbilt and more about how it responds to the loss that ended its five-week run at No. 1. To remain in College Football Playoff contention — MSU is No. 4 — the Bulldogs must beat Vanderbilt and win at Ole Miss.
“We control our destiny,” Mullen said. “We don’t ever worry more than this one game. You never can. All we can control is the next game. I think we’re in complete control and how we perform against Vanderbilt. That’s been our focus all season. When you worry about other things, that’s when you start losing. We don’t like to do that.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brandon Walker on Twitter @BWonStateBeat
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