Pressing Forward
September 19, 2022 | Football, Joel Coleman
Resiliency has been a trademark of Mike Leach’s MSU teams.
STARKVILLE – Consistency.
It's a word Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach has used countless times since he took over the Bulldogs in 2020. It's a trait that's difficult to attain. The Bulldogs were reminded of that fact last Saturday night down in Baton Rouge.
Against LSU, MSU had a big moment here. A key play there. What the Dawgs didn't have was the consistent performance Leach is endlessly seeking from his guys.
"Consistency is easy to talk about, but you do everything sore and fatigued in football, then all of a sudden you're tested," Leach said at his weekly press conference on Monday. "I think we have to [get consistent] just to take that [next] step. We have to be able to [play] harder [for] longer."
With a new week and a Saturday home game against Bowling Green on the horizon, the quest for consistency continues for the Bulldogs. Again, it's a characteristic that's difficult to establish. And once it's attained, it's just as hard to maintain.
Even so, MSU is right back to work, shooting to be the consistent group Leach demands. The recipe, however, is perhaps easier spoken than actually done.
"The biggest thing is to stick together, work hard, stay focused, understand and be critical of what you can improve on and do it," Leach said.
The good news for the Bulldogs is they have an established track record under Leach of doing those very things and getting stronger as the season goes.
In each of the last two years, MSU has hit early speed bumps. Each time, State bounced back and got better and better as the weather turned cooler.
Remember 2020? The back half of that campaign was full of highlights. It included a near-upset at Georgia, a dominating win over Missouri and an exclamation point in the form of an Armed Forces Bowl victory over Tulsa.
Then, 2021 saw State throw counterpunch after counterpunch as the year wore on. The Dawgs staged the biggest comeback in school history in the season opener, only to top it later when they erased a 28-3 deficit for a triumph at Auburn. On the heels of a couple of early setbacks, all MSU did was pick itself up off the mat, travel to the Lone Star State and knock off then-No. 15 Texas A&M.
Many of the resilient guys from the past two seasons make up the same cast of characters still wearing Maroon and White, aiming once again to prove their resolve.
So, last Saturday changes nothing for Leach and his players heading into a new week.
"You just prepare, get better and go out there and play the best you can," Leach said. "We've got to play well the entire time. Anytime you have a play, you have to play well. It doesn't matter what the situation is or what the score is."
Put another way, Leach wants his Dawgs to be – you guessed it…consistent. He wants them consistent this Saturday. He wants them consistent every Saturday.
Do that, and regardless of last weekend, special things can happen over the nine big opportunities that still await State this season.
"There's going to be adversity," Leach said. "That's why they have a football game in the first place, to create adversity and see who comes through it. The way you come through it is you have the discipline to do your job more times in a row than the guy across from you. That's what we've got to do."
