Well, I didn’t expect you to go full Genespager on me, but here we are. Ok, surely you understand that some semblance of past experience shapes your world outlook, right?
I’m not even talking about the 70’s and 80’s. We’ve lost plenty of games in the last 20-25 years to make me doubt we can win the big games. Maine was in the 2000’s. USA was 2016. Toledo was last year, a season where we were 2-10 and the most hapless I’ve seen us in 20 years.
Sprinkled in there are losses to teams that end up winning the national championship. Sure, we show up to play, but to go in thinking we’re going to beat those teams every time we play them is to ignore reality.
How often do we beat ranked teams and how often are they ranked at the end of the season? 17ing rarely. It’s why so many of us were shocked we didn’t blow it against Arizona State. We’ve seen that same movie so many times, where we’ve come so 17ing close, and blew it.
Have you really gone into every Mississippi State football game in your lifetime believing “aw yeah, we’re gonna win this one!”, seriously?
So, like 2020 vs Bama, 3 weeks after losing to Kentucky 24-2, you were like “I believe we can beat Bama!”
ETA: Look, I love Mississippi State, but I’m also realistic enough to understand that we are the underdog most of the time in this league and, unfortunately, we’re not living in a sports movie where the plucky underdog prevails against the odds. That’s just not real life, man. That’s also what makes the times where we do overcome the odds and do pull off the big upset so 17ing sweet.
