Prediction: Mississippi State Will Defeat Alabama on Oct. 22

Moreso than ever, watching Ole Miss football this season has brought to my awareness that I am watching semipro sport instead of amateur athletics. Most people are on some level aware that big-time college football has nothing to do with amateurism or college, but nevertheless it seems to me that its popularity is built on maintaining the illusion that these "kids" are "student athletes" and are hometown products of the region served by the university. I remember back when I listened to Ole Miss games on the radio a typical aw shucks story they'd run was how this "kid", let's call him D'quan Jenkins, grew into a 350 lb. hulk eating mama's purple hull peas and cornbread, erstwhile helping every old lady across the street because mama taught him some values.

The 2022 Ole Miss squad has over half the starting players off the "transfer portal", which was just another innovation by the NCAA to facillitate the business of college football by allowing players to transfer without the requirement to sit out a year. Had Ole Miss had to do it the old way, by cultivating players, it is hard to imagine it being 6-0 right now heading into a contest with a struggling Auburn squad. Lane Kiffin, it strikes me, is a coach on the bleeding edge of the new in-your-face semipro college football. He was born for this.

So, all I am saying is that despite these Rebels being 6-0, this team doesn't excite me.

Mike Leach, down the road in Starkville, though, has his Mississippi State squad playing a spirited and interesting brand of football. I've followed Leach's career for years, going back to his stint at Texas Tech, and I always wanted to have him at Ole Miss, and it was ironic to me that Mississippi State ended up having the good sense to hire him. He's the antithesis of Lane Kiffin, much more old school in the develop-your-players model, meaning, develop YOUR players. He's a notorious hard-ass, and I love that. When he first came into MSU, he ran off something like 20 players who were used to goofing off during practice. It was good riddance from Leach's perspective. Now he's in year three, and he has his players, and they are a hard-working team; they are fun to watch, and Leach's academic focus on offense, on exploiting defensive backs, is on full display. Will Rogers is the quintessential air-raid quarterback, but at State Leach has something he hasn't had much before: a stable of running backs of SEC quality. If teams give him the run to protect the pass, he will gladly oblige. Mississippi State is a dangerous team.

Prediction: MSU is going to defeat Alabama at Alabama on October 22. I am looking forward to that game moreso than any Ole Miss game left on the schedule. And if they pull that off, Georgia better watch out when it visits Starkville on November 12.