Mississippi State Football: Bulldogs win Egg Bowl, snatch back Golden Egg

3. Every new coach has a learning curve

Mississippi State was the No. 18 team in the preseason poll and the highest ranked squad with a new head coach. On the surface, there was a lot to like about this team. They had a senior quarterback, an elite defense and were coming off a nine-win season.

Losses to Kentucky, Florida and LSU aren’t damning by any means, but if the same team that beat the Rebels got a rematch with any of those squads the results might be starkly different. Mississippi State scored 16 combined points in those three losses as they worked to mesh Joe Moorhead’s scheme with the personnel on hand.

They’ve figured it out and ended the season 4-1 with their lone loss coming to Alabama on the road. This team probably wasn’t going to find a way to take down the Tide, even on their best day, making the SEC West just beyond their reaches, even with the hypothetical mulligan. Instead this year contained plenty of teaching moments for Moorhead and his staff, making the future bright in Starkville, even without Fitzgerald.