Mississippi State Football: 3 biggest disappointments from 2019

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STARKVILLE, MS – OCTOBER 27: Head coach Joe Moorhead of the Mississippi State Bulldogs reacts during the second half against the Texas A&M Aggies at Davis Wade Stadium on October 27, 2018 in Starkville, Mississippi. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /

2. Bulldogs were undisciplined

One of the biggest reasons for the release of Joe Moorhead as the head coach of Mississippi State was the lack of discipline and focus as a team. On the field and off the field, problems surfaced the football program which was directly responsible for coach Moorhead.

A significant factor in a stale offense for the Bulldogs is their constant habits of getting penalized and ruining potential scoring drives. On the defensive of the ball, these penalties constantly gave opposing offenses new life which ended with points being put on the board.

In the week three loss 31-24 to the Kansas State Wildcats, the Bulldogs were penalized seven times for 83 yards. In the 56-23 loss to the Auburn Tigers, the Bulldogs were penalized nine times for 70 yards. The Bulldogs were in multiple where they did not help themselves in games where they were in a deep deficit but didn’t play well in any measure. In the 36-13 loss to the LSU Tigers, the Bulldogs were penalized 13 times for 109 yards.

Early in the season, the Bulldogs were hit with significant NCAA academic violations. The football program self-reported a violation of 10 players allowing tutors of taking their exams during the 2018-19 academic year. The Bulldogs played eight of those football players that violated the NCAA and University academic policy.

This became a huge issue on the academic side for Mississippi State and on Moorhead overall. The university president said this violated the core value of academic integrity.

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