"Mississippi State Bulldogs"
HELMET HUT NEWS/REFLECTIONS April 2011:
MISSISSIPPI STATE BULLDOGS, MID-SIXTIES MEMORIES
By Dr. Ken
There are college football
teams that are traditionally
good. As one analyzes their
historical record, even an
“off year” will yield six or
seven wins. It may be an
aberration to finish on the
losing side of the slate and
fans expect in the least, an
intermittent run at the
National Championship. Other
programs rarely post a
victorious season and may
have a long history of
downtrodden performances.
Perhaps their glory days
were generations past, not
even recalled in story by
current fans. The love of
one’s team often will have
no connection or at least no
obvious connection to wins
and losses but rather, it
will be based upon an
allegiance born of location,
attendance, or a singular
memorable event. Even teams
with a lack or absence of a
winning tradition can stir
its followers with
passionate emotion and the
specific team that “strikes”
any particular fan or group
of fans as a memorable or
favorite team, may pale
relative to others with
better records. The
mid-1960’s teams of
Mississippi State University
proved to be squads whose
hard, gritty play won the
hearts not only of fellow
Bulldogs fanatics, but fans
throughout the Southeastern
Conference.
Justin Canale
and Marcus
Rhoden were
solid and often
spectacular for
Mississippi
State
For the
uninitiated who
can only
perceive
overmatched
squads falling
to Alabama,
Auburn, and LSU,
it must be
understood that
MSU played
hellacious
football prior
to World War II.
The undefeated
10-0 Orange Bowl
victor of 1940
may have posted
the high water
mark but
typically, the
Maroon Bulldogs
would enjoy one
and two loss
seasons prior to
dropping the
sport in 1943
due to the War
effort, and
under head coach
Allyn McKeen,
picked up very
much where the
War had
disrupted their
winning ways, in
the seasons
immediately
following WW II.
McKeen’s 65-19-3
record,
completed
between 1939 and
1948 says it all
and it was
emphasized by
the undefeated
’40 squad and
one or two loss
teams in six of
his nine seasons
at the helm.
Unfortunately,
other than the
four year period
evenly divided
between coaching
legends Murray
Warmath and
Darrell Royal
from 1952
through 1955,
the record has
been less than
consistently
stellar despite
occasional
forays into the
national
rankings. Even
in 1967, Sports
Illustrated
Magazine noted,
“(New head
coach) Charles
Shira faces an
enormous task, a
task that more
than one
contemporary
rejected for
softer pleasures
than restoring
an empire. No
thanks, they
replied to the
Maroon
supplication,
better to paint
the Sistine
Chapel or
smuggle a camel
through the eye
of a needle or
restore world
order or some
other simple
assignment.
Mississippi
State's winning
seasons have
sometimes seemed
to appear as
infrequently as
Halley’s Comet.
In between have
been plagues of
locusts and
itching nettles,
not to mention
the triumphant
smiles of the
Ole Miss fans
who beat
Mississippi
State on the
field, in the
recruiting wars,
and to the most
popular girls on
the courthouse
square.
Occasionally
battles have
been won. Seldom
have wars been
won.” Marcus Rhoden, SEC Sprint Champion and always a danger with the football in his hands
Kudos
were
always
given
to
soften
the
blow
of
ineptitude,
due
to
the
tough
SEC
schedule
and
MSU’s
willingness
to
take
on
the
best
of
the
regional
non-conference
foes
but
the
bottom
line
was
that
Mississippi
State
was
viewed
as
an
also-ran,
always
behind
Ole
Miss
in
whatever
line
was
available.
Recruiting
to
Starkville
was
and
remains
difficult
relative
to
many
of
the
other
SEC
universities
and
the
Bulldog
football
program
has
shown
it.
Yet,
while
the
successful
1963
squad,
a
16-12
winner
over
North
Carolina
State
in
the
Liberty
Bowl
and
7-2-2
finisher
who
took
Alabama
to
its
limit
in a
20-19
loss,
was
beloved,
those
following,
less
successful
teams
seemed
to
capture
the
imagination
of
the
Bulldog
faithful.
The
1964
through
’66
MSU
squads
recorded
4-6,
4-6,
and
2-8
seasons
respectively,
certainly
nothing
that
compared
to
their
’63
achievement
where
only
that
close
intra-conference
loss
to
Bear
Bryant’s
loaded
Crimson
Tide
kept
them
from
the
SEC
title.
Yet,
the
exciting
play
of a
few
star
players
and
consistent
all
out
effort
of a
never-quit
supporting
class
has
allowed
them
to
remain
in
the
conscious
thought
of
quite
a
number
of
MSU
faithful.
Coach
Paul
Davis
who
took
the
Bulldogs
to
their
first
bowl
game
in
twenty-two
years
in
the
1963
season,
was
a
candidate
for
a
number
of
coach
of
the
year
honors
and
agreed
with
fans’
expectations
that
the
’64
team
would
be
at
least
the
equal
of
his
Cinderella
squad.
With
many
starters
returning,
the
4-6
mark
of
’64
was
a
disappointment,
especially
with
excellent
play
from
running
backs
Hoyle
Granger
and
Marcus
Rhoden.
Granger,
who
later
made
his
mark
as a
power
runner
for
the
Houston
Oilers,
was
very
much
an
outside
threat
while
at
State.
He
had
led
his
Class
B
Oberlin
High
School
to
the
Louisiana
State
Championship
finals
three
consecutive
years
and
was
a
first
team
All
State
pick
as
both
a
junior
and
senior.
His
12.5
yards
per
carry
average
in
his
final
high
school
season
made
him
highly
recruited
and
it
was
somewhat
of a
coup
that
the
Bulldogs
signed
him.
At
MSU,
he
was
team
rushing
leader
with
more
than
enough
speed
to
sweep
beyond
the
ends.
Rhoden,
a
flyer
out
of
Florida’s
Jacksonville
area
won
the
1965
SEC
60
yard
sprint
title
and
tallied
seven
TD’s
as a
soph
in
’64.
With
two-way
guard
Justin
Canale,
one
of
six
football
playing
brothers
supplying
perhaps
the
best
first-step-and-forearm-shiver
in
the
SEC
and
a
deadly
accurate
place
kicking
foot,
the
momentum
of
the
1963
season
did
have
everyone
expecting
more.
As
both
a
positive
and
negative,
the
season
finale
against
rival
Ole
Miss
served
as
another
supposed
momentum
builder
for
’65.
Fullback
Hoyle
Granger
scores
the
winning
TD
vs.
Ole
Miss
in
the
classic
1964
contest
In a
nationally
televised
contest,
the
Bulldogs,
after
eighteen
years
without
a
win
over
the
Rebels,
finally
defeated
a
Johnny
Vaught
coached
squad,
with
Granger
supplying
the
winning
one-yard
TD
dive
with
only
1:29
on
the
clock.
Canale’s
two
field
goals,
one
of
forty-eight
yards,
were
the
difference
makers
and
Rhoden
of
course,
scored
the
other
State
touchdown.
The
great
game
naturally
whetted
the
appetites
of
the
MSU
fans
who
saw
their
favorites
riding
high
into
1965
and
was
the
saving
grace
for
the
’64
season.
That
momentum
seemed
to
be
in
place
as
the
number
nine
ranked
Bulldogs
rolled
over
their
first
four
1965
foes.
Unfortunately,
even
with
Granger,
Rhoden,
a
solid
supporting
cast
and
the
great
start
to
the
season,
the
result
was
another
disappointing
4-6
mark
with
six
consecutive
losses.
Even
with
Granger
off
to a
pro
career,
the
Ole
Miss
game
of
1965
and
Dwight
Douglas
Lewis
at
linebacker
to
assist
Rhoden’s
offense
in
the
latter’s
final
season
gave
rise
to
very
high
expectations.
If
two
straight
4-6
seasons
were
a
disappointment,
the
2-8
finish
that
the
1966
team
posted
was
a
complete
disaster,
one
that
cost
both
Coach
Davis
and
Athletic
Director
Wade
Walker
their
jobs.
