The Mississippi State Bulldogs needed this sort of win. It’s hard to fully, really, thoroughly explain it in a way that will truly make complete and total sense to folks who haven’t paid attention to the MSU football team in recent years (or, well, at any point ever).

But Mississippi State really needed this sort of win.

One year after the Bulldogs went 2-10. Almost three years since Mike Leach tragically passed away. Nearly eight years since the Bulldogs beat then No. 12 LSU in Starkville by a grand total of 30 points (that 37-7 win back on September 16, 2017 was so much fun to watch). 

Mississippi State just beat Arizona State, the current No. 12 team in the country, thanks to a thrilling pass from Blake Shapen to Brenen Thompson (both of whom previously played for teams that either still are or were in the Big 12).

Jeff Lebby needed this sort of win.

With it, he was able to display proof of concept for just how good his offense can be and how quickly things can work out in the Bulldogs’ favor (shoutout to the first 20ish minutes of this game). But he didn’t have to settle for a moral victory.

And it’s worth remembering that Lebby wasn’t the only one who needed this one. The Bulldogs definitely needed this.

MSU got a much-needed win over No. 12 Arizona State on Saturday

We’re talking about a program that, historically, just doesn’t get these sorts of victories all that often. It just doesn’t happen much. But we don’t need to focus too heavily on that at this time. Right now, we can just talk about how things have gone since Mullen decided to leave Starkville. 

Let’s focus on that.

When Mullen left, it was just a couple days after the Bulldogs lost an Egg Bowl they probably should have been able to win, starting quarterback Nick Fitzgerald was hurt with a horrifying injury, and the Bulldogs had to turn to a freshman quarterback and a patchwork coaching staff to be able to beat Lamar Jackson and the Louisville Cardinals in the TaxSlayer Bowl.

After that, Joe Moorhead arrived. And he won 14 games over two seasons, which isn’t bad on the surface, but those teams were sloppy and underwhelming and underachieved and all eight of the wins from the 2018 season were ultimately vacated due to NCAA sanction problems. 

Two bowl losses. A bit of an NCAA problem. Underachieving with the best defense in the country in 2018. And then he was canned. 

Then, Mississippi State was able to land Mike Leach. And Leach was a bit of an interesting hire given that Mississippi State has, historically, not been able to pull talented and dynamic and successful head coaches away from many football programs all that often.

Leach hit a hard reset on the program. 

He also had to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic (and all the fun headaches that came with that) as well as the shifting landscape in college football with the transfer portal and NIL. And he was generally starting to get MSU back to where it was before Mullen left. He won 15 games in his final two years (and won a couple of bowl games across his three seasons in Starkville), but he died in an unexpected way.

And losing their head coach shook things up for the Bulldogs.

MSU, without an athletics director, decided to stick with Zach Arnett, then the defensive coordinator, to be the head coach of the Bulldogs. But underwhelming performances and losses and a bit of dysfunction and MSU moved on after just one season with the first time head coach.

If that feels like a lot, it is. MSU has had FOUR head coaches over the past SEVEN seasons. That’s not great! 

Enter Jeff Lebby.

And this is why the Bulldogs needed to hire someone like Jeff Lebby

This is exactly why Mississippi State hired a guy like Lebby. This game is exactly why this sort of hire happened. I didn’t love the hire when it was made, but this is the exact sort of hire that needed to be made and this game cemented that. 

I advocated pretty heavily for someone who could recruit well (especially through the transfer portal), had familiarity and recruiting ties to Texas and Florida, was familiar with this particular offensive system, and would innovate along the way. 

My choice would have been G.J. Kinne, the young and successful head coach of the Texas State Bobcats.

I thought the additional head coaching experience that he had at an underdog sort of program was beneficial (it was borderline impossible to win at Texas State prior to Kinne’s arrival) and that he’d had experience coaching at a number of different places.

State chose Lebby. 

And Lebby is proving that he’s capable of winning (and beating teams that Mississippi State probably otherwise wouldn’t have beaten, when looking at things historically).

As long as the Bulldogs can win, the offense is clicking, recruiting is going smoothly, and the program as a whole represents Mississippi State University in a positive manner, then things are going to be just fine. 

We’ll see if Lebby can keep that going. Year 1 was a pretty big question mark for a lot of people. But this win was such an important one for him, for the Mississippi State football program, and for Mississippi State fans.

MSU needed this one. Jeff Lebby needed this one. And they certainly got this one.