Robert Griffin III came away from Saturday’s action with one clear message: Mississippi State belongs in the rankings, and Kamario Taylor is forcing his way into the national conversation.
Griffin was on the call for the KU-Arizona State game in London, but he also caught the Bulldogs’ comeback against South Carolina. Mississippi State erased a 16-0 second-quarter deficit and pulled out the win behind Taylor, who threw four touchdown passes in the rally.
That performance was enough for Griffin to go public with his view that the Bulldogs deserve more than just a spot in the AP Poll.
“Mississippi State should be a top 15 team in the next AP Poll. Period.
End of story. Kamario Taylor is the REAL DEAL!
@HailStateFB”
Taylor’s season line only adds to the case. He has thrown for 853 yards, 11 touchdowns and just 1 interception, and Griffin pointed to the quarterback’s ability to make every throw a team could ask for. The former NFL quarterback also highlighted Taylor’s weekly production with another post that made his opinion even louder.
“If Kamario Taylor isn’t #1 on your Heisman list next week your list doesn’t count. pic.twitter.com/lrJrzhyAAj”
Mississippi State now turns to a home matchup with undefeated Missouri, which beat Troy on Saturday. That game opens a brutal stretch for the Bulldogs, who will face five straight teams ranked in the top 25.
Griffin thinks Mississippi State should already be in that group, and the next month will give Taylor and the Bulldogs a chance to back it up.
In Other News...
Missouri Escaped Troy With A Problem Tigers Fans Can't Ignore
Missouri got out of Troy with a win, but it did not look like the kind of afternoon that lets a team breathe easy. The Tigers leaned on a 27-17 result in a game full of mistakes and defensive breakdowns, while Eli Drinkwitz was left to acknowledge both the sloppy play on that side of the ball and the offenses own inefficiencies.
The good news is Missouri is still undefeated, and the schedule does not leave much time for self-scouting. SEC play is next, starting with Mississippi State, and the gap between surviving a game like this and being ready for what comes next is the part Tigers fans cannot ignore. [Read more 🡒]
Mizzou Finally Got The Response It Needed In One Troubling Win
Missouri spent the lead-up to Troy trying to clean up special teams after earlier problems with blocked field goals, and the emphasis showed up in a much more meaningful way on Saturday. Blake Craig handled the kicking duties cleanly, and DaMarion Fowlkes turned a punt return into a touchdown as the Tigers got 13 points from a unit that had been a concern coming in.
For Eli Drinkwitz, it was the kind of response that mattered even in a win that still left plenty to sort through. The special teams play looked sharper and more reliable, but the bigger message from the sideline was that Missouri still has to keep improving across the board if it wants better results ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Mizzou's Win Over Troy Made One Trust Issue Hard To Ignore
Missouris 27-17 win over Troy did what it needed to do, but it also offered a pretty clear snapshot of how Eli Drinkwitz is viewing this roster right now. The Tigers used a concise lineup of 42 players, leaned on a handful of sophomores who brought energy to the game, and got just enough from Connor Bazelak, who finished 10 of 19 for 91 yards and a touchdown. Elijah Dotson and Daeden Hopkins were among the younger players who helped make the rotation feel more productive than decorative.
What stood out, though, was the trust issue underneath the result. Drinkwitz said the rotation came down to confidence in the players who gave Missouri the best chance to win, which is fine in theory and revealing in practice. When a coach keeps narrowing the circle that way, it usually says as much about who he still believes in as it does about who is merely getting reps, and that remains one of the more interesting threads to watch as the Tigers move forward. [Read more 🡒]