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'A roller coaster': Why Mike Leach is already soul-searching at Mississippi State


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LEXINGTON, Ky. – The tunes of Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" bellowed through the fractionally full bleachers at Kroger Field on Saturday night. 

That's Mississippi State's song.

The one that blares through the speakers at Davis Wade Stadium before every fourth quarter. The one fans in the stands turn their cellphone flashlights on to and wave in the air to the beat of the music in anticipation of a Bulldogs victory. 

There was no such anticipation when Kentucky's disc jockey pushed play and let it go late in the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs were losing by 19 points to the Wildcats at the time and ultimately lost, 24-2

At that point, it was Kentucky's song. 

Wildcats fans turned their flashlights on and believed, if only for one night in a season that has started 1-2. MSU holds the same record, and it probably has fans already questioning whether new coach Mike Leach's Air Raid offense will succeed on a consistent basis.

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Even Leach said it's time for some soul-searching.

"I think we're going to have to check some of our group and figure out who really wants to play here," Leach said. "Any malcontents, we're going to have to purge a couple of those." 

It's only been three games, but two of them have gone as poorly as anyone could have predicted. The first disappointment was losing the week before to Arkansas, which hadn't beaten an SEC opponent in its last 20 tries.

The second was losing to Kentucky  after it only generated 157 total yards and averaged 3.0 yards a play. Mississippi State, as bad as it was offensively, still had more yards (295) and more yards a play (3.5 to 3.0) than Kentucky. 

Both games were there for the taking. Mississippi State simply didn't take them. 

"We have to instill the mentality that if you want to wage comebacks, and we certainly were in a position to do that because our defensive was playing well, we're on too much of a roller coaster and too quick to get discouraged," Leach said. "Some of these lessons have to come from experience, but we have to see if we can't make them happen a lot quicker than they are right now." 

Even the season-opening win over LSU looks less like a monumental triumph now. The defending national champions were upset by n upstart g Missouri  45-41 on Saturday and fell out of the Amway coaches poll. Missouri freshman quarterback Connor Bazelack threw for 406 yards and four touchdowns without any interceptions. 

Suddenly MSU senior QB K.J. Costello's 623 yards and five touchdowns against the Bayou Bengals has lost a bit of its charm. Much of that is Costello's own doing. The graduate transfer from Stanford has thrown nine interceptions – including three returned for touchdowns – through three games. He has only thrown one touchdown in the last two weeks. 

So, naturally a team turns to its backup, right? Well, Mississippi State did. Freshman Will Rogers threw two interceptions in the second half. The Bulldogs didn't have much going for them no matter who was catching snaps from center, but junior wide receiver Austin Williams said the team hasn't lost confidence in either quarterback. 

"We believe in both those guys," Williams said. "We love them both. They're both heck of players. They can do the job for sure, no doubt about it. There's no question within the team about that." 

There's no question that the Mississippi State defense has been a bright spot. Like it did against Arkansas, Mississippi State did more than enough defensively to win. But the simple fact that the Bulldogs didn't win is what will stick with everyone on that unit. 

"At the end of the day, it's still a team game," senior linebacker Erroll Thompson said. "I mean, highs and lows on defense or offense, it's still a team game. There are no moral victories for one side. Either we win the game or we don't." 

Williams said it'll be all about unity moving forward. Coming together and working toward a common goal. Leach already said he won't be afraid to kick anyone who isn't on board with that off the ship. 

"This is a deal that we have to swing and battle through, and internally we have to carefully look at the guys we're playing and what we're asking them to do," Leach said.