Mississippi State opens up SEC action this weekend as the Bulldogs face the Bulldogs face the Auburn Tigers for the 83rd time in school history. And no other recent coach in MSU history has tasted more success than former head coach Jackie Sherrill.
During his 13-year tenure in Starkville, Sherrill led MSU to six victories, which included a four-year winning streak during the Bulldogs' glory days in the late 90's.
Of course, as a former Alabama player as well, the Auburn game has always been special to Sherill.
"Well, it goes all the way back to my playing days at Alabama," said Sherrill. "It was a big game for me many, many years ago. We always felt whenever we heard 'War Eagle' that we had a good chance of winning.
"There are a lot of ties with Auburn for myself. (Former Auburn head coach) Pat Dye was my (assistant) coach my senior year at Alabama, and then we competed against each other as coaches."
As noted above, MSU and Sherrill captured many memorable outings with the Tigers - some in Starkville and some on The Plains.
In his first two meetings with Auburn as MSU's football boss, Sherrill won both games - 24-17 at Auburn in 1991 and 14-7 in Starkville in 1992.
"Well, the first one was pretty special when Kenny Roberts made that long touchdown run near the end of the game," said Sherrill. "I'm not sure of the point spread but we certainly were not favored to win.
"Then, the next year when they came to Starkville, I believe both teams were down to their third quarterback. After the game was over, Pat Dye and myself talked at midfield and he said that was the two sorriest teams he's ever seen play. Of course, I was happy because we won the game. But then Pat called me back the next day and said something different. He said that was the most physical game he had ever coached in quite some time. We both beat each other up pretty good in that game."
After Auburn won the next four meetings with the Bulldogs, Sherrill and his program got back on track with a "statement game" in 1997. Not much was expected from the Bulldogs that day, said Sherrill, but MSU ended up with a 20-0 upset of the Tigers.
"That was a big statement game," said Sherrill. "Auburn was ranked pretty high and we went and shut them completely out. It was a drastic shock to the Auburn folks but it jumped us up in the eyes of the national people. It really helped to jumpstart that run we had over the next four or five years."
And MSU would go on to win the next three meetings against Auburn, and they all had their special moments from 1998-2000.
"We started one game kicking off from our own 15-yard line after a couple of penalties," said Sherrill. "Then we caused a fumble and scored on that kickoff. We went from kicking off from the 15 to scoring for the biggest opening kickoff and momentum switch you could ask for. After those penalties, our guys could have hung their heads but it didn't affect our team at all.
"Of course, one that always stands out was the one we rallied late behind Matt (Wyatt) in 1999 to stay undefeated. Our guys on that day never once said it was over and that was a testament to their team character."
And Sherrill's last win over Auburn (2000) was also one fans fondly recall, the game where the Bulldogs shut down former Auburn great Rudy Johnson. As Fred Smoot
said that day, the Bulldog defender gave Johnson "a lot of snot bubbles".
"That was also a big statement made by our defense," said Sherrill. "Nobody had slowed down Rudy Johnson and I don't believe he got over 50 yards against us, and he had a lot of carries, too. I don't recall exactly but I believe he averaged close to two yards a carry."
While most of the MSU-Auburn games have featured exciting finishes, there has also been another constant with the SEC Western Division rivarly, said Sherrill.
"The Auburn and Alabama games were always physical," said Sherrill. "When Pat Dye was at Auburn, you knew they were going to run the ball a lot. When Terry Bowden coached at Auburn they went more to a finesse offense. But when Tommy (Tuberville) took over for Terry, they went back to running the ball and Tommy did that a lot with Rudy Johnson."
During those physical battles, Sherrill recalled that he always took precautions in practice thsoe weeks leading up to Saturday.
"There was one thing we did for the Auburn week," said Sherrill. "As I said, we knew it would be a physical game. So I always kidded my players that when you take the beef to market, you don't want to bruise up that meat before selling it. In other words, we didn't want to nick up the players during practice that week.
"So we cut down our practice time. We would take the pads off early on in the week to make sure we kept our guys as fresh as possible for that Auburn game. It was also the same way with the Alabama game."
And it's not just the game itself that first-year MSU head coach Dan Mullen will have to prepare for this Saturday. Just getting to Jordan-Hare Stadium can be an adventure, especially for a youth-filled roster of players.
"Going to Auburn is a difficult situation that a coach faces," said Sherrill. "You have to either bus in from Montgomery or Columbus, Ga., on game day. It is second only to getting to LSU's stadium in a matter of difficulties. It is not an easy trip into the stadium because their fans are gonna harrass you, now.
"So the trip to the game can be difficult, especially for the younger players. Those guys are going to be wide-eyed and taking everything in for the first time on the road."
SHERRILL'S THOUGHTS ON OPENER
Like some other 54,000-plus fans, Sherrill was in attendence last weekend when the Bulldogs opened the 2009 season and the Dan Mullen era.
"I enjoyed the trip and enjoyed seeing the Dawgs play," said Sherrill.
Sherrill also pointed out how much the 32-minute delay dampered MSU's spirits in the opening half of the 2009 campaign.
"The problem was they were so excited to come out and play and then we had the lightning delay," said Sherrill. "That will pop the balloon in a hurry. But it was good seeing how excited Dan (Mullen) was. He even ran out that faster than the players did."
And there were a few positive things that caught Sherrill's eye, many of which have been discussed this week on BulldawgJunction.com
"If you look at the team, they are good enough to have two defensive fronts that rotate," said Sherrill. "And they have a good kicking game. I know the kicker missed two field goals but the kicker and punter are going to be good.
"And they are good enough to be solid in the run game with the younger backs, especially with (Anthony) Dixon returning this week. I was also drastically impressed with (Chris) Relf at quarterback. From what I saw in their last scrimmage, he didn't even look like the same guy."
