Joe Moorhead Fired from Mississippi State

Last Friday, Joe Moorhead was fired as Mississippi State's head football coach.  Moorhead was the head football coach at Mississippi State for two seasons where the Bulldogs were 14-12 during that time period.  Here is a look at the Mississippi State Bulldogs football team since 2008; under three different head coaches - Croom (partial), Mullen and Moorhead.  As you will notice, Mississippi State had a great 2018 defense under Moorhead, but the teams productivity has fallen off this season.

Below is the Mississippi State Bulldogs production rank (total, offense, defense, and the average and worst teams) since 2008 using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com, as well as lines for head coaching firing.  More details about the program under Moorhead is provided below.

Joe Moorhead [2018-2019]

2018
At the end of Moorhead's first season at the helm of the Mississippi State football program, the Bulldogs finished the regular season at 8-4 and were bowl eligible, where they were defeated by #15 ranked Iowa by a score of (22-27) to finish 8-5 overall.  The Bulldogs played against a “tougher” strength of schedule (SOS), meaning that Mississippi State's SOS was between one and two standard deviations lower than the "league" average SOS.  Mississippi State's best regular season victory was against #29 ranked Auburn by a score of (23-9) and their worst loss was to #32 ranked Kentucky by a score of (7-28).  The Bulldogs finished the season as the #5 ranked team overall, with the #30 ranked offense and the #1 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.

2019
Mississippi State finished the regular season at 6-6, while playing against a “tougher” strength of schedule and were bowl eligible where they were defeated by #75 ranked Louisville in the Music City Bowl by a score of (28-38).  Mississippi State's best regular season victory was against #15 ranked Louisiana-LaFayette by a score of (38-28) and their worst loss was to #62 ranked Tennessee by a score of (10-20).  Mississippi State (at the time of Moorhead's firing) was the #65 ranked team overall, with the #51 ranked offense and the #87 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.