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LSU and Mississippi State are both 7-2 headed into a pivotal SEC West showdown on Saturday, but you'd be forgiven to think the teams are in completely different places. After a 7-0 start that gave Bulldogs fans BCS hopes, two straight blowout losses have returned the team back to earth.
As the Associated Press writes, the Bulldogs aren't going to change course just because of two lopsided losses, but there are a lot of mistakes to clean up:
"If you're a student of the game and study the game it is simple - you see a minor breakdown here and a minor breakdown there," Mullen said. "When you make a mistake against quality teams it costs you."
LSU will be the third straight quality opponent for Mississippi State, which after beating winless SEC teams in Auburn, Kentucky and Auburn lost big to Alabama and Texas A&M. The Tigers have beaten the Bulldogs 12 straight times, and Mississippi State hasn't won in Baton Rouge, La., since 1991.
The Tigers are coming off their own loss to the Crimson Tide. LSU and Mississippi State meet Saturday at 6 p.m. CT.