Mississippi State will still play in ReliaQuest Bowl in honor of Mike Leach

Nobody would blame the Mississippi State Bulldogs if they decided to sit out their bowl game matchup against Illinois. 

After all, the ReliaQuest Bowl, of all things, really seems trivial in the wake of the death of head coach Mike Leach, who died on Monday at 61 due to complications from a massive heart attack. 

Nobody would blame the Bulldogs if they decided to skip the bowl game altogether and instead focus on mourning Leach and remembering his legacy. 

It would seem, though, that any remembrance of Leach is best suited to happen on a football field, though, so Mississippi State has resolved to play in its bowl game in honor of the man they called head coach.

"The players are 100% behind playing this bowl game and doing what Coach Leach would expect them to do," athletic director Bracky Brett told ESPN. "We all know that's what Coach Leach would want, and it's what we should do."

Defensive coordinator Zach Arnett will take over for Leach as interim head coach for this contest. Per ESPN, Mississippi State players will return to campus this Thursday for weightlifting and will resume practicing for the bowl game on Friday.  

They're not going to miss a beat, which is what coach Leach would have wanted.

"Coach Arnett has made it clear that we're going to finish what we started and honor Coach Leach," Brett told ESPN.