The Case for Mississippi State 🐶
The Bulldogs had their best season since 2017 last year, going 9-4, winning the ReliaQuest Bowl over Illinois, and finishing 20th in the final AP poll.
With the tragic passing of Mike Leach, State will be coached by Zach Arnett who was their DC over the past 3 seasons. Arnett coached in the 19-10 bowl win over the Illini.
If you’re unfamiliar with Mississippi State’s roster for this season, allow me to introduce you to the classes/years of their projected starters:
QB: Senior
RB: Senior
WR: Senior
WR: Junior (Redshirt)
WR: Sophomore
TE: Senior (Graduate)
OL: Senior (Graduate)
OL: Senior (Redshirt)
OL: Senior (Graduate)
OL: Senior
OL: Senior
DL: Senior (Redshirt)
DL: Freshman (Redshirt)
DL: Senior (Graduate)
LB: Sophomore (Redshirt)
LB: Senior (Graduate)
LB: Senior (Graduate)
DB: Senior (Graduate)
DB: Senior
DB: Senior (Graduate)
DB: Junior (Redshirt)
DB: Senior
The experience in their starting 22 alone should be able to keep them competitive in most of their games.
They return criminally underrated star QB Will Rogers who is 1,159 of 1,639 passing (70.7% comp. pct.) for 10,689 yards and 82 touchdowns in his 3-year career with Miss State.
One question mark area is the WR room, as they had 3 of their top 4 pass catchers leave (RaRa Thomas, Caleb Ducking, Rufus Harvey).
To help fill those gaps and add depth, they received commitments from:
4🌟 recruit Creed Whittemore
4🌟 recruit Isaac Smith
4🌟 transfer Seydou Traore
• 50 rec, 655 yds, 13.1 YPC, 4 TDs for Arkansas State in 2022
Their non-conference schedule includes SE Louisiana, Arizona, Western Michigan, and Southern Miss.
Right now, their three highest ranked opponents are #4 Alabama, #5 LSU, and #22 Ole Miss. They get all three at home. 🔔
Miss State received just 4 votes in the preseason AP poll and is flying under most radars, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Bulldogs caused some chaos in the SEC West this fall.