Mississippi State Bulldogs can prove they’re for real in SEC opener at LSU

The Mississippi State Bulldogs have always struggled against their conference rivals in Louisiana. Two of the SEC’s inaugural members’ first matchup dates back to 1896 when the Tigers won 52-0. They have since played each other nearly every year since 1905.

LSU has largely dominated the series with a 75-36-1 record against the Bulldogs. While a large number of those victories came against State in the 20th Century when they were primarily a door mat, the Tigers have always seemed to have their number.

Even coach Dan Mullen, who led the Bulldogs to some of their greatest seasons in school history, was 2-8 against LSU. Coach Mike Leach’s squad has to travel to Tiger Stadium this weekend where the Mississippi State Bulldogs have only won twice since 1991. However, one of those wins came in Leach’s first game as the head man when the defending champs had no answer for The Pirate’s air raid offense.

By all accounts, the LSU program is down this year with its over/under win projection going into the season set at seven games, but as we all know, Tiger Stadium at night is still one of the toughest places to play in the country.

The Tiger faithful will have plenty of time to get “motivated” throughout the day to help the Bayou Bengals begin conference play with a win. Mississippi State has the tools to make some noise in the SEC with playmakers on both sides and one of the most experienced teams in the conference and it all starts under the lights at Tiger Stadium.

The Pirate’s squad has the chance to get the hype train rolling with a big win on Saturday, but the train could just as easily derail before it even gets going.

Keys to a Mississippi State Bulldogs Victory at LSU

1. Will Rogers and the Offense Play Mistake Free

Quarterback Will Rogers has largely been flawless so far this season for the Bulldogs. He proved last year that his partnership with Leach’s air raid offense was a perfect marriage, and you could make the case that he’s even better this year.

In just two games he’s thrown for an absurd 763 yards and nine touchdowns with an astonishing completion percentage of 78.6%. For context, he’s thrown 98 passes so far and completed 77 of them. You don’t see many quarterbacks with that level of accuracy.

He has thrown an interception in both games though (although the one last week wasn’t his fault) and if the Bulldogs hope to escape Tiger Stadium with a win, he can’t afford to be careless.

The LSU defense will be a much a larger challenge for Rogers than the previous two matchups against Memphis and Arizona where Mississippi State had far superior talent. The Tigers will have equal if not better talent at some positions and they will do everything they can to make Rogers uncomfortable and goad him into mistakes.

The Bulldogs have also had trouble with ball security this season as ball carriers have already coughed up the ball three times. LSU defenders are guaranteed to be punching for the ball like Mike Tyson, so State’s ball carriers better take care of the rock. LSU’s opportunistic defense will make them pay if they don’t.

2. Contain Jayden Daniels and Get Home on Defense

LSU’s first two games of the season have shown that Arizona State quarterback transfer Jayden Daniels loves to run the ball and scramble. This was most prevalent in LSU’s week one loss against Florida State where it seemed as if any time there was a lick of pressure, he would immediately tuck the ball and run without a second glance down the field.

Daniels only played about a half in the Tigers blowout win against Southern and looked much more composed and willing to stay in the pocket completing 10-of-11 passes for 137 yards and three touchdowns. He also delivered a rushing touchdown on what was his only big scramble of the game. It was a vast improvement from Daniels performance against Florida State and a lot of it came because Daniels actually had time to throw.

It’s no secret that LSU has offensive line issues. Holding up against Southern is a far cry from holding up against a Mississippi State team that returns all of its defensive line starters from last season.

The Bulldog pass rush did a phenomenal job last week sacking Arizona quarterback Jayden De Laura twice and forcing him into throwing three interceptions whilst running for his life. They also deflected nine of De Laura’s passes which led to one of his interceptions.

If Mississippi State’s defensive front can match its performance from last week, they have a legitimate chance of leaving Death Valley with a win.

3. Have a Balanced Offensive Attack

Mike Leach and the Mississippi State offense love to throw the ball. It’s been the calling card for Leach since he rose to prominence as the Kentucky offensive coordinator in the late 1990’s, and it’s the calling card he’ll hold until the day he sadly retires.

As mentioned earlier, the Bulldog offense has definitely lived up to its air raid tendencies with Rogers already throwing 98 passes so far this season. However, the rushing attack has been no slouch either. Leach’s squad must find consistency in the run game on Saturday night.

Running backs Dillon Johnson and Jo’quavious Marks have been a great one-two punch so far and have rushed for over 100 yards combined in the Bulldogs previous two games. They will need to provide similar production this weekend.

The LSU pass rush has contained the run fairly well in 2022 but this will definitely be the most dangerous passing attack they have faced this season. If they sell out and commit everything to stop the pass, Johnson and Marks could have some nice holes to run through, not to mention Rogers underrated scrambling ability.

4. Handle the Crowd Noise

This game is not Mississippi State’s first road test of the season. That came last week against Arizona. No disrespect to Arizona, but there’s a difference between playing a school on the road that hasn’t had a winning season since 2017 and traveling to Death Valley where scores of drunk cajuns will greet you with a symphony of hate and disdain.

The good thing for the Bulldogs is that they are highly experienced. Mississippi State returns 80% of their production from last season so they will be no stranger to hostile environments. But it’s still a night game in Death Valley, so the Bulldogs better buckle their chinstraps and be ready for a 40-minute heavyweight fight.

The crowd will more than likely affect the game by causing false start penalties or forcing Leach to call a timeout because of his team’s complete inability to communicate due to the cajun siren song. It’s how Mississippi State responds to that probable adversity that will decide this game.

Can the Bulldogs win back-to-back games in Death Valley for the first time since the 1980’s? We will just have to find out on Saturday.