Dick's SEC Previews - Mississippi State
By: Richard Johnston
Mississippi State Bulldogs
State fans, welcome! This is your time to shine. I have good news but unfortunately I have bad news. So, Shanta, Benny, Carl, what would you like first? Good? Okay, I think Jeff Lebby is a really good hire and just the type of coach you need at State to stay competitive in the SEC. They are going back to an air raid style coach which will benefit them in the long run. State will never recruit at a top level within the conference so they will need to be the weird team that runs a weird scheme that others will struggle with. Bad news? There are a good bit of teams in the SEC that are running some variant of the air raid now. Other bad news, this season might hurt.
OFFENSE
I trust Lebby to scheme some things up but I also don’t trust Blake Shapen to be the guy to go win a ton of games. The Bulldogs rookie HC brings in a lot of transfers at almost all the positions including quarterback with former Baylor signal caller Blake Shapen. Shapen has all the physical tools to make the offense go but he was riddled with injuries while he was in Waco. If Shapen can stay upright and the offensive and gel together early enough in the season, we can see some fireworks…. To an extent . I’m looking forward to bet the over in State games again and maybe they’ll even surprise a team or two with a competent coach on the sideline. That’s something they missed since Arnett was just Will Muschamp reincarnated.
DEFENSE
The Bullies from StarkVegas weren’t the worst defense in the league last season but first year coordinator Coleman Hutzler has his hands full with some of the schools that are on the schedule. The defense will be returning 5 starters with some definite question marks at pass rusher and in the secondary. This is the first time Hutzler has called plays but if it helps State fans sleep at night, he’s spent the past two seasons at Alabama being the special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach.
Record Breakdown
OVER 4.5 (+152) UNDER 4.5 (-188)
FanDuel Sportsbook odds. Promo code “GetRonOutOfRetirement” for $0 of Freeplay.
Aug 31st vs Eastern Kentucky - WIN
Sept 7th @ Arizona State - WIN? (Fire the AD for keeping this on schedule)
Sept 14th vs Toledo - WIN
Sept 21st vs Florida - LOSS? (Need Harry on the case)
Sept 28th @ Texas - LOSS
Oct 12th @ Georgia - LOSS
Oct 19th vs Texas A&M - LOSS
Oct 26th vs Arkansas - WIN 🙂
Nov 2nd vs UMass - WIN
Nov 9th @ Tennessee - LOSS
Nov 23rd vs Missouri - LOSS
Nov 29th @ Ole Miss - LOSS
Record: 5-7 (o4.5 +152)
Oddsmakers must hate State more than I do because I have them at 5-7. I even think 6-6 is more likely than 4-8 if they can beat a burnerverse favorite Billy Napier and his Florida Gators. I’m very worried about the defense holding up but the juice might be worth the squeeze here.