Missouri football preseason preview: Is Mississippi State a threat to MU in late November?

Viva Starkvegas.

The Southeastern Conference calendar is underway, with SEC media days beginning Monday in Dallas. On Tuesday, Missouri football coach Eli Drinkwitz will be joined by wide receiver Luther Burden III, quarterback Brady Cook and defensive tackle Kristian Williams at the event.

Missouri begins its season Thursday, Aug. 29, against Murray State on Faurot Field — a date just 45 days away. 

The Tigers’ final road game of the 2024 season sends them to Starkville, Mississippi, for just the second time since joining the Southeastern Conference. By the time the Nov. 23 matchup comes around, Mizzou will have gone through the gauntlet that will likely decide whether or not it is still in consideration for the expanded, 12-team College Football Playoff.

That could make the trip to face MSU, which is coming off a 5-7 season and heading into the season with a new head coach, a nervy affair. The Bulldogs ought to look a lot different in 2024 but still have plenty of questions to answer.

Here’s what to know about Mississippi State’s offseason, including key additions, coaching changes and playmakers to watch in the Tigers’ penultimate game of the regular season:

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Who are the opposing names to know when Missouri football visits Mississippi State?

Quarterback: Blake Shapen transferred to Mississippi State after three seasons at Baylor, with two-and-some-change years as the starter. He has registered more than 5,500 passing yards with 36 touchdowns to 13 interceptions over his career.

Offensive playmakers: St. Louis native Kevin Coleman was a solid addition to the Bulldogs’ wide receiver room after a 362-yard, two-touchdown campaign for ACC runner-up Louisville last season. Kelly Akharaiyi was a 1,000-yard pass-catcher for UTEP last year and now makes the jump from Conference-USA to the SEC.

Defensive playmakers: Corey Ellington is an important returning piece for MSU in a secondary that lacks a lot of reps, with three seasons and 31 appearances logged. Mississippi State has turned to South Carolina transfer Stone Blanton to replace a gargantuan amount of lost reps at linebacker.

All told, however, this is a MSU defense that lacks an obvious, standout difference-maker. After losing a lot of key pieces to the league in the offense, the Bulldogs have signed just one top-500 player on defense — Blanton — out of those available in the transfer portal, per On3’s rankings. For reference, Missouri landed eight.

What did the offseason look like for Bulldogs?

Key additions: Shapen (QB); Makylan Pounders (OT); Kevin Coleman (WR); Kelly Akharaiyi (WR)

Key losses: Will Rogers (QB); Zavion Thomas (WR); Woody Marks (RB); Percy Lewis (OT); Nathaniel Watson (LB); Decamerion Richardson (CB); Jett Johnson (LB)

Key coaching changes: Jeff Lebby (HC, Oklahoma); Coleman Hutzler (DC, Alabama)

New MSU head coach Jeff Lebby, who replaced Zach Arnett in the offseason, ran a pretty versatile offense while he was the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma, and there’s no reason to suggest he’ll stray too far from that in Starkville. Mississippi State’s offense was poor in 2023, ranking 12th in yards per game (328.6) and last in passing yards per game (181.8) in the SEC. That should see an uptick under the new coach.

After spring camp, Lebby told local media that he was still targeting a running back in the portal, to replace lost reps. MSU landed on Utah State transfer Davon Booth, who rushed for 805 yards and six touchdowns last season.

While they have pieces to cobble together on offense, the Bulldogs’ biggest problem might be on defense, where it lost 346 combined single-season tackles, 17 sacks, four interceptions and four forced fumbles of production to the NFL between Decamerion Richardson, a cornerback, and Nathaniel Watson and Jett Johnson, both linebackers.

The Bulldogs lured a pair of transfer corners from Memphis and one from West Virginia in the spring, but those additions don’t shape up to alter the identity of the secondary. The Bulldogs are severely lacking experience and depth at corner, which is not the best recipe for facing a Missouri roster loaded at wide receiver. MSU likely will have to turn to some in-house options at linebacker.

Coleman Hutzler, formerly Alabama’s special teams and outside linebackers coach, was tabbed as the Bulldogs’ new defensive play caller in the offseason. He has some tough work ahead.

Early forecast for Mizzou at Mississippi State

Mississippi State, after a one-win SEC campaign in 2023, has the tools on site to hurt someone this season in any one-off encounter. Whether or not the Bulldogs can do that to Mizzou is a different question.

The Bulldogs look like they’ll be lacking in quality depth this year, which is a problem for a late-November matchup. The season is more than likely to be the first building block of a rebuild rather than an instant turnaround after notching just one SEC win last year.

Lebby is an accomplished offensive coordinator, but he’ll have a tall task taking one of the SEC’s least explosive units into something to concern the conference’s top teams. On defense, the Bulldogs have more questions than answers.

The tone of Missouri’s season will be set by the time it heads to Starkville, where it is likely to be favored. If it has two losses or fewer, the Tigers are a playoff contender. If they have any more, that’s out the window.

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