A visit from 2-6 UMass could not possibly come at a better time for Mississippi State.

The Bulldogs are physically and mentally spent, riding a seven-game losing streak that hit a new low with last week’s 58-25 loss to Arkansas.

So, hosting the Minutemen in Starkville presents all kinds of opportunities for Jeff Lebby & Co., such as getting reps for the young kids, opening up more of the playbook for QB Michael Van Buren … and, yes, experiencing winning for the first time since the opener.

Either Mississippi State or UMass is grabbing its first FBS win of 2024 this weekend. Here are 5 other storylines to watch in Week 10 of the SEC.

The Tigers are coming off their best game, beating Kentucky behind the running of Jarquez Hunter. Now, they host Vanderbilt which could be subdued after losing a close one to Texas. With Louisiana-Monroe in the on-deck circle, Auburn can claw back to .500 if it first handles business Saturday.

Arkansas’ young QB is coming his most prolific game of the year, accounting for six TDs last weekend. But that was Mississippi State and this is Ole Miss, which allows just 11 points per game and is getting outstanding play from DT Walter Nolen and LB Chris Paul Jr.

The 6-1 Vols are positioned for a playoff berth, despite averaging just 21 points in four SEC games. Tennessee is winning with defense and the running of Dylan Sampson. Coming out of a bye, has Josh Heupel figured out how to unlock Nico Iamaleava’s potential in time for this week’s Kentucky game?

Florida, and head coach Billy Napier more specifically, has a massive opportunity to use the annual game with Georgia as a turning point of the season. An upset is not as far-fetched as it seems. DJ Lagway and the Gators have won three of their last four, only losing by six at Tennessee, and the Dawgs have had uncharacteristic bouts of vulnerability this fall.

One week after rallying to beat LSU in a home thriller, Texas A&M travels to South Carolina for a night game. Gamecocks coach Shane Beamer is developing a reputation for delivering in these spots. Subplot: Does Mike Elko start Conner Weigman or last week’s hero, Marcel Reed, for this road test?

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STARKVILLE — The first five offensive and defensive drives from another loss have been a teaching point for Mississippi State football.

Defensively, Mississippi State, which allowed its most points of the season last week in a 58-25 home loss to Arkansas, conceded three touchdowns and a field goal on the first five possessions. 

On offense, MSU (1-7, 0-5 SEC) lost a fumble, scored a touchdown, missed a field goal and had two turnovers on downs to trail 24-7 early in the second quarter.

The numbers don’t hide how poorly the defense has played all season, but first-year coach Jeff Lebby has made it clear that the defense isn’t all to blame for a seven-game losing streak. His offense can do a better job, too, helping set up the defense for success with a nonconference game against UMass (2-6) at Davis Wade Stadium on Saturday (3:15 p.m., SEC Network).

“We weren’t able to create any momentum,” Lebby said. “It’s both sides of the ball not finding a way to get momentum, create it and then keep it. As a group and as a team, looking at those five drives and seeing how we can change the game at that point is something that we’ve done a ton of and we’ve got to learn from.”

Mississippi State hasn’t been capturing momentum

Mississippi State tight end Justin Ball and defensive lineman Sulaiman Kpaka said the Bulldogs can feel momentum when it swings during games. 

The problem is, momentum has been swinging away from the Bulldogs early and often. 

Mississippi State has only scored 14 points on opening drives this season. It has scored two touchdowns, punted without a first down four times, turned the ball over on downs once and lost the fumble against Arkansas. And in first quarters, MSU is averaging just 3.4 points in seven games against FBS opponents, tied for 102nd in the country and tied for second to last in the SEC.

Meanwhile, the defense has enabled five opening-drive touchdowns, and its 9.3 points allowed per first quarter against FBS teams is last in the SEC and tied for 124th nationally.

“Those first five drives we talked about when we go out and handle our business every one of those drives, it puts the defense in a much better position,” Ball said Tuesday. “It helps with momentum as well. It gets them a little more motivated to go out there and get some stops and get the ball back to us so we can keep doing our thing.”

It’s forced Mississippi State to play from behind virtually all season. In the seven games against FBS opponents, MSU has only led twice for a combined 11 minutes, 49 seconds. None of those leads have gone past the first quarter, and MSU has only been ahead for 2.8% of game time against the FBS. 

“I want us to be able to go create momentum early in the game and then keep momentum,” Lebby said. “We have to find ways to do that.”

MORE: What Jeff Lebby said of Coleman Hutzler, Mississippi State football’s struggling defense

Is the Mississippi State offense feeling more pressure to score?

While the Mississippi State offense hasn’t started games well, it’s still found ways to score plenty of points, even with freshman quarterback Michael Van Buren Jr. 

In SEC play, MSU is averaging 24.2 points per game, 4.2 more than it did against Arizona State and Toledo in September. Three of the five conference games have been against teams currently ranked inside the US LBM Coaches Poll top 11, and the 31 points at Georgia are the most the Bulldogs have scored at an AP top five team since 1936.

So, yes, MSU is scoring. It just isn’t soon enough. 

“I wouldn’t say it’s pressure, but at the same time I would say it’s pressure,” wide receiver Kevin Coleman Jr. said. “It is what it is. We got to do that. Our goal is to score a lot of points a game, and right now we haven’t been doing that. It’s pressure, but at the same time, it’s not pressure. We just got to go out there and do our job.”

Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.