Mississippi
Mississippi State football: Stock report after Week 5
Mississippi State hasn’t had the best start to SEC play after the 2023 season with two big non-conference wins. The Bulldogs were dominated by No. 14 LSU 41-14 in Week 3 and lost a tough one, 37-30, at South Carolina in Week 4. The Bulldogs had no time to panic as they had to host the No. 12 Alabama Crimson Tide.
While the Bulldogs’ defense had the talent to suppress the Tide’s offense, it was the turnovers that plagued Mississippi State. The Bulldogs gave the Crimson Tide a battle, but it was Alabama that came out on top with a 40-17 victory to make it 16 wins in a row over Mississippi State.
Player of the Week: Outside linebacker Jett Johnson
In order for Mississippi State to take down Alabama, the Bulldogs needed to be nearly perfect everywhere. While the offense struggled, the Bulldogs’ defense played up to the level of the Tide.
Leading the defense was graduate student weakside linebacker Jett Johnson. Johnson led the team in total tackles accounted for (14) as he also accounted for 1 sack and 1.5 tackles for loss. He was fast and reactive to the Tide’s short-passing plays and run plays.
His leadership and availability was a key reason why the Bulldogs stalled the Tide’s offense to field goals on 4 drives. The defense also played well despite the offense putting the defense in bad situations.
Freshman of the Week: Defensive end Donterry Russell
The Alabama game was a great opportunity for the Bulldogs’ pass rush to have its best impact this season. The offensive line of the Crimson Tide has struggled, which leaves opportunities for fast defensive ends like redshirt freshman Donterry Russell to create some pressure.
Russell was the leader of a tenacious defensive line for Mississippi State. Russell accounted for 5 total tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. The Bulldogs’ defense accumulated 7 tackles for loss and 4 sacks.
This was an emergence for Russell, who had his best game in his collegiate career. This game is going to be a big confidence booster for Russell.
Biggest Surprise: The Bulldogs’ defense playing well against the Tide’s offense
Mississippi State was taking on an Alabama offense that didn’t have the same explosiveness as in the past few seasons. The Tide, however, were still playing better than in the previous few weeks.
The Bulldogs’ defense was up to the challenge as they held the Tide to only 357 total yards on offense. The biggest reason for the Bulldogs playing on defense was their pass rush. Mississippi State accounted for 4 sacks and 7 tackles for loss. They took the Tide’s vulnerability, which was the offensive line and the lack of a deep passing game, and limited Alabama even more.
Biggest Concern: Will Rogers’ Continuous Poor Play Against Alabama
For the 4th consecutive year, Bulldogs quarterback Will Rogers played poorly against the Crimson Tide. Rogers finished the game completing 15-of-27 of his passes for 107 yards, 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions, with one of them returned for an Alabama touchdown.
In his 4 games against Alabama, Rogers completed 104-of-179 of his passes for 785 yards (an average of 196.3 yards per game), 1 touchdown and 8 interceptions. He has also rushed for -58 yards on 23 carries.
There have been quarterbacks that play better in big games. Rogers has shown that he is not among them against the Crimson Tide.
Developing Trend: Mississippi State falling towards the bottom of the SEC
The first year under new head coach Zach Arnett was not going to be an easy introduction for his head coaching season debut or for Mississippi State. The Bulldogs suffered 3rd third consecutive loss of the season, all of them in SEC play.
Mississippi State gets a break in Week 6 by hosting Western Michigan (2-3). Following the game after the Broncos, the Bulldogs have to prepare for a tough 4-game SEC slate with 3 of the games on the road. If the Bulldogs can’t find a balance between their offense and their defense, they could lose the remaining SEC games at Arkansas, at Auburn, home against Kentucky, at Texas A&M and at home against Ole Miss.
Key Stat: 3
Mississippi State had a decent game running the game by accounting for 154 yards and a touchdown on 35 carries. The Bulldogs needed quarterback Will Rogers to not make big mistakes and play the role as an efficient game-manager.
Rogers had some good throws at times, but he had terrible moments by throwing 3 interceptions. His first interception was picked off by Alabama outside linebacker Chris Braswell and returned for a 28-yard touchdown. His other 2 interceptions were just before halftime and in the middle of the 4th quarter.
First impression about Week 6
The Mississippi State Bulldogs (2-3) have suffered their 3rd consecutive loss with all of coming in SEC play. It isn’t surprising to see that the Bulldogs were unable to get wins over LSU, at South Carolina and Alabama, but there has been a lack of balance. When the offense plays well, the defense suffers inconsistent play.
Mississippi State will have a chance to regain some composure in Week 6 when it hosts the Western Michigan Broncos (2-3). Western Michigan is coming off a 42-24 home win over Ball State in Week 5. The Broncos’ defense accumulated 10 tackles for loss and 6 sacks against the offense of the Cardinals.
The Bulldogs will have to prepare for the Broncos’ offense that accumulated 461 yards of total offense, 328 of them coming from the passing game. Mississippi State has more talent throughout the field than Western Michigan.
This game is a great opportunity for Mississippi State to play consistently on both sides of the ball and fix its mistakes before going back to SEC play.
Mississippi
Arizona State RB Cam Skattebo ‘disrespected’ by Mississippi State football’s defensive game plan
Cam Skattebo slammed Mississippi State on the football field on Saturday night and also took another jab afterward in his postgame press conference.
The Arizona State running back, following a 30-23 Sun Devils win at Mountain America Stadium, took exception to MSU only utilizing three defenders on the line of scrimmage. The results were damning.
Arizona State (2-0) rushed for 346 yards. It was the most allowed by Mississippi State (1-1) in a game since Arkansas in 2016. Skattebo’s 262 rushing yards on 33 carries were the second-most in ASU history.
“They couldn’t stop us in that three-down front,” Skattebo said when asked what made ASU’s run game successful. “Honestly, we all felt disrespected with them in a three-down front. You can’t come in here and put five guys in the box and expect to stop six. I don’t know. We took that a little disrespectful, and we rushed for what over 300 yards? Something around there. It is what it is.”
Skattebo, a 5-foot-11, 215-pound junior, also led Arizona State with 35 receiving yards on three catches.
“I knew these dudes were big and heavy,” he said. “We knew going into the game they weren’t as physical as most other teams but they’re heavy. So when they hit you, it hurts, no matter how hard they’re coming — 300 pounds at 10 miles per hour or 16 miles per hour hurts the same. I just kept my feet moving.”
Mississippi State trailed 30-3 in the third quarter but scored 20 unanswered points to cut the score to 30-23 with 5:27 to play. The Bulldogs never touched the ball again, with the Sun Devils running out the clock on 12 plays.
Skattebo had a game-sealing 39-yard rush that allowed ASU to kneel down.
“Until the end, we had our ups and downs there, but that was fun,” he said. “You can ask these guys up front, bullying dudes, grown men that are 300 pounds, that’s fun to us. That’s fun to the front-five, the front-seven and the running back. The quarterback probably hates it. He probably likes watching, but he didn’t complain one time the whole game.”
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
Mississippi
Why Mississippi State football loss to Arizona State revealed a strong Jeff Lebby culture
It was 11:10 p.m. Saturday in Starkville when Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt barreled into the end zone for his second touchdown of the game.
At that point, it would’ve been fair for Mississippi State football fans to call it a night. The Bulldogs (1-1) trailed 27-3 at ASU in the final minute of the second quarter. They were dominated in just about every statistical category. New coach Jeff Lebby looked like he was headed toward his first loss, and an embarrassing one.
And even if you gave the second half a chance, eyes just a crack open, that wasn’t encouraging either. Arizona State (2-0) took the opening drive of the third quarter for a field goal while eating 8 minutes, 27 seconds of game time. That just about decided the game before Mississippi State touched the ball in the second half.
Wrong.
Instead, MSU scored touchdowns on three of its next four drives and cut the score to 30-23 with 5:27 to play. The defense, which was torched for 346 rushing yards, needed one more stop to let the offense try to tie it. It would’ve been the largest comeback in program history.
Mississippi State’s path to a bowl game seems murkier than it was a week ago. But in the long-term, there’s still encouragement after the 30-23 loss.
“Our guys battled in an incredible way in the second half, and we’re going to hold on to that,” Lebby said in his postgame radio interview. “We’re going to find ways to get back in the building, get back to work and be able to walk into Davis Wade (Stadium) with a ton of confidence and ready to go win a football game.”
The encouragement from Mississippi State’s comeback effort
Lebby said after beating Eastern Kentucky 56-7 in Week 1 that there is an abundance of teachable moments in wins, just like losses.
There is plenty to point to after losing to Arizona State.
Mississippi State came out incredibly flat. The Sun Devils scored on their first five possessions. The MSU offense had one field goal, two punts, a fumble returned for a touchdown and a turnover-on-downs in the first half. MSU had -13 rushing yards in the first half.
There were concerns entering the game about the travel distance, late kickoff and high temperature. But let’s be real, Mississippi State was playing so poorly at the start that it was hard to judge if those were factors.
“I got to do a better job getting these guys ready to go play out of the gate,” Lebby said. “I thought our energy, our effort and our emotion was really good, but then we did not play clean there in the first quarter, so that part was frustrating.”
The Bulldogs outscored the Sun Devils 20-0 in the final quarter and a half. It was a surprise. Arizona State was rolling. Mississippi State was not.
MORE: Introducing Sam Sklar, the Clarion Ledger’s new Mississippi State beat reporter
For Lebby, a first-time head coach at any level, let it be a learning moment for him. It was his first time getting pinned in a corner. The Bulldogs adjusted correctly in the second half like good coaches do.
The rushing offense and defense both need to improve. Badly. Quarterback Blake Shapen has been impressive in his first two Mississippi State games and the wide receiver room is deep and talented as ever, but they can’t be the only answer.
That’s just for this season.
Mississippi State has its first tally in the loss column. But it isn’t a strike against Lebby leading the future of the program.
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
Sam Leavitt leads ASU to convincing victory in 1st career start
Leavitt and the Sun Devils cruised past visiting Wyoming 48-7 on Saturday night at Mountain America Stadium.
The Arizona State football team elevated its play on the field in its 48-7 win over Wyoming in Week 1.
It is elevating its uniform game for Week 2 against Mississippi State.
ASU football is wearing a gold alternate jersey against the Bulldogs at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe on Saturday night.
The jersey includes maroon “Arizona State” lettering and maroon numbering, along with a noticeable Big 12 logo.
The Sun Devil football team unveiled the uniform last month, with Athletic Director Graham Rossini posting that “you’ll see this on the field early this season.”
On Thursday, ASU football announced that it would be wearing the uniform against Mississippi State with a video that said “Modern shine, with a classic design.”
On Friday, it posted another look at the uniform.
More: Arizona State vs Mississippi State live score updates, analysis for college football game
ASU vs Mississippi State schedule, TV: How to watch college football game
Promising look: Arizona State football’s 2024 win prediction doubles after Week 1 victory over Wyoming
Social media reacted favorably overall to ASU football’s uniform vs Mississippi State:
Do you like the look for ASU football?
ASU vs. Mississippi State picks: Who wins Week 2 college football game?
Looking promising: Arizona State football makes huge leap in college football ranking, Big 12 power rankings
Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.
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