Mississippi
Mississippi State preparing for Kentucky’s must-win approach
![Mississippi State preparing for Kentucky’s must-win approach Mississippi State preparing for Kentucky’s must-win approach](https://on3static.com/uploads/dev/assets/cms/2023/01/28230507/KU-179147.jpg)
It’s not hyperbole to say this can be a must-win sport for Kentucky vs. Mississippi State down in Starkville. Struggling back-to-back losses vs. Arkansas and at Georgia, the Wildcats now sit at 16-9 on the yr and No. 46 total within the NET. With a resume that features only one Quad 1 victory (in eight makes an attempt) and a Quad 4 loss, UK is now firmly outdoors the NCAA Match subject amongst at-large groups.
However, 4 Quad 1 alternatives stay out of six whole video games. As inconceivable because it feels contemplating how the Wildcats carried out final week, it’s nonetheless doable to salvage the season and earn a bid. And it begins with a win towards the Bulldogs, a group who has received 5 straight, together with a highway victory at Arkansas.
“I feel that the elephant within the room is there,” Kentucky assistant coach Chin Coleman mentioned Tuesday. “We all know that this season is coming to an finish. We’ve received six video games left. … I feel our guys’ mindset is, they’ve a way of urgency. I feel they know that. We’ve received to get ourselves collectively once more, proper now.”
As issues stand at this time, Mississippi State (No. 40 within the NET) is projected to make the NCAA Match whereas Kentucky is just not. The Wildcats don’t have any alternative however to play with starvation, perhaps even a little bit of desperation. At minimal, they’ve received to deliver the battle, one thing they didn’t do towards the Razorbacks and Bulldogs final week.
And this totally different model of the Bulldogs understands that.
“I imply, it’s Kentucky. Actually everybody in faculty basketball is aware of what meaning when it comes to their program and their success,” Mississippi State head coach Chris Jans mentioned main as much as the matchup. “I do know they’ll be hungry. I do know they’ll are available in right here with the angle that it’s a must-win they usually received to have it. That shall be talked about a lot in our locker room.”
Kentucky shall be moving into one more hostile setting, one other Tremendous Bowl for the opposing crowd. Mississippi State has already introduced it is going to be a white-out inside Humphrey Coliseum, with the varsity rapidly approaching a sell-out. As rowdy as the gang is anticipated to be, Jans is aware of the Wildcats are ready for a troublesome setting.
“These video games, they’re so used to it and it brings out the perfect within the opposing crowds,” he mentioned. “They’re used to it, even the brand new gamers now that they’ve gone via the vast majority of the season. It received’t part them strolling right into a sold-out enviornment.”
Being prepared for that sort of setting isn’t simple for the house group, both. There’s a little bit of strain that comes with being the group on a five-game profitable streak making an attempt to carry off a gaggle determined for a victory.
The Bulldogs are getting ready for that second main as much as tip-off.
“I’m not nervous about that. These children have confirmed to me that they’re working, they get it,” Jans mentioned. “They perceive that’s going to be there Wednesday night time and we have to do what we have to do main as much as the sport to verify we’re mentally and bodily ready.
“I’ve had questions like that earlier within the season about totally different video games and I at all times felt like they had been business-like of their strategy, understanding the significance of the preparation and the movie and on the ground. That’s only a constructive, to know we’re going to have an electrical crowd and our children clearly know that. To me, it simply makes extra sense to lock in much more to verify we’re able to go.”
Mississippi State shall be locked in, that’s clear. What’s Kentucky anticipating from a personnel standpoint?
“I feel the place they’re distinctive is, they pressure loads of turnovers and rating off of turnovers at a excessive price,” Coleman mentioned. “They’re rebounding at a excessive price offensively. And utilizing their protection to trigger offense, they try this at a excessive price. Ball toughness, limiting our turnovers and profitable the struggle on the boards. That can pose some problem for us.”
The battle is about to happen in Starkville at 8:30 p.m. ET, dwell on SEC Community.
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Mississippi
Arizona State eyes first win against an SEC opponent vs. Mississippi State
Mississippi State at Arizona State, Saturday, 10:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)
BetMGM College Football Odds: Arizona State by 6 1/2.
Series record: First meeting.
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
Arizona State and Mississippi State both had dominant wins in the season-opening weekend and now have a tougher challenge when they face each other on Saturday night. The Sun Devils are trying to build off an impressive 48-7 win over Wyoming and prove they might be a factor in the Big 12 race. Arizona State has never beaten an SEC opponent. Mississippi State plays its second game under new coach Jeff Lebby. The Bulldogs beat Eastern Kentucky 56-7 in their season opener..
KEY MATCHUP
Mississippi State QB Blake Shapen vs. the Arizona State defense. The Sun Devils scored a touchdown on the second play of their opener when Zyrus Fiaseu picked off a pass and returned it to the end zone. It was one of two interceptions on the day for Arizona State. Shapen had a great debut against Eastern Kentucky but will face a much tougher defense on Saturday.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Mississippi State: Shapen had a terrific first game with the Bulldogs, throwing for 247 yards and three touchdowns while also running for 44 yards and a TD against Eastern Kentucky. The 6-foot-1 senior played the previous three college seasons at Baylor with mixed success. Shapen has thrown a TD pass in 12 consecutive games dating to this time at Baylor in 2022.
Arizona State: RB Cam Skattebo led a balanced rushing attack against Wyoming, gaining 49 yards and scoring a touchdown. Skattebo was a do-it-all player for Arizona State last year, spending time at quarterback, running back and receiver. The Sun Devils might not need him to be as versatile this season, but he’s still a threat from just about anywhere on the field.
FACTS & FIGURES
Mississippi State had six different players score touchdowns against Eastern Kentucky. … The Bulldogs’ 93.7 passing grade in the opener was the second-best mark in all of the FBS, trailing only Purdue, according to Pro Football Focus. … Mississippi State’s Kevin Coleman Jr. returned five punts for 117 yards last week. … Arizona State was credited with just two missed tackles on defense in the opener, tied for the third-lowest tally among FBS schools. … Skattebo is 270 rushing yards away from reaching 3,000 in his career. He is 342 all-purpose yards away from reaching 4,000 and 202 receiving yards away from reaching 1,000.
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Mississippi
How Mississippi State football is preparing for Arizona State weather, late kickoff
![How Mississippi State football is preparing for Arizona State weather, late kickoff How Mississippi State football is preparing for Arizona State weather, late kickoff](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/authoring-images/2024/09/03/PNAS/75060541007-usatsi-24129028.jpg?auto=webp&crop=5472,3078,x0,y0&format=pjpg&width=1200)
STARKVILLE — Mississippi State football is preparing to play a team that, at least through one game, looks vastly improved from last season.
Coach Jeff Lebby admitted on Monday, and Bulldog players have noticed it too after Arizona State (1-0) thumped Wyoming 48-7 in its opener.
MSU (1-0) must also factor in the late kickoff that is scheduled Saturday (9:30 p.m. CT, ESPN) at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Mississippi is hot, but so is Arizona — a different kind of hot, too.
Modifications and remedies are being made, such as the team leaving Starkville on Thursday instead of how it normally would on a Friday for a Saturday game.
“For our guys, just knowing exactly what we are getting into,” Lebby said. “We continue to talk about that through yesterday and this morning and (are) having those conversations to understand what it’s going to look like late in the week. We got to do a great job from a preparation standpoint of how we are hydrating, how we are eating and how we are resting to give us the ability to go on the road on this flight and be able to be at our best Saturday night.”
Just this week, Phoenix broke a record with its 100th straight day of 100-degree temperatures. According to AccuWeather, the high on Saturday in Tempe will be 107 degrees with a low of 86. The temperature should dip to around 91 near kickoff with a humidity of 24%.
“Coach Lebby has already been harping on that,” tight end Justin Ball said. “We’ve already been hydrating and making sure we are getting rest every single day. We leave on Thursday, so we already talked about the plan to make sure we are hydrating the entire plane ride there, making sure when we get there we get acclimated as quickly as you can and just staying together. Making sure we’re focused, make sure we keep the goal first and then execute the game plan.”
MORE: Jeff Lebby says Mississippi State football didn’t put on a good enough show. Here’s how he’s wrong
Mississippi State played well the last time it played in Arizona
The Bulldogs played Arizona in Tucson two seasons ago. They squandered a pedestrian Wildcats team 39-17. Kickoff for that game was at 8 p.m. PST though the temperature was 84 degrees at game time.
Not many players remain on Mississippi State’s roster from that 2022 season. But the ones who are, like linebacker Nic Mitchell, can benefit from the experience and also share it with teammates.
“We know it’s going to be a long flight, so we know we got to be hydrated,” Mitchell said. “It gives people experience that have done it before and they can tell the young guys how it’s going to be in the flight, how you got to hydrate and stuff like that.”
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
Playing for Mississippi State not an option for Arizona State back Kyson ‘Sipp’ Brown
Arizona State forces 3 turnovers in win over Wyoming to start 2024
All offseason, coach Kenny Dillingham preached getting turnovers. Forty seconds into the season’s first game, the defense produced its first one.
Sophomore running back Kyson Brown is one of the faster players on the Arizona State football team. But Brown seems to have a little more pep in his step this week. Why? Well, the Sun Devils (1-0) are set to take on Mississippi State (1-0) at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at Mountain America Stadium.
Sure an SEC opponent is enough to get any athlete fired up. But the 6-foot, 200-pounder hails from Tupelo, Mississippi, which is where he got his nickname, Sipp. Tupelo is 67 miles north of the Mississippi State campus in Starkville that Sipp has visited a handful of times.
“I have family, growing up they were all Mississipp State fans and some Ole Miss fans,” he said. “Some of my family are debating whether they want to cheer for me or not. It’s going to be good. A lot of hometown friends. Got a couple guys I went to high school with there. It’s going to be good seeing those guys and hopefully, we compete at a good level and get the W.”
Brown, a mechanical engineering major, is enrolled in ASU’s Barret honors program, He emerged as one of the team’s most improved players. He saw some time on special teams as a true freshman in 2023 and has set himself up for a bigger role, although the ASU backfield has a lot of depth.
In the last week’s 48-7 win over Wyoming, Brown pitched in with six rushing attempts for 25 yards and two receptions for 73 yards. His 68-yard touchdown reception was the longest play from scrimmage that ASU had on the night.
“It felt amazing just to get back in the end zone again,” Brown said. “You come out of high school, you know I’m used to being in the end zone every game, all the time. That play, I knew — once I made the first guy miss — I knew I wasn’t going to let anybody catch me.”
Brown lived in Mississippi until moving to Lancaster, Texas, outside of Dallas, after his sophomore year of high school. He sat out junior year after the transfer. As a senior he averaged 9.5 yards per carry, finishing with 707 yards and 11 touchdowns on 74 carries while adding 14 receptions for 168 yards and two touchdowns.
Sitting out his junior year hurt his recruiting, but he still had notable offers from Purdue, Missouri and Houston. The balance of his options were lower-profile schools. Mississippi State didn’t offer.
He is happy with the end result. A place on the ASU football roster. In the offseason, he worked on his agility, flexibility and catching the ball, which was evident in his recent scoring play.
“We all have the big-play potential,” he said of his fellow running backs. “I feel my role is to make plays, wherever they put me be able to perform.”
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