Friday wasn’t a banner day for Mississippi State football. Following the NCAA news where it ruled 10 Bulldogs football players participated and were charged with academic misconduct, newly named backup quarterback, Keytaon Thompson announced he was entering the transfer portal.

Mind you, the Bulldogs kick off the season next Saturday in New Orleans against Louisiana and the season looks incredibly different than it did a day ago. As it is, players like freshman quarterback Garrett Shrader and redshirt freshman quarterback Jalen Mayden will be asked to grow up quickly.

As for the NCAA ruling, 10 players reportedly will be suspended 8 games this season. The selection of the games and the players are not known, due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) prohibiting the naming of the players specifically. There were other punishments, too, but the Bulldogs avoided a bowl ban.

The university was quick to point out it worked in concert with the NCAA for the resolution.

I am as surprised as you are reading that. I can’t recall any infraction case going as smoothly as this. Shortly before lunch, MSU officials released the information that the university and the NCAA agreed on a punishment that stems from a tutor and players committing academic misconduct.

According to the university, the NCAA announced the situation has been concluded and the NCAA and MSU negotiated a resolution regarding academic violations committed during the fall semester of the 2018-19 academic year.

While the infractions involved just one tutor, the punishments were severe. The most egregious reportedly includes the suspension of 10 players for 8 games each. Depending on the player, this could be problematic on a number of levels. One note, it was passed along that a player couldn’t use this to his advantage and redshirt, while playing in 4 games.

Should the player be an upperclassman, this will completely reshape the course of the season, one I initially thought would be filled with quite a lot of promise.

I’m not sure that’s the case now.

Now the questions begin to include when will the players be announced? The school will have the chance to select the games to miss, according to Steve Robertson of 247 Sports, so there is a small silver lining to this.

Other issues the school must face is the loss of 2 scholarships over the next 2 calendar seasons. Secondly, there are a few minor penalties involving player visits during the recruiting period and some ethics classes to be attended.

At the end of the day, the 3-year probationary penalty will not include a postseason ban. The most important aspect I can see is the speed of the rendering. While we’ve seen some NCAA cases take in upwards of 7 years, one down the road in Oxford, this one seemed to take about 15 minutes.

What about Keytaon Thompson?

Keytaon Thompson wasted no time entering the NCAA transfer portal once Tommy Stevens was named the starting QB.

Following the NCAA news, it broke that Thompson has no interest in serving as Stevens’ backup quarterback. The university released that he had requested his transfer. There should be no surprise. Thompson is entering his 3rd season in the program and another season in a reserve role appeared to be looming.

Last season he played in 6 games, threw for 458 yards and tossed 6 touchdowns behind starter Nick Fitzgerald.

Regardless of the situation, Mississippi State sees itself in a dire situation under center. Now, Moorhead and Co. will be relying on the services of two freshmen: Schrader and Mayden, who is a redshirt freshman.

The good news? Schrader put up slot machine numbers at Charlotte Christian School in North Carolina, amassing 9,023 total yards and 107 touchdowns in his career. The 6-4 QB also ran for 2,205 yards and 32 TDs.

As for Mayden, the left-hander threw for 2,170 yards and 27 touchdowns his senior season at Sachse (Texas) Texas with only 2 interceptions. Last season at MSU, he redshirted while playing in 3 games and had limited action.

Both are talented but neither has any experience. It would have been perfect for Thompson to be in the advisory role this season and available should Stevens goes down. He’s gone and now the freshmen will have to grow up quickly.

Moorhead’s challenges start now

What a difference a day makes. One moment, you’re making game plans for Louisiana in less than a week, the next minute, you’re wondering who’s going to be available on the 2-deep depth chart. This was supposed to be a breakout season for Moorhead to quell any rumors of his instability from last fall. This season, Kylin Hill was supposed to break records running the ball. Erroll Thompson was supposed to be one of the leading tacklers in the SEC.

All of that could very well happen but all bets are off after the NCAA rendered its verdict.

Now, the MSU detractors will file another checkmark against Moorhead away, before the ball is even kicked off for the 2019 season.

Kickoff can’t come soon enough in Starkville.