ESPN analyst Trevor Matich: Mississippi State going to break hearts in the SEC West
ESPN released its annual preseason power rankings Wednesday, and the Mississippi State Bulldogs were ranked No. 17 in the country. That was the fourth highest ranked SEC team in the top 25.
And analyst Trevor Matich is certainly buying the hype. In fact, he says if there’s one team that should be ranked in the top 10 that’s not, it’s MSU. Why? Because they’re loaded.
“Mississippi State is going to break a lot of hearts in the SEC West, and it’s because they’re experienced and loaded with NFL talent,” Matich said on ESPN. “No SEC has ever returned from the previous season two first-team All-SEC defensive linemen, but in Montez Sweat and Jeffery Simmons, Mississippi State will be the first in history to do that. Sweat led the SEC in sacks last year; Mark McLaurin behind him led the SEC in interceptions.”
Matich thinks the Bulldogs are going to crush their record of six players drafted in a single year, too.
“This is a team that I think will obliterate their school record of most players drafted in a single year,” he continued. “That’s six back in 1995. This year, I think they will break that record, because they have so many talented juniors and seniors. They’ll win games, because they’re just better than you.”
The Bulldogs certainly are loaded, and Joe Moorhead takes over a very talented team with an experienced quarterback and disruptive defensive line. The biggest reason why MSU may not live up to the hype has more to do with its division than anything else.
Please stop the hype. Enough already. Let’s wait and see how a few games play out with our first year coach. Frankly, as an old realistic bell clanger, I’m worried about Kansas State on the road.
Rightfully so raff. The HC of k state is one of the best and will have his guys ready. I think you win that game going away in the second half but they may surprise you in the first half. You guys are loaded but is your QB’s ankle 100% and will that impact his play and if so to what extent. That was a gruesome injury and full mobility seems questionable. Good luck. I look forward to watching your team this year.
This is SDS. It’s their job to make mountains out of mole hills.
Then somebody reminded Trevor: of the Arkansas score, 21 points by LA Tech., the UMass score, the Mississippi loss, and Dan Mullen’s whereabouts. Good luck to MS State but 9 teams on this schedule will walk out on the field giving themselves AT LEAST 50/50 chances of winning. That’s not throwing shade over Starkvegas. Their just not the world-whoopers yet, that a few people are trying to promote
I’m unsure of your point. State beat Arkansas, LA Tech (by 36), and UMass. Also beat LSU, A&M, and Louisville (without the starting QB and with an interim coach). Nearly beat Bama and Fitz’s injury probably cost them the Ole Miss game. I don’t anyone is saying that State are “world-whoopers,” just that they have the talent on the roster to make some noise. Which isn’t unreasonable when you see what they are returning.
my point is a good old southern man’s attitude doesn’t include talking before walking, and it sure doesn’t include the possibility of over-talking. I hope Miss State runs the table till the SEC championship but I’m not going to say why that limited good luck to them. You’re unsure of my point because you’re expecting it to be more detracting in spirit and i clearly stated I’m not trying to run State down. I said there is a limit to what should be expected based on last year. Not that last years scores have a BIG percent of prediction power, because they don’t.
and are you arguing that 9 teams won’t show up for the MS State game with the attitude that they have a 50/50 shot at winning because if you are you have a tough position to defend.
Reeeeaaaallllllyyy? The LA Tech score? Seriously, that game was like 57 – 14 when LT score a TD with less than 20 seconds left against not second but third stringers. And we lost to our instate rival after Nick’s stomach turning injury and like 5 turnovers by 3, a better team would have beat the brakes off us after that first half. Dan Mullen’s departure will only be positive, it was time. Not throwing shade at Missouri, but you guys get a little too cute sometimes. Okay, so I am throwing shade.
just read the above again and good luck to Miss State
Matich is a meathead. He raises good points about the strengths of MSU, but completely glosses over the fact that there’s an entirely new coaching staff and the starting QB (who is more of a runner than thrower) is coming off of a gnarly injury.
Coaching staff is NOT entirely new, take another look, particularly on defense.
MSU very talented, but problems will mount if Fitz goes down. Fitz rushed 162 times last year; waaaaay too much — back-up Keytaon is true freshman. Gotta keep your starter healthy if Moorhead has any plans to compete for the West. Same can be said for Auburn (Stidham).
Keytaon Thompson is a sophomore. He came in as a true freshman last year when Fitz went down in the egg bowl. He also beat the brakes off of Lamar Jackson and Louisville in the bowl game. He’s got some experience under his belt for a backup.
Stand corrected on Keytaon. Wouldn’t characterize 31-27 as getting your brakes beat off – but he def played well (had to look up the TaxSlayer stats – must confess I didn’t watch).
So if K-Dawg is all that and a bag of chips, do we have a QB controversy brewing in Starkvegas?
Nah, but he’s a solid backup. I don’t think Moorhead would hesitate to put him in if Fitz struggles too.