This was a bizarre year for the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

It started last offseason when tragedy occurred and legendary coach Mike Leach passed away. Defensive coordinator Zach Arnett was elevated to the role of head coach to replace Leach. The team started hot, winning its first two games.

That included a win over Arizona at home, a game that kept looking better and better throughout the season as the Wildcats ended up playing some fantastic football to end the year.

Once SEC play began, though, the Bulldogs were able to win only one conference game, and that was a 7-3 win against Arkansas. Following a 51-10 loss to Texas A&M, Mississippi State dismissed Arnett. With the 17-7 loss to Ole Miss on Thanksgiving in the Egg Bowl, the Bulldogs finished 5-7 and ineligible for a bowl.

Here’s a stock report with the regular season in the books:

Most improved: LB Nathaniel Watson

Watson was already a very good player for the Bulldogs, but he capped off his career at Mississippi State with a special senior season. This season, he had 137 tackles and 10 sacks. He entered this season with 11 sacks in his career, but nearly had that amount this season.

Really, he ended his final two games with legendary performances against both Southern Miss and Ole Miss. He had 21 tackles each in both of those games.

He had one interception this year, and it happened in the biggest win of the season against Arizona.

Biggest surprise: Major offseason moves on the horizon

It wasn’t a good year for the Bulldogs, and because of that, there are some major changes coming. First, quarterback Will Rogers announced that he would be entering the transfer portal. Then on Sunday, the Bulldogs announced Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby as the program’s next head coach.

Lebby will be at the helm of a program for the first time in his career. He’ll next look to put together his first staff.

This will be the second straight year with a new coach, and MSU is going the opposite direction this time. Whereas Arnett was a defensive-minded coach, Lebby is well-regarded as an offensive mind. Could Lebby talk Rogers into potentially staying at Mississippi State? Perhaps. It should be a busy offseason for the Bulldogs.

Best win

It didn’t seem like that big of win at the time, but the win against Arizona was a great win looking back at it. Arizona is playing about as well as any team in college football at the moment. The Wildcats only lost 2 more games the rest of the season — a 7-point loss to Washington and a 43-41 double overtime loss to USC. The Wildcats closed the year with six consecutive wins.

The game in Starkville was an overtime thriller. The Bulldogs were able to get up 14-0 in the first quarter. A 29-yard pass from Rogers to Jeffrey Pittman won the game for Mississippi State.

The defense showed up big time in the game, as they intercepted Arizona 4 times and forced 5 total turnovers. There is a small asterisk about that, as Arizona hadn’t put star quarterback Noah Fifita into their lineup yet.

Jayden de Laura started the game for Arizona that night. He would be injured two weeks later, making way for Fifita, who went 6-2 as a starter with wins over four teams that were ranked at the time of the game.

Worst loss

Losing to Texas A&M isn’t the worst thing, as the Aggies are a solid team. However, losing to them 51-10 and never being in the game is much tougher to defend. Texas A&M was up 10 after the first quarter and the lead ballooned to 24 at the half.

The Aggies completely dominated the game. They ran the ball 45 times for 246 yards and 3 touchdowns. Mississippi State couldn’t get anything going with its pass game, as the Bulldogs quarterbacks finished 10-of-21 for 104 yards and 3 interceptions.

Play of the Year

Linebacker Jett Johnson was outstanding for the Bulldogs the entire year, and he was also involved in the play of the year for Mississippi State. In the win against Southern Mississippi on Nov. 18, Johnson was able to intercept the ball.

Realizing he wasn’t going to be able to score, he lateraled the ball to his teammate Marcus Banks, who took it the rest of the way for the touchdown.