There was upset potential in Starkville.

LSU was ripe for a letdown. It was the Tigers’ first true road game. It was just their third game in Matt Canada’s offense. Their defensive line was banged up.

We knew that Mississippi State was significantly better than LSU’s first two opponents, BYU and Chattanooga. We knew that Nick Fitzgerald was significantly better than when he struggled in his third career start at LSU in 2016. We knew that the Bulldog defense, albeit in a limited sample size, looked more promising.

For all of those reasons, some experts liked the Bulldogs to pull off the upset.

By night’s end, it didn’t feel like Mississippi State was “pulling off an upset.” That wouldn’t be fair to the job that the Bulldogs did.

No. Saturday night wasn’t the product of a home team playing with a little more juice at home and knocking off a better team, either. Mississippi State was significantly better than LSU. Plain and simple.

The Bulldogs did more than win their SEC opener. They showed exactly why they’re Alabama’s biggest threat in the SEC West.

Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports

Sorry, LSU. Sorry, Auburn. Sorry, rest of the SEC West.

A quarter of the season is in the books, and Mississippi State clearly looked like the most complete West team not named Alabama. Shoot, you could probably argue that the Bulldogs looked more complete than any SEC East team, too.

But for now, let’s stick with why Mississippi State is so dangerous in the West.

It’s hard to evaluate teams playing non-Power 5 teams when that’s the only sample size. Having said that, what MSU did at (that’s key) Louisiana Tech last week was impressive. Winning by 36 points in any true road game is hard to do.

Against the superior state of Louisiana team, MSU looked even better.

Nick Fitzgerald is the one who is going to earn the majority of the headlines, and fittingly so. After he racked up four touchdowns (two passing, two rushing) against Dave Aranda’s defense, it wouldn’t be surprising if Fitzgerald’s Heisman Trophy campaign gained some momentum.

He’s the real deal. Anybody that says otherwise is obviously ignoring the fact that since Oct. 29, 2016, nobody in FBS has more touchdowns than Fitzgerald.

But anybody who watched MSU since that LSU game last year should’ve known how good Fitzgerald was.

The difference with MSU in 2017 is the defense. Todd Grantham has that unit playing at warp speed. Between Jeffery Simmons and Leo Lewis, the Bulldogs have some special talents. It’s clear that Grantham was the perfect guy to maximize their potential.

Saturday night’s performance was no fluke. They dominated the battle up front and made life a disaster for Danny Etling.

Can you picture how the Bulldogs would line up with Auburn or Arkansas right now?

Forget about it. Those offensive lines wouldn’t stand a chance against MSU’s front seven.

Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports

It didn’t matter to Mississippi State that LSU had a Heisman candidate in its backfield. Derrius Guice was held to 76 rushing yards and no scores.

Did penalties stymie LSU’s offense at some inopportune times? Of course. Two LSU touchdowns were taken off the board.

But let’s not act like that was the difference in that game. Penalties don’t sway 30-point outcomes.

Mississippi State was clearly more disciplined and better coached. Dan Mullen’s offensive game plan ran laps around Canada’s. It helps when a guy like Fitzgerald is the one who’s executing that game plan. We’ve seen how dangerous Mullen can be with a quarterback.

Now, though, it’s clear that he has more than just a quarterback.

Yes, it was only one week. Sweeping declarations in SEC openers are a risky proposition. But take away the preseason rankings. Pretend that all we had to judge teams on was, you know, football games. Now, we have three of them.

Mississippi State outscored each team it faced by at least 30 points. Each week should’ve added more and more belief to this team. Already, they look like a team in midseason form. That’s more than any of their non-Alabama division foes can say.

Next week, the Bulldogs will have a chance to show that they’re the SEC’s second best team when they travel to take on East favorite Georgia. MSU’s daunting start to conference play (vs. LSU, at Georgia, at Auburn) suddenly doesn’t look quite as daunting.

What does seem awfully daunting is beating the team in maroon and white.