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Mississippi State looked dominant … but still was overshadowed by rest of SEC West in Week 1
By Rick Stavig
Published:
The SEC West is once again the talk of the college football landscape after a huge opening weekend, a weekend that saw the division go a perfect, impressive 7-0.
While it’s become awfully trendy in recent years for the national media to heap praise on the Big Ten East (with a whopping 3 national titles the past 47-years), but they certainly failed to assert dominance in Week 1. Sure, Ohio State cruised past a brutal Oregon State squad, but Penn State should have lost at home to Appalachian State, Michigan State struggled at home to Utah State and Michigan was trounced by Notre Dame.
The SEC West, on the other hand, not only went 7-0, but it was 4-0 against Power 5 opponents and 2-0 against Top 10 teams. There were monstrous wins over No. 6 Washington, No. 8 Miami, Louisville (a fringe top-25 team entering the season) and what was once considered a solid Texas Tech squad.
Alabama, LSU, Auburn and Ole Miss are certainly getting their share of attention for their Week 1 performances, and rightfully so. Even Texas A&M – which trounced Northwestern State – and Arkansas – which blew out Eastern Illinois – seem to be getting their share of attention. It kind of feels like Mississippi State was unjustly overshadowed the first week of the season, and I’m not sure why.
I understand Alabama, LSU, Auburn and Ole Miss. Those were big neutral site, non-conference wins against Power 5 teams. Texas A&M has an enormous fan base and they played on Thursday night, so I understand how they got their share of love. Arkansas I’m a little more confused on, but I’m assuming their friendly kickoff time was a factor there.
State, though, seemed overshadowed.
Maybe it was because they were playing at the same time as Alabama and all eyes were there. Maybe it was because no one gave a hoot about a bad Stephen F. Austin team getting pummeled. Maybe it was because starting QB Nick Fitzgerald, a potential Heisman candidate, didn’t play due to suspension. Maybe it was because State always seems to get neglected by the national media.
I’m not exactly sure why, though I’m sure that’s flying under the radar is how new coach Joe Moorhead would prefer it.
For those who did pay attention to State this weekend, you saw the first glimpse of how insanely talented this team is. Yes, I know, it was against a hopelessly overmatched FCS opponent, but going into the game you wanted to see how well they would execute and whether they’d come out sleepy against a team they knew they would destroy. It would have been easy for them to come out a bit lazy and apathetic against such an inferior opponent, but they came out with all cylinders pumping.
More important, their execution was near flawless: 618 yards of offense, no turnovers, 53 percent conversion on 3rd downs, 11.7 yards per pass attempt, just under 6 yards per carry. Twelve players caught passes. The defense gave up fewer than 2 yards per carry and 4.8 per pass attempt. Putting up 63-points and allowing opponent just 2 field goals over 4 quarters. Not too shabby.
About the only negatives you could find, if you’re really trying to nitpick, were the penalties – 7 for 80 yards – and Keytaon Thompson’s completion percentage of 41 percent.
State shouldn’t have any problems being overshadowed in Week 2 as they face a far more talented opponent in Kansas State, on the road in Manhattan. The Wildcats struggled against a solid FCS team in South Dakota, but Kansas State under HC Bill Snyder is never a team to take lightly. While the Bulldogs will still be heavy favorites, the Wildcats will certainly be jacked up to take on a Top 20 team at home, and should provide a good test.
Plus, now we’ll finally get to see what Fitzgerald looks like in the new offense under Moorhead.
Even if State throttles its first 4 opponents and somehow remains overshadowed, you know they’ll have more than ample opportunities to get respect and attention once they hit the middle part of their schedule, which features a brutal stretch of games against Florida, Auburn, at LSU and Texas A&M.
State fans should be very excited about their team this fall. The Bulldogs entered the season with enormously high expectations and they certainly looked the part in their first game. Even if the rest of the division overshadowed the Bulldogs a bit in the first week, rest assured, it won’t always be like that.
Rick Stavig, who played at Ole Miss and Shippensburg University, is the owner of SE Scouting. A veteran scout, he specializes in the NFL Draft and recruiting coverage.
