Four weeks into the season, Mississippi State has doubled its win total from a year ago.
The Bulldogs won just twice in their inaugural season under coach Jeff Lebby. They were competitive at times, but 10 losses for the first time in over 2 decades wasn’t what anyone wanted. Lebby rebuilt through the transfer portal and entered the 2025 campaign with optimism about improvement.
Four games, 4 wins. That’ll do, Lebby. That’ll do.
The Bulldogs rolled over Northern Illinois on Saturday, 38-10, behind a dominant rushing performance. With the victory, MSU officially secured its first 4-0 start since 2014.
Saturday’s effort wasn’t the cleanest. There are areas to clean up. MSU committed 11 penalties and lost 104 yards as a result. The Bulldogs went just 5-of-13 on third down and gave up 2 sacks. But dominated the second half to pull away from the Huskies.
It was a 14-10 game at the break. NIU outgained MSU 170-148 in the first half. Quarterback Blake Shapen gained just 35 yards through the air on 12 pass attempts. A balanced NIU offense averaged 5.9 yards per play to keep the Huskies in the fight.
In the second half, MSU walled up at the line of scrimmage, forced a turnover, and started to impose its will. The Bulldogs won the second half 24-0 while outgaining NIU 304-97. The Bulldogs ran for 179 yards at 6 a carry over the final 30 minutes. Shapen only threw 8 passes, but those 8 passes went for 124 yards on 6 completions. The Bulldogs averaged 8 yards a play as a result.
The last time MSU started 4-0, it hosted a ranked SEC squad in its fifth game and pulled off a massive victory. Just saying.
On Sept. 27, Mississippi State welcomes Tennessee (3-1, 0-1 SEC) to Starkville.
Mississippi State 38, Northern Illinois 10
Here’s the Mississippi State-Northern Illinois box score (use the dropdown menu to select team or player stats), followed by the complete play-by-play:
Fluff Bothwell vs. Chavon Wright
A statistical breakdown of how Mississippi State running back Fluff Bothwell performed compared to NIU’s Chavon Wright:
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
