Mississippi State is officially in the Zach Arnett era as he takes over for the legendary head coach Mike Leach. They are doing away with the air raid offense, as they bring in a new offensive coordinator in Kevin Barbay who was the OC at Appalachian State last year. Arnett has his hands full in trying to rebuild the program in the hardest conference in the country. He does have an experienced quarterback and some experience on defense that should help ease the stress of the new head coach. Here is the preview for the 2023 Mississippi State Bulldogs.
Offense
The Bulldogs have their all-time passing leader Will Rogers leading the charge on offense. He’s a super accurate quarterback and usually reliable in key moments. The running backs are going to be relied on a little more. The big name at the running back position is Jo’Quavious Marks. Marks had 582 rushing yards on 9 touchdowns last year. He is also a threat out of the backfield as well for the Bulldogs.
With him becoming a threat, it’ll open up the passing game that much more. Big name receivers Jaden Walley and Lideatrick Griffin are the big play offensive threats at wide receiver. At the tight end position they brought in Geor’Quarius Spivery from TCU and Ryland Goede from Georgia. These two will be targets for Rogers and this Bulldogs offense. Mississippi State has a very much experienced offensive line. However, the biggest question is if the offensive line can adapt to the balanced new style of offense. The offensive line has all the talent in the room, but if they don’t have a grasp on the new style it’ll be a long season.
Defense
The defense is the best thing about this Mississippi Bulldogs team in my opinion. They are a veteran heavy defense and with their old defensive coordinator moving to head coach and the promotion of linebacker coach Matt Brock to defensive coordinator, not a whole lot should be changing. The Bulldogs last season were top five in the SEC in total yards allowed per play, takeaways, run defense, yards allowed per rush, interceptions, and much more. Mississippi State is bringing back two of the best tacklers in the SEC last season at linebacker in Jett Johnson and Nathaniel Watson (228 combined tackles).
Those two are the leaders in the front six and will need to be big time again this season for Mississippi State. At defensive line, they are led by graduate defensive tackle Jaden Crumedy. Crumedy had five tackles for a loss last season, and will look to anchor the defensive line room. The secondary is the biggest question mark in my opinion. As they need to replace the FBS and SEC record holder in pick-6’s in Emmanuel Forbes Jr. He isn’t an easy guy to replace, but the Bulldogs need to do it. Players like Marcus Banks, Corey Ellington, and others in the secondary room are going to need to step up for the Bulldogs defense.
Win Total Bet
The win total bet is set at 6.5 on the FanDuel Sportsbook. The over is set at +100 odds and the under is set at -122. This Mississippi State team has the potential to go over their win total. However, with the changing of offensive style, I see a serious struggle coming once SEC play starts. They should win all non-conference games, but they have to play the likes of LSU, Alabama and Texas A&M in the same season. I will take the under 6.5 win total for the Bulldogs at -122 odds for 1 unit.
Schedule Predictions
Win vs Southern Eastern Louisiana (1-0)
Win vs Arizona (2-0)
Loss vs LSU (2-1)
Tough Loss at South Carolina (2-2)
Loss vs Alabama (2-3)
Win vs Western Michigan (3-3)
Win at Arkansas (4-3)
Close Loss at Auburn (4-4)
Loss vs Kentucky (4-5)
Loss at Texas A&M (4-6)
Win vs Southern Miss (5-6)
Win vs Ole Miss (6-6)