Mississippi St Bulldogs 2020 College Football Preview

College Football Predictions – Mississippi St Bulldogs 2020 College Football Preview

2019 Recap

Record – 6-7

ATS – 5-8

The Bulldogs suffered through a season of sketchy QB play and MEH defense and booked a record of 6-7. They managed to beat their hated rival in Oxford to end the regular season, but overall, it was a year without many highlights. The Bulldogs will turn the page and look to legendary HC Mike Leach in order to get this thing turned around. Yup, Leach in the SEC. Let’s go!

2020 MEGALOCKS Opening Power Rating

West Division – #5

SEC – TBD

Mississippi St Bulldogs 2020 Outlook

OFFENSE

The Bulldogs ran the ball well last year (221 YPG, #3 SEC) but had a tough time getting much going in the THROW GAME. The air attack sputtered and they averaged fewer than 200 passing yards per game for the third consecutive season. Enter PASSING GAME MASTERMIND Mike Leach and his AIR RAID OFFENSE. Nice. The good news? They have talent in the QB room including Stanford transfer KJ Costello. Bad news? They are very inexperienced at WR, return just a pair of starters on the OL, and will be playing a new system after getting no spring practices. RB Kylin Hill is a star (1,350 rushing yards LY) but it remains to be seen how much he will be used in the offense. Hill did bag 18 receptions LY (10.0) so we look for him to be a useful tool in the passing game.

They’ll be more potent this year but expect some growing pains.

DEFENSE

Mississippi St had one of the best defenses in college football in 2018, and in fact, they led the FBS in total defense allowing a mere 263 YPG. They lost a lot of talent last year and took a big step backwards allowing 399 YPG and 28.8 PPG. This year they return just five starters and have had their depth in the secondary hurt by players opting out of the season. They also move to a 3-3-5 alignment under new DC Zach Arnett (SD St) and that’s gonna take some getting used to. The DL looks pretty solid but the LB and DB groups look a bit sparse in terms of talent. The good news is the return of MLB and defensive leader E Thompson.

It looks like a long year ahead. They don’t appear to have the bodies to stack up with solid SEC offenses and note that they’ll likely have to spend a lot of time on the field.

SPECIAL TEAMS

They need to reload in the return game but they return punter Tucker Day who posted a fine 38 yard net in 2019, and they also got a good transfer at PK in former Arizona St Sun Devil Brandon Ruiz.

Schedule Analysis

Overall – They start with a nasty game (at LSU) but at least you won’t have a gazillion crazy fans to contend with. There’s a tough stretch after their off week where they face ROLL TIDE, Auburn, and Georgia in a four-week span.

Potential ATS Trouble Spot – at Ole Miss (November 28th)

REVENGE is a DISH BEST SERVED COLD. Leach vs Kiffin!

Season Win Total

Over 4 +160

Under 4 -200

MEGALOCKS says:

Price taken from BetOnline. We lean to the over. It’s hard to see this team going 3-7 as they draw Vanderbilt and Missouri from the SEC East and also get to play Arkansas. They should be good for an upset along the way.

MEGAmazing Tidbits

The Bulldogs have an all-time winning record vs three SEC teams. Texas A&M (7-6), Kentucky (24-23) and Vanderbilt (13-7-2).

MEGALOCKS Outlook:

How great is it to have Mike Leach and the LANE TRAIN in the SEC? Somehow, someway, the SEC just got more interesting. It’s hard to know what to expect this year but they’ll have enough firepower on offense to bag four or five wins. At least that’s our expectation.

#HailState !

Want more Mississippi St football ?

WEBSITE

https://hailstate.com/sports/football

FORUM

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http://mississippistate.247sports.com/Board/Mississippi-State-Bulldogs-Message-Board-Forum-59413

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NEWS