Mississippi State opens the season Saturday night against Louisiana Monroe in Starkville, and Jeff Lebby is making one thing clear: the Bulldogs want to be ready to hit the ground running.
Camp has been rolling for more than a month, but Lebby said there’s no such thing as being fully prepared for a opener. For him, the edge comes from the work that’s already been done.
"I don't think of it in a way of being too prepared," Lebby told reporters. "Actually, the first thing we talked about (Monday) is confidence comes from preparation. Preparation is what creates a ton of confidence.
"Walking down that ramp Saturday night and being prepared is what it is all about. That has got to be advantage us."
Mississippi State is coming off a 5-8 season in which it managed only one SEC win, and the Bulldogs are looking for a cleaner start against a ULM team trying to bounce back from a 3-9 year. The Warhawks know the assignment won’t be soft: last season they faced Alabama and were beaten 73-0.
Bryant Vincent said he sees value in opening against an SEC opponent right away.
"If you play an SEC team, you understand the length, the size, the speed. This will be the most talented team we will see this year," Vincent said.
"I like being in the fire early and playing them Game 1. Our players welcome it.
It puts us on a big stage."
At quarterback, Mississippi State will go with Kamario Taylor, who appeared in 11 games as a true freshman in 2025 and is 0-2 as a starter. He’ll be looking to connect early with Anthony Evans III, who tied for third in the SEC with 67 catches and ranked 10th in the league with 831 receiving yards.
The Bulldogs also have a defensive anchor in safety Isaac Smith, who was fourth on the team with 64 tackles last season.
ULM brings back a more experienced quarterback in Aidan Armenta, who is entering his second season as the starter after throwing for 1,629 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2025. One of his top returning options is Nic Trujillo, who caught 23 passes for 368 yards and four touchdowns last season.
In Other News...
Louisville Fans Just Landed In A College Football Debate Nobody Saw Coming
A new study has given college football fans another thing to argue about, and Mississippi State supporters are right at the center of it. Covers analyzed thousands of Reddit posts to measure profanity and negative sentiment across fanbases, then turned the results into a Vulgarity Score that put Mississippi State at the top with a perfect 10.00, just ahead of Arkansas. Louisville and Wyoming also showed up near the top of the list, giving the report a little extra fuel for anyone who likes ranking fan behavior as much as ranking teams.
The bigger takeaway is less about one school than the tone of the whole sport online, where conference-level profanity averages were also part of the study. For Mississippi State, the result adds another odd distinction to a fan base already known for intensity, while Sacramento State was pegged as the least vulgar group in the sample. Whether anyone agrees with the methodology is almost beside the point, because the fun here is in the debate itself, and college football fans never need much encouragement for that. [Read more 🡒]
Mississippi State Has One Clear Standard To Meet In Opener
Mississippi State opens its 2026 season at home Sept. 5 against Louisiana-Monroe, a matchup that should give Jeff Lebby a clear first checkpoint in his third year on the sideline. The Bulldogs will also be introducing Kamario Taylor as the new starting quarterback, so the opener brings a little more than the usual early-season tune-up feel even with a Sun Belt opponent coming to Starkville.
Louisiana-Monroe comes in having struggled in recent years, finishing 3-9 last season and being picked to finish last in its division. For Mississippi State, the standard here is simple: look organized, look in control and handle business in a way that matches a program trying to build real momentum heading into the rest of the fall. [Read more 🡒]