Mississippi State’s injury list has gotten long enough to change the shape of the season, and that’s where the freshmen come in.
With Auburn set to visit Davis Wade Stadium next Saturday, the Bulldogs may lean harder than expected on three first-year players who were once squarely on the Tigers’ recruiting board. Mississippi State is 4-4 heading into Saturday’s homecoming game against Vanderbilt, with Auburn, FCS Tennessee Tech and the Egg Bowl at Ole Miss still ahead. A bowl trip is still there to chase, but the roster is taking hits at a bad time.
Quarterback Kamario Taylor is out for the season after foot surgery, and Mississippi State ruled out safety Isaac Smith, linebackers Jalen Smith and Derion Gullette, and defensive linemen Diesel Moye and Trevion Williams for Vanderbilt. Jeff Lebby has spent the year patching gaps with transfers, but the next answers may come from freshmen who were in high school last winter.
One of them is Womack, the biggest recruiting win of Lebby’s tenure. The Hartfield Academy product was ranked by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 1 safety in the 2026 class, and ESPN had him at No. 39 overall, making him Mississippi State’s highest-rated signee in its ESPN recruiting era.
Auburn had him for most of last fall before he flipped to Mississippi State on Dec. 1, 2025, one day after the Tigers hired Alex Golesh. At his signing ceremony, Womack put the decision in plain terms. "I’m playing for my home state," Womack said.
Through eight games, he has 18 tackles and a pass breakup while backing up at strong safety. With Smith unavailable, Mississippi State needs someone to handle more snaps there, and Womack’s ball production in high school stands out. He intercepted eight passes as a junior and helped Hartfield win back-to-back Class 6A state titles.
Next week’s matchup with Auburn gives that assignment a little extra edge.
Morris is another freshman Auburn tried to land and couldn’t. The Semmes, Alabama, native committed to Mississippi State on May 31, 2025, stayed loyal even as Auburn kept pushing, and had an official visit lined up for the Tigers’ Kentucky game that November.
At the time, Morris explained his choice this way: "It felt like home," Morris said. "It was about the connection I had with the players, too. The coaches and players felt like family."
He came in listed at 250 pounds and now is 6-4 and 285, which says plenty about what the strength staff has done with him. Morris is third on the depth chart at nose tackle and has played in one game so far this season.
That matters because Moye and Williams have been out for the season since September, leaving Mississippi State short on bodies inside. With two regulars gone, a freshman built like Morris is the obvious next option.
Then there’s Capehart, who brings a different kind of problem for defenses. The 5-8, 180-pound receiver from Winnsboro, Texas, won three Class 3A state titles in the 100-meter dash and ran a 10.14 as a high school junior.
He also put up huge receiving numbers in high school, catching 129 passes for 3,237 yards and 55 touchdowns in three seasons as a starter. Florida State kept recruiting him even after he committed to Mississippi State.
Capehart’s first college touchdown came against Oklahoma on an 18-yard catch in the third quarter that got the Bulldogs on the board, and he added a 14-yard run in that game as well. Across his three college touches, he is averaging 12.7 yards.
Mississippi State scored only two offensive touchdowns in the two games before Vanderbilt, and Capehart was responsible for one of them. For an offense looking for explosive plays, he’s already shown he can provide them, and the final three games will reveal how much more he can do.
None of these freshmen were expected to be this important in November. Womack made it clear on signing day that he arrived expecting to matter.
"I want to leave a blueprint in this state," Womack said.
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