Winning the lottery is a fantasy for most people. For Mississippi State, Kamario Taylor is starting to look like the closest thing to the real thing.
The sophomore quarterback was the name that lit up Week 1 when he uncorked a 70-yard touchdown to Marquis Johnson against ULM. Taylor launched it from his own 26-yard line, and the ball dropped into Johnson’s hands at the 19-yard line of ULM. It was a 55-yard throw that somehow looked easy.
That kind of play is why Taylor has been tagged as a future star. At 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds, he has the kind of frame that jumps out immediately. He’s got real power from the pocket, and he can also run away from defenders once he gets space, piling up more than 2,000 rushing yards in high school.
Taylor arrived in the 2025 signing class as a four-star recruit and the No. 8 quarterback. The athletic traits were obvious, but the question was always whether all of it would come together at the college level. 247Sports Director of Scouting Andrew Ivins called him a “lottery ticket” at quarterback, a player with a low floor but extremely high ceiling.
Mississippi State looks awfully close to cashing that ticket.
Taylor’s first career start, in last year’s Egg Bowl against Ole Miss, showed both sides of the equation. He completed fewer than 50 percent of his passes for 178 yards and an interception in a 38-19 loss, but he also ripped through the Rebels on the ground for 173 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
That kind of dual-threat production doesn’t just show flashes. It changes games.
He was back under center for the Duke’s Mayo Bowl and looked more comfortable throwing the ball, even in a 43-29 loss. Taylor went 13 of 22 for 241 yards and a touchdown, and he added 63 rushing yards and a score.
Then came the season opener against ULM, and Taylor put together the kind of performance that gets people talking. He finished with 413 total yards, including 354 through the air, and accounted for five touchdowns. That was the kind of start that gets a program buzzing.
Now the test gets bigger.
Mississippi State heads to Minnesota this weekend, and Taylor will be dealing with a defense that brings a vicious pass rush. After that, the schedule turns brutal.
Five of the Bulldogs’ next six games come against teams currently in the AP top 25 poll. Following the open date on Oct.
10, Mississippi State goes into a stretch that includes a road game at LSU, a home game against Oklahoma and a road trip to Texas.
That’s a hard run for any quarterback, but Taylor’s upside changes the conversation.
247Sports’ Chris Hummer said on “The College Football Insiders” that he heard strong buzz about Taylor all offseason from inside the program.
“This summer, I saw someone from Mississippi State,” Hummer said on “The College Football Insiders.”“ I sauntered over and was like, 'I've been hearing good things about Kamario Taylor.'
He looks at me and whispers under his breath a little bit, 'He is unreal.' This is a guy that Mississippi State is in absolute love with.”
Hummer also pointed to the way Taylor’s talent jumps off the screen even in limited snaps.
“You would go turn on five or six plays, and you would be like, 'Holy crap. Look what Kamario Taylor does,'” Hummer added.
Taylor still has plenty to prove, and the road ahead will say a lot about him. But if the early returns are real, Mississippi State may have found the kind of quarterback who can tilt games - and maybe even erase a talent gap in the SEC.
“I would consider that lottery ticket cashed at this point,” Hummer said. “Kamario Taylor is a potential program-changer for Jeff Lebby and Mississippi State. He's someone who can erase a talent deficit in the SEC.”
In Other News...
Gophers Face An Early Test Their Identity Has To Pass
Minnesota and Mississippi State are set to meet for the first time, and the matchup comes with a little more weight than a typical nonconference date. For the Bulldogs, it is another chance to see what their early-season identity looks like against a Power Five opponent, while the broader Week 2 slate will feed the usual debate about how the Big Ten and SEC stack up when the games start to matter.
Mississippi State enters with momentum after a strong showing from quarterback Kamario Taylor in the opener, and that makes the Bulldogs a different kind of test for a Minnesota team that wants its rushing offense to set the tone. The Gophers ground game will be asked to prove itself against a defense built to make life hard, and the result should say plenty about where both programs stand before September turns into the part of the schedule where early impressions tend to stick. [Read more 🡒]
Mississippi State Finally Gets A Power Test Fans Will Want To See
Mississippi States nonconference schedule is getting a much-needed jolt with a home-and-home series against Minnesota beginning Sept. 12. The opener comes in Minneapolis, with the return trip to Starkville set for 2027, and the matchup checks a key SEC box by giving the Bulldogs a power conference opponent on the slate.
There is also a little added spotlight attached to the series, since the first meeting will air on CBS. For Mississippi State, that means a return to the network it last appeared on in 2020, and a chance for fans to follow a game that should carry a little more weight than the usual nonconference tune-up. [Read more 🡒]