Mississippi State’s quarterback situation is suddenly worth watching.
Kamario Taylor appeared set to return after missing the final 12 minutes against Alabama and then sitting out the LSU game with an injury. According to head coach Jeff Lebby, Taylor, the doctors and the staff all agreed he was ready for Saturday’s matchup with Oklahoma.
But the plan changed before kickoff.
Taylor went through a workout on the field and still wasn’t able to get through it the way he needed to. By the end of the day, Lebby said the sophomore quarterback was still “very, very limited throughout the week,” and that the team never really got him back to full strength.
Taylor wound up throwing all five of his passes against the Sooners, completing two for just one yard. He left for good with 14:58 remaining in the first quarter after aggravating the injury.
That turn pushed Mississippi State right back into uncertainty at the game’s most important position.
Billy Puckett took over from there and made two critical mistakes: one was a fumble at the 6-yard line when State had a chance to take the lead, and the other was an interception in the fourth quarter while the Bulldogs were trying to mount a one-possession drive. If Taylor misses time again, either Puckett or A.J. Swann will have to “make the layups” around the rest of the offense, in Lebby’s words.
“We’re going to have to have great balance in the run game to take some pressure off of him or A.J., whoever is the quarterback, if Zamario is not available,” Lebby said. “But those are things that he’s going to have to, making the layups inside this offense is something that we’ve got to do a great job of because that gives us a chance to move the ball and score points.”
Lebby also pointed to a broader challenge: State has to stay on schedule and avoid asking the quarterback to do too much if Taylor can’t go.
“We’ve got to get out of our own way. Billy and A.J., both of those guys will go compete if Zamario is not available,” Lebby said. “And whoever really, at the end of the day, I feel like puts us in the best position to win, take great care of the football, make the plays that we need to make offensively to win the game will be the guy that goes and starts.”
Taylor is a fifth-year senior who spent two years at Vanderbilt, one at State and last season at Appalachian State before arriving in 2025, when he has thrown for 1,644 yards, 13 touchdowns and 15 picks.
For Mississippi State, the concern is no longer just whether Taylor can play. It’s whether he can stay on the field long enough to settle things down.
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Mississippi State is suddenly dealing with two major health questions at once, and the timing could hardly be worse. Head coach Jeff Lebby confirmed that starting linebacker Jalen Smith will miss the rest of the season after a non-contact knee injury that required surgery, a blow that leaves the Bulldogs thinner on the defensive side as they move deeper into the year.
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The biggest variable is Mississippi State quarterback Kamario Taylor, whose status has been up in the air because of a right foot injury. Taylor has been working through that issue, and his availability could change how Texas prepares for the Bulldogs in a hurry. For Mississippi State, the stakes are straightforward enough, since the Bulldogs are still chasing their first win at Texas since 1992, and any hope of pulling that off starts with having their quarterback situation settled. [Read more 🡒]