Mississippi State’s perfect start has earned the Bulldogs a place in the AP Top 25, but the real test comes now.
No. 24 Mississippi State hosts No.
19 Missouri on Saturday night in Starkville, Miss., with the Tigers opening SEC play and the Bulldogs playing their first conference home game. It’s the next step in a season that has already included a 62-13 blowout of Louisiana-Monroe, a 25-point win at Minnesota and a comeback at South Carolina last week.
Jeff Lebby has liked the way his team has handled those first three games, but he is not interested in making the ranking the story.
"The ranking piece of it has absolutely zero bearing -- none at all," Lebby said. "We've got a huge road ahead. We've got an unbelievable test Saturday."
That caution comes from experience. Mississippi State opened 4-0 in nonconference play last season, then dropped its first four SEC games before finally breaking through with a 38-35 win at Arkansas.
The Bulldogs still finished by losing their last three conference games, and Lebby’s early SEC record at Mississippi State has been a grind. The Bulldogs went 1-15 in league play over his first two seasons, and Saturday’s win at South Carolina moved him to 10-18 overall and 2-15 in conference play at Mississippi State.
"We're not even close to being where we've got a chance to be," Lebby said.
Missouri arrives at 3-0 after handling Troy 27-17 at home last week. The Tigers also beat Kansas by 17 on the road and opened the season with a win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff. For all the attention around "The Border War" rivalry, this looks like Missouri’s toughest assignment so far.
Eliah Drinkwitz made it clear he sees a Mississippi State team that has taken shape under Lebby. He pointed to the Bulldogs’ offense, led by mobile quarterback Kamario Taylor, and to the defense’s physical edge under coordinator Zach Arnett.
"You can tell," Drinkwitz said of Lebby's impact. "The foundations of his culture, and the foundation of his schemes, are in place."
Mississippi State’s defense made plenty of noise against South Carolina, and Amaree Williams was recognized for it. The SEC named him Defensive Lineman of the Week after he piled up 10 tackles, including a sack. As a unit, the Bulldogs slammed the door in the second half, holding South Carolina to negative-15 yards on 10 plays over the first four drives after halftime.
Lebby said Taylor and the offense answered early trouble by hitting explosive plays, and that response mattered.
"That's where you see real growth," Lebby said.
Still, he knows that kind of rescue act can’t be the blueprint every week.
"The explosives got us out of a lot of really bad situations. You have to play cleaner," Lebby said.
Missouri’s offense has been efficient through three games, starting with quarterback Austin Simmons. He has completed 69.1% of his passes and thrown eight touchdowns without an interception. Against Troy, he went 10 of 19 for 91 yards after putting up 544 yards and seven touchdowns over the first two games.
The Tigers have also gotten steady production on the ground from Jamal Roberts, who has rushed for 300 yards and three touchdowns in three games.
Missouri left tackle Cayden Green expects the challenge to get tougher in a hurry.
"They're a lot bigger and a lot more physical than what we've dealt with the past couple weeks," Green said of MSU's defense. "So obviously, that's SEC play in a nutshell. The competition is just going to get ramped up this week."
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