The much-anticipated beginning of Mississippi State’s 2024 football season is finally here. The Bulldogs’ opening day against Eastern Kentucky will mark many firsts in Starkville. Jeff Lebby gets his start as a head coach, with a brand-new offense and basically a new roster. He took advantage of the transfer portal, bringing in 19 players mostly to fill his high-powered veer-and-shoot offense.
His offenses at UCF, Ole Miss, and Oklahoma have measured in the top five, something the Dawgs haven’t achieved since Dan Mullen. In addition, except for two, the entire coaching staff is at State for the first time. This will be their first game week, with the team in a hotel, and the first gameday walkthrough. Their opponent is the first of four non-conference games, and fans expect a win. The way they do it will be under a microscope.
Eastern Kentucky – Expectations
The Colonels, an FCS team, are coming off a 5-6 season in 2023, not unlike the Bulldogs, who went 5-7. However, four of EKU’s losses were by three points. Eastern Kentucky gave Kentucky a run for the money in its one SEC game, on the road in Lexington. Eastern Kentucky actually led the Wildcats 10-7 in the third quarter and early in the fourth. Kentucky ended up winning the game 28-17, but not before the Colonels gave the Cats quite a scare. What it proved was that Eastern Kentucky is not afraid to go on the road against the SEC, as the Colonels will do Labor Day weekend in Starkville.
That being said, Bulldog fans can be heartened by the fact that EKU will not be the same team. It had to replace a productive quarterback, the best running back, the three top wide receivers, and the best linebacker.
What the Colonels do have going for them is experience on both sides of the line. Veteran offensive tackle Payton Collins leads that side of the ball with a solid run game featuring running back Joshua Carter. On defense, defensive linemen Ryan Jackson and Darrian Baker return. Filling the linebacker gap is Frank Lee, who led the team in sacks last year. Still, the Bulldogs are a 26.5-point favorite in the contest, a great way for Lebby to ease into the season
Not a Full Deck
In the Bulldogs’ Spring game, the offense put on quite a show with transfer receiver Kelly Akharaiyi providing some of the fireworks. However, due to injury he will not be playing Saturday, nor will safety Corey Ellington. They will be resting from injuries they sustained in Fall camp. To add more intrigue to the mix, Lebby announced, in a post-practice press conference, that running back Jeffery Pittman is no longer on the roster. “We’ll continue to look at their situation as we get into the season and hopefully get those guys back sooner rather than later,” Lebby said of the injuries. “Pitt is a guy who’s no longer with us this year so I won’t get into the details of that internal matter.”
Before transferring to State, Akharaiyi had 48 catches for 1,033 yards and seven touchdowns at UTEP last season. Ellington has 92 career tackles in 31 games for the Bulldogs in previous seasons. Both are hopeful to return in time to travel to Arizona State.
Pittman was poised to be the veteran Dawg to lead their running game, but that position has become rich in talent. Bulldog-veteran Keyvone Lee, Utah State transfer Davon Booth, and junior college transfer Johnnie Daniels have Lebby’s confidence. “I feel good about those three,” Lebby said during media availability. “I think we are much, much improved from the Spring to right now at that position, which I think is good.”
New Offense & No Penalties
The veer-and-shoot offense Lebby brings is a radical departure from offenses State has run in the past. However, one cannot question the success it has been at Lebby’s other ports of call.
Last season, Lebby’s Oklahoma offense was the nation’s third-best, averaging 507 yards per game, sixth in passing (325.8 yards), and fourth in scoring (417 points). However, that doesn’t mean a momentum-changer can’t derail the train. Fans can all relate to a senseless penalty causing frustration. After the first scrimmage in the Fall practice, Lebby voiced a major concern with those senseless penalties.
“I think it’s the non-playing penalty part of it, just being able to play clean before the snap, being able to play clean from a substitution standpoint, getting guys on and off the field as game-like as possible,” Lebby said in a post-scrimmage press conference. “So again, we’ve got to continue to trend that way.”
It’s All About Communication
Another first will be the communication, using headsets in the quarterback and defensive leader’s helmets. For the Bulldogs, quarterback Blake Shapen and South Carolina transfer linebacker Stone Blanton will wear the newly allowed in-helmet communication devices. Lebby let fans know in media availability what to expect this Fall.
“It’s been great being able to use it all Spring and have it all Fall camp so that we get used to it and Blake understands the expectation between plays and understands the communication piece, along with Stone and Coleman (Hutzler) on defense,” Lebby said. “I love having the ability to communicate with the guys.”
A Good First Impression
Going into the 2024 season against Eastern Kentucky will be a good way for the Bulldogs to establish some confidence in all things Lebby. It won’t be long before they hit the SEC gauntlet in the fourth game with Florida coming to Starkville. Then the Dawgs travel to Austin to meet Texas. After that they travel to Athens to meet the other Bulldogs, then A&M in Starkville, and after that Arkansas at Scott Field. That is the run to tell the tale of the Dawgs’ season. But as any coach will tell you, it’s one game at a time, and for State, it starts with Eastern Kentucky.
Saturday will be a good chance for them to establish an offensive identity, almost a running start with momentum to face the remainder of the season. Lebby is thinking about it in terms of the footprint left behind.
“We want to look up after the last week of the season and be ready to go to a bowl game, and we want to be trending up,” Lebby said leading up to the first match up. “It’s important that Mississippi State is trending the right way. I’m thinking about the players and coaches that have come before us. I am just a keeper of the room right now, knowing that at some time, hopefully, a long time, somebody else will lead this program. . .I want to leave it better than I found it.”
