Mississippi State fans are breathing a little easier following their first game of the 2024 season. Before the game, there was so much anticipation about how the Dawgs would perform with head coach Jeff Lebby at the helm, in his first-ever head coaching job. One can’t blame them after such a disappointing season in 2023. Add to it, the negative press predictions for Lebby’s first season. But the Bulldogs delivered the goods Saturday, taking down Eastern Kentucky 56-7.
This is the 125th season of football at State and the eighth consecutive season they’ve won their opener. But, this year there was a different feel about the game. It was probably because of how the Dawgs dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides from the beginning to the end and didn’t look back.
“Shapen” the Offense
Despite heavy rain, Baylor transfer Blake Shapen proved why he was Lebby’s hand-picked quarterback to run the offense. The former Ole Miss and Oklahoma offensive coordinator stated in his first press conference last November, “We want guys who can do both, keep people honest with their feet, and be able to throw it all over the yard,” Lebby said. Shapen did both quite effectively on Saturday. He completed 15 of his 20 pass attempts, for 247 yards, and three touchdowns. When his receivers were covered, he took off using his legs. He had 44 yards on the ground, with one touchdown.
The passing game saw a variety of targets for Shapen, from Kevin Coleman Jr., Jordan Mosley, and Mario Craver. Mosley broke the game open on just the third play of the game with a 65-yard pass for a touchdown. Coleman and Mosely both had touchdowns. Coleman is a double threat racking up 117 yards on six punt returns.
The running back position had been heavily contested during fall camp. Lebby’s well-balanced attack relies on that position. While it wasn’t efficient, the Dawgs did roll up 203 yards, with Creed Whittemore and Davon Booth each scoring on the ground.
Defense – No Longer a Question Mark
By the nature of Lebby’s pedigree, the offense has been getting the most press attention. Defensive coordinator Coleman Hutzler, had his work cut out for him after losing a significant number of good players from last season. But, his Power-Five experience at Texas and Alabama seems to have paid off.
EKU only crossed into State territory twice, one of them, being their lone score in the waning minutes of the first half. Perhaps the most noticeable aspect of the MSU defense was energy and physicality.
One of the pleasant surprises was the performance of the secondary. At the end of the Spring Game, one of Lebby’s concerns was sufficient talent in that area. Despite DeAgo Brumfield, Bulldog-veteran Corey Ellington, and Traveon Wright out due to injury, the secondary played especially well covering the pass. They also delivered some crushing hits to the Colonels run game. The cherry on top was freshman Elijah Cannon with a 50-yard pick-six with 4:07 left in the game.
The State defense finished with two sacks, five tackles for loss, four quarterback hurries, and four pass breakups. There was nothing spectacular. They did what they should do against an inferior offense.
Still, the Bulldogs gave up 295 yards. Against an FCS team that was one of the weaker ones last year, they can do better. But EKU’s lack of scoring made up for that.
Not Good Enough!
At SEC Media Days, Lebby coined the phrase “Showtime at State.” It’s a phrase that’s plastered all over campus, tee shirts, and the jumbotron. At the press conference following their opener, he was asked if they accomplished putting on a show. He seemed to bristle and answered, “Not good enough. At the end of the day, again, our guys did a bunch of good, I said that many times,” Lebby said. “We’ve got to play better, we’ve got to play cleaner. The expectation is to not kick field goals down there when we have to. We got to go bang them through.” He was referring to Kyle Ferrie’s blocked field goal in the second half.
Junior college transfer Johnnie Daniels fumbled twice in the first quarter, and one more by Keyvone Lee in the second half. Luckily the ball took a Bulldog-bounce, but against Georgia, Texas, or Tennessee, they might not be so lucky. “The ball was on the ground too many times,” Lebby said. “We have to understand there’s a very fine line of being on the right side and wrong side of these things.”
Every week that goes by, the competition gets tougher. Next week, the Dawgs fly out west to take on Arizona State. In week four, the SEC gauntlet starts for five weeks. Things will need to improve if State intends to prove the pundits wrong.
But the Mississippi State fans can relish the season-opening win for now. Shapen summed it up for him. “I feel like it was a great day for us,” Shapen said. “I feel like there’s obviously some things that we can clean up and get better at, but I feel like overall it was a good start to the season.”
