{"id":67400,"date":"2024-11-01T18:00:18","date_gmt":"2024-11-01T22:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=67400"},"modified":"2024-11-01T19:52:03","modified_gmt":"2024-11-01T23:52:03","slug":"can-the-bulldogs-win-against-umass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2024\/11\/01\/can-the-bulldogs-win-against-umass\/","title":{"rendered":"Can the Bulldogs Win Against UMass?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWe\u2019ve been making progress. That\u2019s kind of the goal, but it\u2019s not. Progress with no wins is pointless.\u201d That was Mississippi State wide receiver Kevin Coleman Jr<\/a>., speaking at a press conference following practice Tuesday. \u00a0At least in the team\u2019s mind, it\u2019s not enough just to improve. \u201cI know everyone out there, when we had big games was like we played Georgia, we played the Texas teams close,\u201d Coleman said. \u201cWe aren\u2019t trying to play them close. We are trying to win. Us just playing close is not good enough.\u201d Dawg fans would like to believe that, but are painfully aware of Toledo<\/a>, the underdog by 10.5 points, taking State down by 24 points. The Minutemen from Massachusetts come to Starkville on Saturday, and fans are wondering if the Bulldogs will win against UMass.<\/p>\n

After the embarrassment at the hands of Arkansas, 58-25 last week, fans may have lost their belief in the Dawgs<\/a>. They had a difficult schedule after the Florida loss, playing those Texas teams, and Georgia, all nationally ranked within the top 15. Although they lost those contests, the Bulldogs kept showing improvement with each game. The Hog loss seemed to be a step backward. There is hope that the UMass game will reinstate momentum, regardless of a losing season.<\/p>\n

Who Are the Minutemen?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Following such a devastating loss to the Razorbacks, playing UMass at this point in the schedule could be a boost for the Bulldogs. The Minutemen are 2-6 on their season, only winning against Eastern Connecticut State, a Division III school, and Wagner, a Division I FCS team. Since joining the FBS in 2011, Mass has yet to win more than four games in a season. \u00a0They could be considered as a similar opponent to Eastern Kentucky, with which State started their season. This was State’s only win 56-7.<\/p>\n

Head coach Jeff Lebby isn\u2019t taking them for granted. \u00a0\u201cThese guys have played in some close ball games,\u201d Lebby said in his Monday press conference. \u201cThey are a group, that when you look at them, when they\u2019ve played good opponents, they\u2019ve played better. They\u2019ve been a group that\u2019s getting coached by a guy who\u2019s had a ton of success as a coordinator, and a guy that\u2019s coached and seen a lot of football. I would expect them to be at their very best on Saturday as they come down here. We are going to need to be at ours.\u201d<\/p>\n

UMass-Strength, Bulldog-Deficiency<\/strong><\/h3>\n

If the Minutemen have a strength, it\u2019s in their quarterback, Taisun Phommachanh<\/a>. He has experience playing in larger programs like Clemson and Georgia Tech, and he is the team\u2019s second-leading rusher with 282 yards and three touchdowns. He can pass too, but only 57% of his passes attained 1,541 yards, eight touchdowns, and five interceptions.<\/p>\n

State learned first-hand what a mobile, running quarterback can do to a fragile defense like the Bulldogs\u2019. They made Arkansas\u2019 Taylen Green<\/a> look like a Heisman candidate last week. He ran eight times for 79 yards and a touchdown, while he engineered 673 total yards, 359 on the ground.<\/p>\n

,Lebby laid out a defensive game plan when it comes to Phommachanh. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to get this guy on the ground when we have opportunities,\u201d Lebby said. \u201cIt\u2019s about us making sure when we get ourself aligned, knowing who\u2019s got the QB, who\u2019s got the back, and all of the quarterback run game. From a scramble standpoint, if I am a contain rusher, keep contain. The ball cannot get outside.\u201d\u00a0 That was also the case against Toledo\u2019s Tucker Gleason<\/a>, however, he ran ten times for 40 yards, mostly on the outside when cornered. Perhaps the Dawgs learned that lesson?<\/p>\n

Bulldog Defensive Liability<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Mississippi State\u2019s defense has been questionable all season. They are last in every single statistic measurable in the SEC. This was never more evident than last week against Arkansas. The total number of yards given up has already been mentioned, so there\u2019s no reason to belabor that point Sure, there have been injuries in the defense, and many of the key players will likely be out this weekend. Notably, three regular starters were out against Arkansas including two tackles and a defensive end. That DE is the only veteran of a previously good defensive unit for the Bulldogs. De\u2019Monte Russell<\/a> went to the locker room during the Texas A&M game, but to this date, there is no status. Since this is a non-conference game, an Availability Report is not required. If the injuries are to blame, it only speaks to the lack of depth in those missing positions.<\/p>\n

Reportedly, the defense is getting a complete remodel as defensive coordinator Coleman Hutzler and his staff look at points of failure, and where to shore them up. Lebby believes it will be a top-down solution. “It all starts with us individually, starting with me and the ten guys that sit around that table,\u201d Lebby said. \u201cThen it bleeds down into the locker room.”<\/p>\n

Is It Enough?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

A win against UMass would certainly feel good for the Bulldog fans. It might help erase some of the sting associated with a 1-7 record, winning no games out of five in the SEC, or ranking 16th<\/sup> in the conference out of 16 teams.<\/p>\n

But, is it enough? There are many words to append to those three words with a win against the Minutemen. Is it enough to create momentum and make a difference for the remainder of the season, or to keep recruiting on track? Is it enough to restore the belief that the Lebby program is the one destined for better years and seasons to come? There are no affirmative or negative answers to those questions, but certainly fodder for debate.<\/p>\n

Following the UMass game, State is facing the specter of upcoming games. They will be, traveling to No. 7 Tennessee, Starkville for No. 25 Missouri, and then the coup de gras, Oxford for the Egg Bowl and No., 19 Ole Miss. Bulldog fans might consider UMass as an oasis before continuing into the desert for the remaining season.<\/p>\n

\"Can
Photo courtesy: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWe\u2019ve been making progress. That\u2019s kind of the goal, but it\u2019s not. Progress with no wins is pointless.\u201d That was Mississippi State wide receiver Kevin Coleman Jr., speaking at a press conference following practice Tuesday. \u00a0At least in the team\u2019s mind, it\u2019s not enough just to improve. \u201cI know everyone out there, when we had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4559,"featured_media":67478,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[33096,33097,33124,8272,561],"class_list":["post-67400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-sec","tag-2024-mississippi-state-football","tag-2024-sec-football","tag-coleman-hutzler","tag-jeff-lebby","tag-umass-minutemen"],"modified_by":"Tony Siracusa, CFB Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4559"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}