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Mississippi State is coming off a 10-win season and an Orange Bowl appearance, and it returns an All-SEC first-teamer at quarterback.
So what’s the problem?
The Bulldogs are picked to finish last in the SEC West by the conference media — and plenty of others — and nobody seems to believe they can build on last year’s momentum.
A quick glance at the number of returning starters could explain some of that, but we’d like to give the prognosticators more credit. Though Mississippi State is way down the list when comes to aggregate number of returning starts, it should be well-known that heavy platooning on defense last year exposed reserves to ample playing time.
That’s not to suggest this year’s Bulldogs team is without weaknesses, but we do think you have to look a least slightly below the surface to find them. We’ll attempt to do that here with a look at Mississippi State’s three biggest areas of concern for the 2015 season.
Offensive line
The Bulldogs enjoyed fantastic balance on offense last year, ranking 23rd in the nation in both rushing and passing yards per game. Repeating that success, of course, starts up front.
Offensive line is perhaps the biggest question mark on this year’s team, as Mississippi State must replace three starters, and all three of its centers from last year’s depth chart. The good news is that the Bulldogs won’t have to resort to newcomers: all five of the tentative starters for 2015 are juniors and seniors.
That includes senior Justin Malone at left guard and junior Justin Senior at right tackle — the group’s only returning starters. Junior Devon Desper is penciled in to replace All-SEC guard Ben Beckwith, and senior Rufus Warren is slotted at left tackle.
Junior Jamaal Clayborn is taking over at center for four-year starter Dillon Day. Though he hasn’t played the position since he was 12 years old, the Bulldogs began preparing him for the role during last year’s bowl practices.
Running back
It only seems like Dak Prescott does it all. As experienced SEC defenders can attest, he had plenty of help last season from the bowling ball exploits of Josh Robinson, who’s now in the NFL.
There’s no obvious choice to replace Robinson’s 1,200-plus rushing yards, as no back on the roster ran for more than 300 yards last season. Ashton Shumpert and Brandon Holloway both performed serviceably when called upon last year, but it was redshirt freshmen Aeris Williams and Dontavian Lee who made the most noise in the spring.
Through the early stages of August, Shumpert looks like the favorite to assume the lead role, but a time share is a definite possibility.
Safety
The fact that Mississippi State was able to cover up its weaknesses in the secondary as much as it did last year is a minor marvel. Though the Bulldogs gave up 272.8 yards per game through the air (117th in the country), they managed to keep opponents out of the end zone reasonably well, yielding just 17 touchdowns while picking off 16 passes.
But though their pass defense efficiency was respectable, giving up big plays is tantamount to flirting with disaster, and last year Mississippi State gave up a league-worst nine pass plays that covered 50 yards or more.
The Bulldogs have talent at cornerback, where seniors Will Redmond and Taveze Calhoun return. The question marks come at safety.
Senior Kendrick Market looks like the leader on the back line, and has already returned to the field after tearing his Achilles tendon in the Egg Bowl last year. He could be joined by either Deontay Evans or Kivon Coman, both of whom gained ample experience last year.
Also keep an eye on a pair of newcomers. Jamal Peters is arguably the top recruit in the incoming class, and redshirt freshman Brandon Bryant has created noteworthy buzz after putting on 20-plus pounds and recording a team-best 4.25 40-yard dash during the offseason.
Brent Holloway is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers Georgia, LSU and Mississippi State.
