Tag: Mississippi State Football

Ranking Alabama football’s toughest road games in 2023

What is Alabama football’s most challenging road game in 2023?

After missing out on the College Football Playoff last season, [autotag]Nick Saban[/autotag] and the Alabama Crimson Tide look to work their way back into the four-team playoff.

Part of the reason the Tide did not make the final four was in large part due to the extremely difficult road schedule they had to face in 2022. The 2022 season saw road games at Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, LSU, and Ole Miss which is brutal for any team to try and navigate unscathed.

The road slate in 2023 doesn’t appear to be quite as challenging as it was last season. So, let’s do our best to rank the road schedule for the Crimson Tide from easiest to most challenging.

Ranking the five toughest defenses the Alabama offense will face in 2023

5 defenses that will challenge the Alabama offense most in 2023!

A new era of offense in Tuscaloosa will be on display this fall as Nick Saban welcomes new offensive coordinator Tommy Rees to the stage. Rees comes over from his alma mater Notre Dame and at age 31, will have the weight of the premiere college football program on his shoulders.

Not only is there a new coordinator on the offensive side, but the Crimson Tide will also be breaking in a new starting quarterback with the departure of the legendary Bryce Young. The quarterback competition has yet to be resolved and it has a lot of fans and analysts concerned that Alabama might take another step back in 2023, but whether it’s Jalen Milroe, Ty Simpson, Tyler Buchner, or even true freshman Dylan Lonergan, the Crimson Tide offense will look a lot different than the previous few seasons.

As we inch closer and closer to the kickoff of the 2023 season, it’s time to take a closer look at each opponent and how Alabama matches up with them. Today, we look at the five most formidable defenses the Alabama offense will face in 2023.

Predicting Alabama’s 8 SEC opponents for the 2024 season

Predicting Alabama football’s eight SEC opponents for the 2024 season!

Last week at the 2023 SEC spring meetings in Destin, Florida, Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey and the members of the conference decided to keep an eight-game conference schedule for the 2024 season even with Oklahoma and Texas joining the league.

Despite keeping an eight-game SEC schedule, one major change will take place in 2024. The conference will do away with divisions.

With that announcement, I thought it would be fun to put together a prediction of who [autotag]Nick Saban[/autotag] and the Alabama Crimson Tide could face in the 2024 season.

Let’s roll!

Game-by-game predictions for Alabama football’s 2023 season

Predicting how every game on Alabama football’s 2023 schedule will go!

Alabama football had a disappointing season by the Crimson Tide’s standards. With an 11-2 record and a win over a conference champion in the Sugar Bowl, the season wasn’t a success in the eyes of many because the team failed to reach the College Football Playoff.

Winning championships is expected at Alabama. Though the Tide didn’t get an opportunity to compete for one last season, 2023 is right around the corner.

The schedule may not be the easiest, but that might be to the benefit of Alabama. There’s a chance the Tide begin the 2023 season outside of the top-four teams in the country, which means Alabama must convincingly win games over quality opponents to move up in the rankings and earn a bid to the College Football Playoff.

In order to make it to the postseason, Alabama must first get through the regular season. Here are predictions for all 12 games the Crimson Tide will play in 2023.

Mississippi State gets first 2024 commitment in 4-star QB Josh Flowers

Flowers is the first commitment of the 2024 cycle for the Bulldogs.

The pieces are beginning to fall into place for the 2024 class of quarterbacks.

While we wait for a decision from the No. 1 overall ranked prospect Dylan Raiola, a couple of other blue-chip QB prospects have made their college commitments this week. 

Midland (Texas) four-star QB Marcos Davila picked Purdue over 23 other offers on Monday. Then on Wednesday, Baker (Ala.) four-star quarterback Josh Flowers announced his commitment to Mississippi State.

Flowers (6-foot-2, 205 pounds) is ranked No. 21 among quarterbacks in his class and No. 19 overall in Alabama. He’s coming off a strong Junior season highlighting his dual-threat ability, having posted 1,453 passing yards and 10 touchdown passes plus another 1,367 yards and 15 touchdowns as a rusher.

After the news broke, Flowers told Steve Wiltfong at 247Sports that he liked the way Mississippi State’s staff runs things:

“I liked the way they treated my family with open arms. They laid out the red carpet for me. I had a film session with the offensive coordinator Coach (Kevin) Barbay, and he had my plays and the plays he usually runs and showed me the comparisons… I like the way they run things down there. The way do everything.”

According to On3, Flowers also had offers on the table from 11 other schools, including Alabama, Florida, Arkansas, Texas A&M, Wake Forest, NC State, UAB, Tulane, Indiana, Florida State and LSU. He is the first commitment of the 2024 cycle for the Bulldogs.

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Former Georgia TE commits to Mississippi State

Ryland Goede to MSU…

Former Georgia tight end Ryland Goede has committed to play at Mississippi State as a graduate transfer.

Goede committed along side his fiancee, a former UGA volleyball player who is also transferring to the Bulldogs.

The Kennesaw, Ga., native spent four seasons in Athens as a reserve tight end.

Goede is one of three Georgia tight ends to hit the transfer portal. Junior Brett Seither transferred to Georgia Tech and redshirt sophomore Arik Gilbert transferred to Nebraska.

The Bulldogs have a loaded tight end group in their No. 2 ranked 2023 recruiting class. Four-star Pearce Spurlin, the No. 2 ranked tight end in the country, and four-star Lawson Lucky, the No. 8 ranked tight end have already enrolled at Georgia.

UGA is also trending for five-star Duce Robinson, the No. 1 tight end in the country.

Mississippi State 19, Illinois 10 ReliaQuest Bowl What Happened, What It All Means

Mississippi State 19, Illinois 10: ReliaQuest Bowl what happened, player of the game, and what it all means

Mississippi State beat Illinois to win the ReliaQuest Bowl. What happened, who was the player of the game, and what does it all mean?

Mississippi State 19, Illinois 10 ReliaQuest Bowl What Happened, Player of the Game, What It All Means

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ReliaQuest Bowl What Happened

– Massimo Biscardi hit a 27-yard field goal with four seconds to play to give Mississippi State the 13-10 lead, and Marcus Banks added on to the final score with a scoop and score for a 60-yard touchdown after a desperation final bunch of laterals by the Illini to close out a hard-fought, tough game.

– Illinois got up 10-7 at going into halftime helped by a two-yard Tommy DeVito touchdown run and a 52-yard bomb of a field goal from Caleb Griffin, but that was it for the scoring.

– Mississippi State got a – let’s just say, very, very questionable – touchdown from Justin Robinson on fourth and goal from the eight to help tie it up. His foot appeared to be out, but it was called a touchdown and wasn’t reversed. That started a fourth quarter run of 16 unanswered points.

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ReliaQuest Bowl Player of the Game

Jett Johnson, LB Mississippi State 
He made a game-high 12 tackles with a sack and 1.5 tackles for loss.

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ReliaQuest Bowl Fun Stats

– Illinois was without star RB Chase Brown. It ran 29 times for 35 yards and a score – the O line allowed seven sacks and ten tackles for loss.

– Will Rogers completed 29-of-44 passes for 261 yards and a score with two picks for Mississippi State. Illinois QB Tommy DeVito completed 23-of-34 passes for 253 yards and ran for a score.

– Mississippi State outgained Illinois 390 yards to 288

ReliaQuest Bowl What It All Means

This was the first game for Mississippi State since the death of head coach Mike Leach, and it won with defense and not a high-octane offense. The Illinois defense had a lot to do with that, but the running game cranked out over five yards per carry and QB Will Rogers came up with an okay game to go along with two picks.

This closes out the season with three straight wins – including a victory over Ole Miss – and was the first win for new head coach Zach Arnett. Under Leach and former head man Joe Moorhead, Mississippi State was 1-3 in its previous four bowls before this.

Illinois was missing a few key guys in the secondary along with RB Chase Brown, and it came within a bad call for a Bulldog touchdown from possibly pulling this off. However, this showed the need for more of a downfield passing game – WR Isaiah Williams did what he could with a slew of yards after the catch, finishing with 114 yards – but there wasn’t any running game and the O line couldn’t keep Tommy DeVito from getting hit.

Even with the loss, this was a terrific second season under head coach Bret Bielema, coming up with the program’s first winning season since 2011, establishing a tough defensive style and attitude going forward.

The Illini haven’t won a bowl game since 2011 going 0-3 since.

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– 2022-2023 Bowl Schedule, Predictions

Mississippi State miraculously covered the spread against Illinois on a Raiders-esque lateral return to end the game

On a day the Bulldogs paid tribute to Mike Leach, their bettors were gifted a backdoor cover.

On a day the Mississippi State Bulldogs paid tribute to their late head coach Mike Leach with a special pirate helmet logo and bowl-opening delay of game, their bettors got a bit of supernatural help to cover a 3.5-point spread.

The favored Bulldogs trailed Illinois for almost the entirety of the ReliaQuest Bowl on Monday, finally taking a lead on a go-ahead field goal with four seconds left to seemingly clinch a three-point victory.

However, while they were on track to win, the field meant a cover was done. And that was bad news for the 64% of bettors who picked Mississippi State, according to Action Network. All that was left was for Illinois was to receive a kickoff and let the time expire after one play, at most.

That one play turned into a miracle cover for the Bulldogs.

Remember the New England Patriots’ embarrassing lateral failure against the Las Vegas Raiders a few weeks ago? Yeah, Illinois did the same thing.

After a few backward throws, the Bulldogs’ Marcus Banks scooped up the loose ball and ran it back 60 yards for the touchdown and a nine-point win.

Check on your friends who bet Illinois.

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Mississippi State pays tribute to Mike Leach with a bowl-opening delay of game

A touching gesture for the late head coach.

The Mississippi State Bulldogs opened the ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa against Illinois with a penalty. For the first possession of the game, the MSU offense entered a typical Mike Leach air raid formation and waited as the play clock hit zero. Illinois declined the delay of game penalty as the familiar sound of Mississippi State cowbells clanged through the air.

It was a touching tribute to Leach, a college football giant and innovator. Leach’s passing stunned not only the Mississippi State community, but the entire world of college football. This was the first game the Bulldogs had played since their head coach passed suddenly on December 12 at the age of 61.

The delay of game penalty was just one of many tributes to the former head coach at the bowl game as MSU donned helmets emblazoned with pirate flags and the band played the theme from the Pirates of the Caribbean series. Leach was well-known to love pirate culture and stories.

A truly wonderful tribute to a fascinating and missed coach.

Feature image courtesy of ESPN. 

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Mississippi State honors Mike Leach with special pirate flag helmets for bowl game

A beautiful tribute to Mike Leach.

We’ve seen several teams around college football using their uniforms to pay tribute to the late Mike Leach this bowl season, from UCLA to Alabama. Everyone expected Mississippi State to honor their departed head coach, who passed away unexpectedly in December, during their appearance in the ReliaQuest Bowl and on the morning of the game, we finally got our first glimpse at what that will look like.

The Bulldogs will wear a special helmet design featuring a pirate flag bearing Leach’s initials, a tribute to Leach’s lifelong love for pirate culture. According to Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger, the helmets were kept secret from the team and not revealed until this morning as the players arrived at the stadium. The reaction to the helmets from fans and college football Twitter appears unanimously positive.

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