Bulldogs’ toughest opponent on No. 1 hardest schedule might be themselves

Flags and a fierce SEC schedule top Mississippi State’s biggest challenges as the Bulldogs push for six wins and bowl eligibility.

Mississippi State Bulldogs running back Fluff Bothwell (24) runs with the ball against the Tennessee Volunteers during the first half at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. | Wesley Hale-Imagn Images

Mississippi State failed to impress enough voters in an overtime loss to move into the top 25 rankings.

But the Bulldogs are ranked highly in other categories…they’re just not ones their fans want to see.

The Bulldogs have the hardest remaining schedule of the 134 FBS teams, which will makes their path to six wins (and bowl eligibility) a little more daunting.

Three of Mississippi State’s final seven opponents are ranked in the top 10, including No. 4 Ole Miss who jumped up nine spots with a win over LSU (along with No. 6 Texas A&M and No. 9 Texas). Mississippi State also has No. 12 Georgia and No. 19 Missouri on its schedule.

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Having the toughest remaining schedule isn’t exactly a bad thing, especially considering No. 15 Tennessee needed overtime to beat the Bulldogs.

But it’d be nice for a team still looking to establish its footing outside of the SEC basement.

No. 1 in the nation in something

The other category Mississippi State ranks No. 1 in is definitely one its fans won’t want to see.

The Bulldogs have the most penalties in the nation. That includes a Hawai’i team that has played six games.

Mississippi State has been penalized 47 times for 427 yards. That’s an average of 9.4 penalties per game and 85.4 penalty yards per game.

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More importantly, the Bulldogs have had four touchdowns negated because of a penalty, including a 62-yard touchdown run by Davon Booth against Tennessee.

And back-to-back defensive penalties gave the Volunteers a free 30 yards on a scoring drive that tied the game at 17-17.

Yes, there were fewer Mississippi State penalties Saturday than the previous week against Northern Illinois (11).

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But the penalties may end being what holds this Bulldog team back even more so than its issues in passes blocking and its growing list of injured players.

Aggies' share struggles with penalties

If there’s any sort of silver lining to the Bulldogs’ penalty woes, it’s that their next opponent isn’t much better at avoiding penalties.

Texas A&M has had the 15th most penalties called on it for 309 yards. The Aggies actually have a higher per game average that Mississippi State, 9.5 to 9.4.

Against Auburn, the Aggies were penalized 13 times for 119 yards. But still managed to win 16-10.