Can EA College Football 26 predict Arizona State at Mississippi State?

We fired up the video game once again to see how it sees Saturday's game plays out. Bulldog fans should hope the game is right.

Mississippi State Mascot Bully during the game between the Toledo Rockets and the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field in Starkville, MS. | Mississippi State Bulldogs

Last week, in an effort to have a better of understanding of what may happen in a game with 135 new players, we ran a simulation of the game in EA College Football 26.

That end result wasn’t that far off from what happened in real life.

The final score in the virtual game was 24-14. In real life, it was 34-17. The biggest difference in the virtual game, Mississippi State started off 21-0 and we know real life was much, much different. Just look at the results of halftime Twitter/X poll:

Quick halftime poll for @HailStateFB fans...how ya feelin?

— Mississippi State On SI (@DawgsonSI) August 30, 2025

Now, let’s see if the video game can go 2-0 in its prediction and, if it does, there’s going to be an epic party in Starkville on Saturday night.

You can watch full game replay on our YouTube channel here or embedded down below. As a reminder for the game settings we used, set the difficulty to Heisman, five minute quarters, matched the start time and gave the game clear weather conditions. We did not adjust any rosters or move players around on the depth chart and neither team had a player controlling it.

Is it a perfect sim? No. Should you take what’s about to follow with a grain salt? Yes.

Video Game Summary

The Bulldogs started the game on offense (EA got something right with that) and had a near-ideal opening drive. They maintained possession for the entire first quarter, converting multiple third downs and one fourth-and-4 in opponent territory.

But the drive stalled out and the Bulldogs kicked a 24-yard field goal to start the second quarter. MSU leads 3-0.

Arizona State’s offense went three-and-out on the next possession and the Bulldogs’ offense seemed poised to continue marching down the field. But on a third-and-11 from midfield, Blake Shapen threw an interception.

The Sun Devils made the Bulldogs pay for that mistake with a long touchdown strike from Sam Leavitt to Jordan Tyson, who was wide open across the middle of the field. ASU leads 7-3.

Both sides got opportunities to lob passes into the end zone, but none of those passes connected.

Halftime: Arizona State 7, Mississippi State 3

Arizona State’s opening drive of the second half ended when they failed to convert a fourth down attempt.

The Bulldogs responded with dominant, fast drive that ended with Fluff Bothwell scoring on a run through a gigantic hole in the defense. MSU leads 10-7.

Arizona State would get two more possessions the rest of the game, scoring no points and Mississippi State wins 10-7.

What to make of that?

It’s dangerous to make a declaration like, “this means the Bulldogs are going to win.” It is a video game after all (if Shapen throws a pass like one his virtual self did, he’d have two interceptions but defensive linemen can’t catch in this game even when the ball hits them in the facemask).

What we can take away from this is what a Mississippi State upset would look like.

ICYMI: ESPN FPI prediction for Saturday's game closer than you might expect

A strong run game that allows the offense to dominate the time of possession, little-to-no mistakes (turnovers and penalties), and a defense that forces the Sun Devils to be one-dimensional, even if that means Tyson gets loose for a touchdown once.

Will the game on Saturday playout in a similar way to this, like last week’s did?

We’re a little more than 48 hours away from knowing that answer.