How does Mississippi State's new defensive line match up against Arizona State?

The Bulldogs will present a larger defensive front against the Sun Devils on Saturday. The only problem is the Sun Devils got bigger too.

The Mississippi State Bulldogs during the game between the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles and the Mississippi State Bulldogs at M.M. Roberts Stadium in Hattiesburg, MS. | Mississippi State Athletics

Most Arizona State players and coaches will be experiencing the cowbell-fueled sensory deprivation chamber known as Davis Wade Stadium for the first time this weekend.

And for the Sun Devils returning from the 2024 team, they’ll be facing a drastically different looking Bulldog team.

“They've added over 30 transfers,” Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham said at his Monday press conference. “This team is really 65-70 percent new from last year's team, so a lot of new faces.”

Mississippi State had an offseason goal of getting bigger and better in the trenches. A lot of those “new faces” helped accomplish the first half of that goal. Saturday will go a long way to showing if the second half will be true or not.

The undersized Bulldogs were a major reason why Arizona State was able to rush for nearly 400 yards last season.

The Reality of 2025

Arizona State running back Kyson Brown (1) runs for a first down against NAU during a game at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe on Aug. 30, 2025. | Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It’s easy to think because the Sun Devils have a potential Heisman candidate at quarterback and first round NFL Draft pick at receiver, the run game won’t matter as much.

The Sun Devils ran for 201 total yards against Northern Arizona last week and running back Kyson Brown matched quarterback Sam Leavitt’s 73 yards and 10.4 yards per carry. Based on how last season’s game went, the Sun Devils are going to at least test the Bulldogs’ run defense.

Arizona State will run into a bigger defense that showed flashes of greatness against Southern Miss. One problem for Mississippi State, though, is the Sun Devils also got bigger.

Using last week’s starting lineup Arizona State had, the average weight of the offensive line was 323 lbs., and the average height was 6-foot-4.5. Last year, the Sun Devils’ starting offensive line had an average weight of 316 lbs.

The Bulldogs have also gotten bigger. The average weight of last year’s starting defensive linemen was 298 lbs., and that was just three players.

Using last week’s starting lineup against Southern Miss, the average weight of the Bulldogs’ three starting defensive linemen was 305 lbs. and the average height was 6-foot-3.6.

So, yes, Mississippi State is bigger, but will be facing a bigger opponent…again.

The What-If Angle

They could, potentially, be bigger. A three-man front of Jaray Bledsoe, Kedrick Bingley-Jones and Red Hibbler would have an average weight of 315 lbs.

That may actually be enough.

Watching the condensed game replay of Arizona State’s game last week, the Sun Devils ran a lot of its offense out of spread formations, with five offensive linemen, multiple receivers spread out wide, and one running back in the backfield.

That’s what Southern Miss lined up in on a crucial fourth down play the Bulldogs stuffed. If the Sun Devils decide to go that route, don’t worry about seeing three defenders with their hands-on-the-ground.

On that specific play, there were five Bulldogs lined up along the line of scrimmage (Isaac Smith, Deonte Anderson, Bledsoe, Bingley-Jones and Branden Jennings) and one linebacker, Nic Mitchell.

So, what’s the point of all this?

Arizona State has shown an offensive scheme that matches up well with what Mississippi State wants to do on defense, and showed some capability to stop it.

And if the Sun Devils go in a different direction and run a scheme requiring a front larger than three players, the Bulldogs have the personnel to do it.