Cowbell Corner

Instant Reaction: The ups and downs of Mississippi State's season-opening win

Mississippi State beat Southern Miss to start 1-0, but the Bulldogs showed plenty of areas in need of improvement.
Taylor Hodges|
Mississippi State Bulldogs head coach Jeff Lebby reacts after a play against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles during the second quarter at M.M. Roberts Stadium in Hattiesburg, Miss., on Aug. 30, 2025.
Mississippi State Bulldogs head coach Jeff Lebby reacts after a play against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles during the second quarter at M.M. Roberts Stadium in Hattiesburg, Miss., on Aug. 30, 2025. | Matt Bush/Special to Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Mississippi State BulldogsSouthern Miss Golden Eagles

Everyone, take a deep breath and step away from the panic button.

Mississippi State won’t win any beauty pageants for its win against Southern Miss, but the Bulldogs will return Starkville with a 1-0 record after beating Southern Miss 34-17 at M.M. Roberts Stadium to start the 2025 season.

Were there things to like about what we saw from Mississippi State? Yes.

Were there things we saw that should make everyone skeptical? Yes.

The important thing to remember is this was just one game. There are 11 more games (at minimum) to be played and at least some of the bad things we saw are fixable.

All of those illegal formation and false start penalties are correctable. And does anyone think Anthony Evans III will get called for another holding penalty downfield like that again?

Those penalties alone made up 75 percent of the penalties called against Mississippi State. There were 14 penalties in total by the end of the game, which won't help the Bulldogs avoid another winless SEC schedule if the other penalties can't be cleaned up.

However, some issues, especially the ones that appeared in the first half that better teams can (and will try to) replicate, aren’t as easily fixed.

There were several instances of players, both on defense and offense, gesturing wildly for a teammate’s attention. That’s a sign players aren’t on the same page or not understanding the play calls. One play that stands out, as an example of this, was quarterback Blake Shapen having to gesture several times and point to the spot he wanted Evans to line up at.

That’s just an example. There were also a few defensive plays with defenders trying to gain the attention of teammates on the opposite side of the field. Things like that, though, are fixable.

But it wasn’t all bad for Mississippi State. There are several things to like about what we saw from the Bulldogs in Hattiesburg. We’ll get into more of those things in later articles, but in the immediate aftermath of the game, there’s one thing that stands out to me.

Mississippi State’s defensive line has significantly improved.

Yes, the Bulldogs still ran plenty of three-down linemen fronts, but there was a good variety and the Bulldogs were disruptive up front. Will Whitson, the Coastal Carolina transfer, had two disruptive plays and there were other times players like Kedrick Bingley-Jones, Jaray Bledsoe and Red Hibbler made an impact that won’t show up in the box score.

What will show up in the box score is a sack and three TFLs, all of which came from Bledsoe and Whitson.

Southern Miss provided a good test…the Golden Eagles at least presented a large offensive line…and the Golden Eagles were held to less than 100 yards.

Final Instant Thought

Don’t go booking any hotels from late December just yet. We saw plenty of things from this Mississippi State team to believe it’ll win more than two games.

But there are a lot of mistakes that need to be fixed if the Bulldogs want to go bowling for Christmas.

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Taylor Hodges
TAYLOR HODGES

Award-winning sports editor, writer, columnist, and photographer with 15 years’ experience offering his opinion and insight about the sports world in Mississippi and Texas, but he was taken to Razorback pep rallies at Billy Bob's Texas in Fort Worth before he could walk. Taylor has covered all levels of sports, from small high schools in the Mississippi Delta to NFL games. Follow Taylor on Twitter and Facebook.

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