Mississippi State May Go Without Facing One of the Country's Top CBs for Second Consecutive Year

LSU may be without one of its top defensive players against Mississippi State for the second consecutive year.

Mississippi State football put the Southeastern Conference on notice last year when it came into Tiger Stadium and recorded a 44-34 victory over the reigning national champion LSU Tigers to start the season 1-0.

Things are very much the same but different this year in regards to certain aspects including that both teams are among the youngest in the conference just like in 2020, but there's yet another similarity the two matchups could share.

LSU was without cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. last year, and there's a chance he could be out for Saturday's game as well. While MSU's dominance in that game cannot be credited to any one factor, including Stingley's absence, there's no doubt it hurt the secondary as graduate transfer quarterback KJ Costello put up 623 passing yards in that game.

Tigers head coach Ed Orgeron called the cornerback "very questionable" when asked about his status on Thursday. He said Stingley was suffering from the same injury that gave him issues throughout fall camp.

LSU corner Derek Stingley Jr. is "very questionable" against Mississippi State, Ed Orgeron said. He suffered the same injury that hampered him throughout preseason camp.

— Wilson Alexander (@whalexander_) September 23, 2021

Without Stingley, names like Dwight McGlothern and Jay Ward will be called upon to step up. LSU was considered to have one of the best secondaries in the country heading into this season between Stingley and fellow cornerback Elias Ricks.

It will be interesting to see how things shake out with the situation with Stingley when the Bulldogs and Tigers kick off at 11 a.m. CT in Davis Wade Stadium, and how his absence or presence impacts MSU's passing game.