Three reasons Mississippi State fans should be optimistic about Duke’s Mayo Bowl

Hope or heartbreak? Mississippi State’s Duke’s Mayo Bowl matchup offers a chance for a better ending.

Mississippi State Bulldogs defensive back Jahron Manning (13) and defensive back Brylan Lanier (3) react against the Georgia Bulldogs against during the first half at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. | Wesley Hale-Imagn Images

We’re five days away from kickoff of the Duke’s Mayo Bowl between Mississippi State and Wake Forest.

The Bulldogs are scheduled to arrive in Charlotte, N.C. today and must feel like they’re headed to a casino to play with the house’s money.

At 5-7 Mississippi State needed a lot of lucky breaks to be in a bowl game. It got those breaks and now the Bulldogs have a chance to end the season on a high note…again.

Will Mississippi State make the most of its second chance and give its fan base a beacon hope that 2026 will be better? Or will the same team that went 1-7 in SEC games show up and provide the fan base with more disappointment?

The oddsmakers favor the Bulldogs, but that’s only one reason why Mississippi State fans should be optimistic. Here are three more reasons why fans should be optimistic about the Bulldogs’ chances.

A different offense?

Wake Forest coaches have a limited amount of game film to study the Bulldogs’ offense with freshman quarterback Kamario Taylor leading the way.

Taylor made his first start against Ole Miss and played the entire game. He also made some sporadic appearances during the season, but that’s still not a lot of film available to study.

The Egg Bowl will be heavily studied, but that was a month ago. Jeff Lebby hasn’t spent the last month creating an entirely new offense, but he might’ve added some new stuff. Or he might still have some plays or packages that haven’t been seen.

The point is that the Demon Deacons can’t know for certain what Mississippi State’s offense will look like with Taylor, Fluff Bothwell at running back and speedy receivers Brenen Thompson and Anthony Evans III on the outside. Plus the athletic Seydou Traore at tight end.

Wake Forest would like to have a full season’s worth to study that group of players on the field together. But so would Mississippi State’s fans.

Wake Forest injuries, opt outs

Every program must deal with players making the choice to enter the transfer portal leading up to their bowl game (if playing in one). Some programs allow those players to remain with the team through the bowl game and others don’t.

Wake Forest falls into the latter category.

Demon Deacons’ coach Jake Dickert announced transferring players would not be participating in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. Lebby hasn’t said anything definitive like that, but did say only one transferring player will be with the team in Charlotte.

Both Wake Forest and Mississippi State have a list of outgoing players that’s more than 20 names long. The biggest difference is some of the Demon Deacons’ best players are on that list. That’s not the case for the Bulldogs.

Wake Forest will be without its leading rusher, Demond Claiborne, its two leading receivers, Chris Barnes and Micah Mays, and key defensive tackle Mateen Ibirogba.

Imagine Mississippi State going into this bowl game without Bothwell, Thompson, Evans and defensive tackle Jaray Bledsoe. How confident would Mississippi State fans been feeling? Not very.

That’s what Wake Forest is facing. It sucks for the Demon Deacons and their fans, but the Bulldogs have to like what they see.

Second chance at last shot

Disclaimer: I tried to find an actual stat that could be used to argue why Mississippi State is going to win. But reread the previous section and realize how much that impacts stats and rankings. It makes them nearly null-and-void.

So, we’ll go with this as the final reason: the Bulldogs who have no college eligibility remaining know they’ve been given something life doesn’t hand many of, a second chance.

This bowl game is a second chance for players like Thompson, Davon Booth, Nic Mitchell, Albert Reese III, Brylan Lanier, Jahron Manning and many others to end their collegiate careers positively.

They already know what it’s like to confront the reality of ending with a loss. They won’t want to relive that experience and their play will show it.