Three reasons why Florida should be worried about Mississippi State

The Bulldogs aren't favored and won't find many favorable predictions about Saturday's game in the Swamp, but a win is still possible.

Mississippi State Bulldogs linebacker Nic Mitchell (40) and linebacker Zakari Tillman (7) react after a fumble recovery against the Tennessee Volunteers during the first half at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. | Wesley Hale-Imagn Images

Until Mississippi State gets its first SEC win under Jeff Lebby, the Bulldogs will enter every game as the underdog for the rest of the season.

Even in the two games the Bulldogs currently have against unranked teams, they’ll be the underdog.

One of those games is set for 3:15 p.m. Saturday in Gainesville, Fla. against the Florida Gators (2-4, 1-2 SEC).

Florida, once again, entered the season with high hopes and expectations. The Gators have one of the most promising young quarterbacks, a great offensive line and an even better defense.

But the Gators lost to South Florida, LSU, Miami and Texas A&M, reigniting the fire under coach Billy Napier’s seat (again). The Gators did show some positive signs of life in a 29-21 win against then-No. 9 Texas, which might’ve been the start of Florida’s turn around this season.

Or not.

The Bulldogs won’t find many predictions of them winning, but that doesn’t mean Florida’s coaches, players and fans shouldn’t be worried about Mississippi State winning.

Here are three reasons why Florida fans should be concerned (and, no, none of the reasons are because they’re Gator fans).

Bowl Eligibility Motivation

If the Bulldogs want to go bowling in December they need two more wins. Four of the final six opponents are ranked leaving Florida and Arkansas as the two most winnable games on the schedule.

A win Saturday in Gainesville would relieve a lot of stress and tension about getting to six wins. Mississippi State wouldn’t need to upset one of Texas, Georgia, Missouri or Ole Miss.

A loss, though, would require Mississippi State upsetting one of those ranked teams. The Bulldogs could do it because, you know, anything can happen.

On the flipside, Florida is already in a position of needing to upset a highly ranked team. Even if the Gators win their three games against unranked opponents (Mississippi State, Kentucky, Florida State), they’ll need to beat either Georgia, Ole Miss or Tennessee.

An “Easy” Week for Florida

The last four teams the Gators played were all teams ranked inside the top 10 and they went 1-3 in that stretch. The one win was notable because it came against Texas, which sent the Longhorns tumbling out of the top 25.

Is it really hard to believe the Gators let out a big sigh of relief this week because Mississippi State is still considered an “easy” win for some SEC teams (and a lot of those teams’ fans).

Florida doesn’t has its bye week next week and maybe the players will have the mindset of “just get through this and we can rest.”

That’s what the Bulldogs should be hoping for – that the Gators overlook them.

It’s happened once already this season when South Florida went into the Swamp on won 18-16.

Injury Woes

Last week against Texas A&M, Florida listed 13 players on its Student-Athlete Availability Report and six players were listed as out on the final report.

That’s a lot of players to worry about. Yes, Mississippi State has its own key injuries to deal with but not nearly as much as the Gators.

If the Bulldogs can take advantage of some of those players’ absences, then a Mississippi State win is likely.