By Tanner Marlar
When Jeff Lebby and the rest of the Mississippi State Bulldogs took the field in Tempe, Arizona, to face off against the Arizona State Sun Devils this past weekend, a buzz of optimism seemed to pulsate from the fan base.
Now, though, the air isn’t so sweet in Starkville.
The Bulldogs took a drumming in the first half at the hands of ASU running back Cameron Skattebo, who totaled 262 rushing yards in the game – good enough for the second highest single game total ever for a Sun Devil. After play had concluded, Skattebo commented on the three-down linemen front that MSU showed for most of the game.
“(Mississippi State) couldn’t stop us in that three-down front,” said Skattebo. “Honestly, we all felt disrespected with that three-down front. Like, you can’t come in here and put five guys in the box and expect to stop six.”
Lebby and company took it on the chin in the first half, going down 27-3 before heading to the locker room at the break. Despite still taking the loss, the Bulldogs fought back to close the gap to a single score late behind a 13-point fourth quarter effort.
“I learned that we’ve got a group of guys that (will) bounce back, and they fought their butt off to give us a chance in the second half to go win the game,” Lebby said in his postgame press conference. “You know, if we get a stop there on fourth down late, and we’re going to get it back with a bunch of time to have the ability to go score and possibly tie the game up. I learned that we’ve got guys that will fight.”
In the wake of the loss in which the defensive line grouped look to be the Achillies heel of this year’s Bulldog squad, Lebby announced in a press conference on Monday that defensive lineman Eric Taylor is no longer with the team, and that long-time Bulldog Kalvin Dinkins and Deonte Anderson will not be expected to be active against Toledo this weekend.
The thinnest position group on the MSU defense just got thinner, and that could spell trouble for MSU, who welcomes a Toledo program that won 11 games last season and played for a conference title to Starkville on Saturday. The Rockets are 2-0 on the season already after defeating Duquesne 49-10 and UMass, another team that MSU will face later in the season, 38-23.
“(Toledo’s) program is incredibly established,” said Lebby of the Rockets in a press conference on Monday. “They’ve had a ton of success. For them to be able to come down here Saturday night, it will be no big deal for their program…They’ve got a defensive unit where seven of the 11 starters are sixth year players. They are an old, old unit, and then offensively they’ve got some skill guys that can do some really good things with the ball when they get it in their hands.”
THE SKINNY
Last week was a disappointment for everyone involved, hands down. Mississippi State defenses have had weaknesses in the years past, but never on the defensive line. Typically, there are one or two stud linemen up front that can eat up blockers and allow those behind them to make a play (i.e. Jeff Simmons, Chris Jones, etc.)
That means this is uncharted territory for Bulldog fans and coaches, and it’s not territory that many find success within amongst other SEC teams. The game is won and lost in the trenches, after all.
Without that wrecking ball up front that has made so many MSU defenses stout, first year defensive coordinator Coleman Hutzler is going to have to be creative in how he plans to stop the run. Whether that’s loading the box, bringing someone else to the line of scrimmage or even bringing Isaac Smith down from his safety spot in run support, no one knows just yet.
One thing is for certain, though, this Toledo defense might be the best that Mississippi State has seen thus far in 2024, and the road only gets tougher for an offense that struggled for air in the first half against Arizona State.
