STARKVILLE — If Mississippi State linebacker Nathaniel Watson is thinking of the right game, East Tennessee State is in for some serious trouble when it visits Starkville at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Asked about the Bulldogs’ 2021 FCS game — against Tennessee State, a similarly named FCS team in an entirely different conference — Watson said he thought MSU “came out flat footed” in the contest.
In that game last Nov. 20, Mississippi State scored touchdowns on each of its first three drives, taking a 21-0 lead before the end of the first quarter. MSU went on to win 55-10.
So either Watson’s memory is off, or the Bulldogs (6-4, 3-4 Southeastern Conference) have extremely high expectations for Saturday’s Egg Bowl tune-up against ETSU (3-7, 1-7 Southern Conference).
After last week’s 45-19 loss against No. 1 Georgia, MSU has plenty of motivation — not to mention sufficient talent — to name its score against the Buccaneers at Davis Wade Stadium.
“Anytime you’re coming off a loss, you want to get that taste out of your mouth,” defensive coordinator Zach Arnett said Wednesday.
That might not have been as easy against last year’s East Tennessee State team, which won 11 games and knocked off Vanderbilt in Nashville.
But Watson said the Bulldogs can’t take a 3-7 Bucs team lightly.
“I think they’re a hard-nosed program,” he said. “We’ve just got to prepare for them.”
On that front, there is good news.
Arnett said he sees a lot of similarities between East Tennessee State’s offense and other offenses on Mississippi State’s schedule.
That includes opponents from the past few games as well as Ole Miss next week in the annual Magnolia State rivalry game, which serves as the 2022 regular-season finale.
“It’s a good matchup for us in terms of seeing plays we’ve seen and then what we might see,” Arnett said.
The Buccaneers employ a downhill power run game in which play action and bootleg runs play a role. Arnett said ETSU typically lines up with 11 personnel (one running back and one tight end) or 12 personnel (one running back and two tight ends).
Fifth-year senior Jacob Saylors is East Tennessee State’s bell cow at running back. Saylors has 211 carries for 1,264 yards this season, rushing for 15 touchdowns in 10 games.
“He does a good job of, when the seam’s up inside, hitting it and splitting the defense, but if it gets a little muddied up, he has the ability to bounce it and get on the perimeter,” Arnett said. “We’d better be ready to tackle.”
Watson called ETSU quarterback Tyler Riddell, who has totaled 1,903 yards, 15 touchdowns and nine interceptions this season, “nice in the pocket” while talking up the size of the Bucs’ offensive line.
MSU right guard Cole Smith had similar praise for East Tennessee State’s defense.
“I think they’re some high-motor guys who play really hard,” Smith said Tuesday. “They fill their gaps. They do what they’re supposed to do. They do their job really well.”
With a trip to Oxford looming five days later, it might be only natural for Mississippi State’s eyes to stray to their in-state rival.
But Watson promised the Bulldogs can’t focus on Ole Miss until ETSU is in the rearview mirror.
“Right now, we’re just preparing for East Tennessee,” Watson said. “Whenever the time comes, we’ll be looking forward to it.”
It remains to be seen how fast a start — in Watson’s estimation, at least — MSU will have Saturday morning.
But the Bulldogs hope to keep their foot on the gas pedal to fend off a Bucs team that has beaten an SEC squad before.
“I think they’re going to be really excited,” Smith said. “They’re going to come in here with their hair on fire, and they’re going to be ready to play. We’ve got to do the same.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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