Mississippi State (1-0) takes on Arizona (1-0) at 10 p.m. Saturday in Tucson, Arizona.
The game will be televised on FS1.
Here’s who has the edge between the Bulldogs and Wildcats at each position.
Quarterback
Washington State transfer Jayden de Laura had an impressive Week 1 with the Wildcats, throwing for 299 yards and four touchdown passes against San Diego State. But Mississippi State’s Will Rogers had perhaps his best game in maroon and white, totaling a career-high 450 yards and five scores, all to different targets. De Laura will have to keep it up to have a consistent edge over opposing quarterbacks.
Edge: Mississippi State
Running back
Freshman DJ Williams, listed third on the depth chart for Arizona, ran for 88 yards on 14 carries against SDSU. Second-stringer Jonah Coleman had 13 rushing attempts, and listed starter Michael Wiley had only six. The Arizona trio goes up against Mississippi State’s Jo’quavious Marks, Dillon Johnson and Simeon Price — a redshirt freshman who had a role in Saturday’s win.
Edge: Even
Wide receiver/tight end
Jacob Cowing had a big game for the Wildcats with 152 yards on just nine catches, scoring three times. Dorian Singer and Tetairoa McMillan also had more than 50 yards apiece. Mississippi State, meanwhile, had nine receivers (as well as three running backs) catch passes from Rogers on Saturday. None had more than Rara Thomas’ 81 yards, but the Bulldogs’ receiving corps is deep. Still, Cowing is among the best wideouts in the country.
Edge: Arizona
Offensive line
Mississippi State’s O-line had what running back Dillon Johnson termed a “phenomenal” Week 1 performance, allowing just one sack of Rogers and leading the way for 97 rushing yards. But Arizona also allowed just one sack, and the Wildcats ran for 4.2 yards per carry to Mississippi State’s 2.9. An SEC O-line going against a Pac-12 D-line could be interesting, even though the Bulldogs are replacing both starting tackles from 2021.
Edge: Even
Defensive line
Mississippi State sacked Memphis quarterback Seth Henigan just once — Nathan Pickering brought him down in the first quarter — but the Bulldogs’ D-line had a strong game Saturday. MSU is still missing Jaden Crumedy to injury, but the return of defensive end Jordan Davis has bolstered the Bulldogs’ line. Arizona, meanwhile, allowed 170 rushing yards while sacking SDSU’s Braxton Burmeister just once.
Edge: Mississippi State
Linebacker
Mississippi State returns an experienced linebacker trio with Tyrus Wheat, Nathaniel Watson and Jett Johnson. Johnson totaled 13 tackles against Memphis in Week 1. Arizona middle linebacker Jerry Roberts had 12 tackles for the Wildcats against SDSU. He’ll be flanked by weak-side linebacker Kolbe Cage and strong-side linebacker Gunner Maldonado. Cage is a redshirt freshman, while Maldonado is just a sophomore.
Edge: Mississippi State
Secondary
Mississippi State’s secondary played well for the first three quarters or so Saturday, but Memphis found success after that. The Bulldogs typically tackled well but did allow some long completions. Arizona limited San Diego State to 62 passing yards on 16 attempts, but MSU will throw the ball a lot more often than that. The Bulldogs will test an Arizona secondary that has at times looked vulnerable. The Wildcats gave up more than 30 points per game last season, although they allowed only 190.1 passing yards per contest.
Edge: Even
Special teams
Arizona kicker Tyler Loop made all 12 of his field goal attempts in 2021, though the longest was only 42 yards. Loop picked up where he left off Saturday by making his only field goal try. Mississippi State would love that kind of consistency, which the Bulldogs lacked amid a dismal 14-for-25 performance last year by Brandon Ruiz and Nolan McCord. Lideatrick Griffin is a weapon as always in the return game, but the jury remains out on new MSU kicker Massimo Biscardi, who is perfect on extra points but has yet to attempt a field goal.
Edge: Arizona
Starters
Arizona
Offense
QB 7 Jayden de Laura So.
RB 6 Michael Wiley Jr.
WR 4 Tetairoa McMillan Fr.
WR 2 Jacob Cowing Jr.
WR 5 Dorian Singer So.
TE 88 Alex Lines So.
-or 89 Keyan Burnett Fr
-or 84 Tanner McLachlan Jr.
LT 77 Jordan Morgan Jr.
LG 56 Josh Donovan Sr.
C 75 Josh Baker So.
RG 71 Jonah Savaiinaea Fr.
RT 74 Paiton Fears Sr.
Defense
KAT 31 Hunter Echols Sr.
DT 95 Paris Shand So.
-or 98 Tiaoalii Savea So.
NG 92 Kyon Barrs Jr.
DE 1 Jalen Harris Sr.
WLB 11 Kolbe Cage Fr.
MLB 48 Jerry Roberts Sr.
SLB 9 Gunner Maldonado So.
CB 4 Christian Roland-Wallace Jr.
S 5 Christian Young Sr.
S 21 Jaxen Turner Jr.
CB 20 Treydan Stukes So.
Special teams
K 33 Tyler Loop So.
P 19 Kyle Ostendorp Jr.
Mississippi State
Offense
QB 2 Will Rogers Jr.
RB 7 Jo’quavious Marks Jr.
-or 23 Dillon Johnson Jr.
-or 22 Simeon Price Fr.
WR 0 Rara Thomas So.
WR 85 Austin Williams Gr.
WR 82 Rufus Harvey So.
WR 4 Caleb Ducking Sr.
LT 69 Kwatrivous Johnson Sr.
LG 66 Nick Jones Jr.
C 63 LaQuinston Sharp Gr.
RG 57 Cole Smith Sr.
RT 58 Kameron Jones Jr.
-or 76 Albert Reese IV Fr.
Defense
DE 6 Jordan Davis Gr.
NT 93 Cameron Young Sr.
DT 94 Jaden Crumedy Gr.
SLB 2 Tyrus Wheat Sr.
MLB 14 Nathaniel Watson Sr.
WLB 44 Jett Johnson Gr.
CB 13 Emmanuel Forbes Jr.
S 8 Jackie Matthews Gr.
S 19 Collin Duncan Sr.
S 0 Jalen Green Sr.
CB 3 Decamerion Richardson Jr.
Special teams
K 29 Massimo Biscardi Gr.
P 56 Archer Trafford Sr.
-or 88 George Georgopoulos Gr.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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