Mississippi State’s 2020 season started with a bang.
The Bulldogs marched into Baton Rouge to take on defending national champion LSU and shocked the Tigers 44-34 in Mike Leach’s first game in the maroon and white.
This season, coach Ed Orgeron’s team comes to Starkville on Sept. 25 anxious to return the favor.
Here’s the book on the Bayou Bengals.
Editor’s note: This is the fourth installment in The Dispatch’s 2021 Scouting the Schedule series. The third installment was published in Monday’s edition. The series continues Wednesday with a look at Mississippi State’s fifth game of the season.
LSU quick facts
2020 record: 5-5
Coach: Ed Orgeron, sixth season
ESPN Football Power Index: No. 18
Last meeting: Sept. 26, 2020
All-time series: 71-37-3, LSU
History
Mississippi State and LSU have met every year since 1944, and 2021 will be no exception.
The Tigers lead the all-time series 71-37-3, but the Bulldogs pulled off notable upsets in Baton Rouge in 2014 and 2020 and routed LSU 37-7 in 2017 in Starkville.
Before Dak Prescott led his team to victory in the 2014 contest, Mississippi State had lost 14 games in a row to LSU.
But playing at home after a down year for the Tigers in 2020, the Bulldogs have a decent shot at putting together a winning streak against a team MSU hasn’t beaten twice in a row since a string of five consecutive victories from 1980 to 1984.
2020 season
From the very first game, it was a down season for LSU, which lost to Missouri two weeks later and fell to an unsightly 1-2. The Tigers managed to finish 5-5 on the year, losing to Texas A&M and getting blown out by Auburn and Alabama. LSU did not play in a bowl game.
The Tigers used a trio of quarterbacks in 2020 as Myles Brennan, Max Johnson and TJ Finley all threw for between 900 and 1,200 yards each. Finley transferred to Auburn, leaving Johnson and Brennan — a Long Beach native — to battle for the job this summer.
Tyrion Davis-Price led the Tigers in rushing with 458 yards on 104 carries, while John Emery Jr. added 396 yards on 75 attempts. Both runners are back in 2021 for their junior seasons.
With Ja’Marr Chase sitting out the 2020 season to prepare for the 2021 draft, wideouts Kayshon Boutte and Terrace Marshall Jr. were LSU’s top two targets. Boutte (735 receiving yards) is back this season, while Marshall (731) went to the Carolina Panthers in the draft’s second round.
LSU also lost two of its best defenders to the NFL as JaCoby Stevens and Jabril Cox were both selected. Former five-star recruit Derek Stingley Jr. will anchor the secondary, with outside linebacker Andre Anthony (5.5 sacks in 2020) back for more.
Key additions
With the No. 3 recruiting class in the country per 247 Sports, LSU will have a lot of help on its way back to the standard it set just two years ago.
Defensive lineman Maason Smith and safety Sage Ryan are blue-chip, five-star commits. If that wasn’t enough, LSU has 16 four-star pledges, including Jackson Academy wide receiver Deion Smith, at its disposal. The Tigers’ recruiting class trails only Alabama and Ohio State.
Georgia safety Major Burns transferred into the program, as did four-star linebacker Mike Jones Jr. of Clemson.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
Join the Discussion