STARKVILLE — The Mississippi State home opener has arrived.
Following a 38-28 win over Louisiana in New Orleans last weekend, the Bulldogs return to Davis-Wade Stadium to take on Southern Miss 2:30 p.m. Saturday for their home opener.
While the Golden Eagles are not quite what MSU will see in SEC competition, they should provide a solid test for a Bulldog squad that showed flashes of brilliance coupled with relative inconsistency in Week One.
Here are three matchups to watch this weekend:
MSU interior defensive line vs. Southern Miss offensive line
While the MSU defense had plenty of issues in last week’s win, the interior defensive line struggled to muster much of anything against the Ragin’ Cajuns front.
With senior Lee Autry sidelined for violating team rules, sophomore James Jackson and freshmen Jaden Crumedy and Fabien Lovett were thrust into heavy workloads early in their careers.
Given the lack of experience up front, Louisiana pounded the unit for 164 yards on 37 carries and three touchdowns.
Despite the middling performance, Moorhead was relatively pleased with his youngsters and defense as a whole.
“(Louisiana) kept plugging away and getting back to the center of the ring,” he said of the MSU defense. “Communication, identification, a little bit better job of tackling and being able to finish. For the most part, for three quarters we played pretty good defensive football.”
Not quite the rushing attack of Louisiana, Southern Miss totaled just 96 yards and one touchdown against Alcorn State behind an offensive line that boasts two juniors, two seniors and a sophomore.
With fewer tools out of the backfield, Saturday should be a rebound performance for the MSU interior defensive line.
Tommy Stevens vs. the Southern Miss pass rush
Tommy Stevens was as advertised in his debut — totaling 236 yards and two touchdowns on 20-of-30 passing.
And while the numbers are encouraging, the Louisiana defensive front put little to no pressure on Stevens.
That will change in Week Two.
Led by defensive-minded head coach Jay Hopson, Southern Miss finished last year ranked No. 3 nationally in total defense.
Junior defensive end Jaques Turner- who totaled 10 tackles for a loss and five sacks a season ago — is back alongside senior nose tackle Demarrio Smith and senior defensive tackle Delmond Landry.
Both Smith and Turner were preseason-All-Conference USA selections.
Columbus native Tahj Sykes could also factor in Saturday.
Though just a piece of the larger defensive picture, Turner, Smith, Landry and Sykes help comprise a unit that has, according to Moorhead, held five of its past seven opponents under 300 yards.
“That is a pretty darn impressive stat,” he said. “Particularly in this day and age of spread football.”
Given starting linemen Dareuan Parker and Darryl Williams are still day-to-day with lower body injuries, look for the Southern Miss pass rush to put some pressure on Stevens.
MSU wide receivers vs. Southern Miss secondary
Last Saturday was a productive afternoon as nine different Bulldogs made a catch.
Junior wideout Osirus Mitchell was WeekOone’s biggest winner as he totaled six catches on nine targets for 88 yards and a touchdown.
But heading into Week Two, MSU will face a much stiffer Golden Eagle than it did in The Big Easy.
Junior Ky’el Hemby will anchor the group. An All-Conference USA selection last season, he totaled 51 tackles, six interceptions and nine pass break-ups a year ago.
Senior defensive back D.Q. Thomas should also play a major role alongside Hemby. He snagged an interception and notched seven tackles in last week’s game.
“We are certainly expecting Southern Miss to come in very prepared and very well coached, playing with a lot of passion, certainly in an in-state game,” Moorhead said. “I think our guys learned a lot from week one about ourselves and the things we need to do to be successful: play great complimentary football.”
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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