2013 Mississippi State
Football Preview
Odds and Schedule
Mississippi State surprised plenty of people last year when they started the season out with seven straight wins. Of course, a deeper look showed that they didn’t beat anyone of importance in those opening Games. They finished with an 8-5 record, but lost five of their last six Games. They’ll return 11 starters which is good, but not great. The big returnees are two seniors, quarterback Tyler Russell and running back LADarius Perkins, who both excelled in 2012. While the running Game should be able to improve on Perkins’ 1,016 yards last year, Russell may run into some trouble passing the ball. The Bulldogs are losing their top Four receivers from last year which could become an immediate problem. They’ll also have problems in the passing Game on defense as they are losing most of their starting defensive backs. The core of this defense is in the front seven, but they’ll run into problems quickly as their first Game is against Oklahoma State, a very good passing team.
Mississippi State is listed at odds of 300 to 1 at 5 Dimes Sportsbook. At another top rated sportsbook, sportsbook.ag, they are listed at odds of 1000 to 1. This is a glaring example of why it is so important to have access to more than one sportsbook to place your wagers. Shopping for the best odds is crucial to your long term success and bottom line.
2013 Mississippi State College Football Schedule
Aug. 31 vs. Oklahoma State (Houston)
Sept. 7 vs. Alcorn State
Sept. 14 at Auburn
Sept. 21 vs. Troy
Oct. 5 vs. LSU
Oct. 12 vs. Bowling Green
Oct. 24 vs. Kentucky
Nov. 1 at South Carolina
Nov. 9 at Texas A&M
Nov. 16 vs. Alabama
Nov. 23 at Arkansas
Nov. 30 vs. Ole Miss
Russell is going to have to show he doesn’t miss WR Chad Bumphis (12 TDs) and company early on because he will need to throw right out of the gate. Perkins can only do so much on the ground as seen last year when he didn’t Scorein the last five Games of the season. Robert Johnson and transfer Jeremy Chappelle will have to step up big in the passing Game.
Mississippi State’s defense wasn’t great last year against better teams and that will probably be the case again. They don’t get to the QB often and don’t force many turnovers. Teams will likely try and attack the secondary as much as possible with a mostly new crew in coverage.
A repeat of their 7-0 start is very unlikely for the Bulldogs this year. First up is OK State who actually has three different QBs at their disposal. Whoever gets the start in the first Game is going to try and show he deserves the starting spot which will mean a lot of passing.
Unfortunately, OK State isn’t the only addition to their Schedule from last season as they will also have to travel to South Carolina. Unless they improve drastically, at least five losses should be expected from the Bulldogs. When faced with the SEC powerhouses last year, they didn’t really come close. They also had trouble with Ole Miss which isn’t good because that Game could be their sixth loss of the year.
Mississippi State has seemingly overachieved in recent years and if they are to continue that trend, they’ll need a worthy win against a Top 25 team or even in the season finale at home against the Rebels.