2014
Mississippi State
College Football
Betting Preview
Odds and Schedule
Mississippi State ended their season strong last year with three straight wins, two of them coming in overtime to give them a bowl Game and then a dominant 44-7 bowl win over Rice. At 4-6 fans were ready to scrap the entire team, but the Bulldogs came through in the end. Another year later, expectations are bigger and people are looking for eight or nine wins from this squad.
If you think Miss State can compete for a National Title in 2014, you may want to plunk dow a couple of peanuts at 5 dimes sportsbook where they are listed at odds of 200 to 1 to win it all.
Unlike a lot of other teams in the SEC, the Bulldogs will be returning their starting quarterback and he’s still only a junior. Dak Prescott isn’t the most efficient passer (10 TDs, 7 INTS), but he came through late in Games last year and is a major threat on the ground (829 yards, 13 TDs). He’ll have most of his top targets returning in Jameon Lewis, Malcolm Johnson, Robert Johnson and De’Runnya Wilson. The offensive line lost a few starters, but that shouldn’t have a major impact on what this unit can do. Josh Robinson will take over as the starting running back, and averaged 5.9 yards per carry last year.
The reason for much of MSU’s late-season success last year was the defense turning things around allowing only 34 points in the final three Games. The defensive line returns eight players that played in at least 10 Games last year which is incredible. The linebackers and secondary are also filtered with upperclassmen and can improve on last year’s strong finish.
Considering this team returns 18 starters from a year ago, it would be an extreme disappointment if they couldn’t get past last year’s mark of seven wins.
The good news is that their Schedule is a bit more favorable as the Bulldogs won’t get Oklahoma State in non-Conference play. They should start out 3-0 before travelling to LSU and then hosting Texas A&M and Auburn. If they can pull off an upset in one of those Games, that would be huge. Games at Alabama and Ole Miss will be tough at the end of the year, but a winnable home matchup against Vanderbilt could be their seventh or eighth win if things go to plan.
Dak Prescott is on the preseason list of possible Heisman candidates if that says anything about his potential. If the offense can improve a little bit, that will put the Bulldogs in an area where they can start challenging the top teams in the SEC West. While that seems a little far-fetched at this point, this is not a team that you can ignore on the Schedule anymore.
2014 Mississippi State Football Schedule
Aug. 30 vs. Southern Miss
Sep. 6 vs. UAB
Sep. 13 at South Alabama
Sep. 20 at LSU
Oct. 4 vs. Texas A&M
Oct. 11 vs. Auburn
Oct. 25 at Kentucky
Nov. 1 vs. Arkansas
Nov. 8 vs. Tennessee-Martin
Nov. 15 at Alabama
Nov. 22 vs. Vanderbilt
Nov. 29 at Ole Miss