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Mississippi State 2024 Football Preview
By Landon Tucker from My Dawgs Are Barking Podcast
It’s showtime in Starkville! At least, the Bulldog faithful hope so. The 2024 Mississippi State Bulldogs promise to look very different than teams of the past under new head coach Jeff Lebby. Lebby has a storied offensive career as he came from Oklahoma last season. Lebby’s offense was #3 overall in total offense last season with an offense that averaged over 500 yards per game.
Of course, the SEC defenses promise to create a bigger challenge to Lebby on paper. The Bulldogs lost all three of their highest offensive production last season but brought in some talented transfers to make up ground. Baylor transfer QB Blake Shapen will be in shotgun for the Bulldogs. Shapen has had a great career but has been limited by injury. When Shapen is healthy, look out! Shapen started 23 career games at Baylor over three seasons. In three seasons there, he threw for 5,574 yards, 36 touchdowns and completed 63.7% of his passes. Watch out for freshman QB Michael Van Buren as well. Van Buren is the No. 57 prospect overall and a 6-foot, 190-pound quarterback and was previously committed to Oregon.
Historically, wide receiver might be the weakest unit in MSU history. However, Lebby’s offense demands several dynamic receivers to be ready to score from far away and score quickly. The Bulldogs brought in talented transfer receivers in Kelly Akharaiyi and Kevin Coleman. Akharaiyi’s 1,033 receiving yards ranked 19th in the nation last season, and his 21.52 yards per reception ranked fourth. Coleman was the 2022 SWAC freshman of the year while at Jackson State and had over 350 receiving yards last season at Louisville. The return of playmaker Creed Whittemore will be important this season. Whittemore was a highly sought after recruit from Florida and had a huge first game of the season in 2023 averaging almost 15 yards a catch and having one touchdown before the offense of the Bulldogs didn’t seem to utilize him or anyone else for the rest of the season.
The Bulldogs are planning on scoring early and often, but will that be enough with the incredibly difficult schedule that lays ahead of them? The Bulldogs currently have the sixth toughest schedule in the nation in a gauntlet that has them facing Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, Ole Miss, and Arizona State on the road. At home, there’s not much rest for the weary as they’ll be hosting Florida, Texas A&M, Missouri, and Arkansas.
The Bulldogs missed a bowl game for the first time in 13 seasons last year, and they will look to get on the right track in 2024. If Lebby’s offense can work against this schedule, it can work going forward. Will the defense be able to keep teams out of the end zone? That’s a discussion for another day.
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