LSU is preparing to start SEC play on Saturday, with a highly anticipated matchup with Mississippi State.
The game comes at a time for both teams to prove themselves, with conference play getting started. Leading up to the game, I got the chance to talk to Tanner Marlar of The Reflector, who serves as managing editor and covers Mississippi State football. Here is the conversation I had with Tanner and what he had to say about this Mississippi State team.
Rauterkus: What have you seen from this team so far this season? What stood out in the two wins?
Marlar: “What’s been really impressive to me is the newfound debt at receiver. Last year, they’ve got Makai Polk, guys like Austin Williams, that’s really three to four big names that made that receiving corps last year. This year, Will Rogers has had plenty of targets and every game so far, he’s been able to find those. Rufus Harvey has come a long way, Caleb Ducking has become a really great threat down the field in the red zone. They’ve still got Austin Williams, Jaden Walley who almost caught 1000 yards his freshman season has really kind of been on the backburner since the start of this year. But the talent is there, in the backfield, Dylan Johnson and Woody Marks have been just stellar in terms of what they’ve been able to bring. Not only in what’s been a surprisingly good run game, but catching out of the backfield.”
Rauterkus: I’ve heard the Mississippi State defense described as dirty in the sense of doing the dirty work. How would you describe this defense?
Marlar: “Honestly, the defensive line is one of those question mark areas that we’ve seen so far. Tyrus Wheat and Randy Charlton obviously are very talented players, but it’s in the interior defensive line that some concerns have started to arise, not because anybody’s injured, but it’s just that there’s a lot of players to put there and we’re not sure how they’re going to do when they get into SEC play. Nathan Pickering has been stellar in moments in his few years here in Starkville but he takes some plays off, he’s had some moments where he’s taken some plays off. So that’s an area of concern, but the front seven as a whole, the strength of that group is the edge rushers and the linebacker core. And a linebacker core is led by a guy named Jett Johnson. When you talk about a dirty defensive player, I understand what you mean by dirty, just able to just be the smelliest, most physical guy on the defense. That’s Jett Johnson, he flies to the football. He’s physical, he’s undersized for the middle linebacker position, but he makes up for it with how well he flies to the ball.”
Rauterkus: Mississippi State seems like a team that has flown under the radar a bit in the SEC. What’s the overall expectation for this season?
Marlar: “Feels like a lot of people around here kind of holding their breath. Memphis is an American Conference team. They’re not going to give you the kind of pass rush or defense or size that you’re going to see in the SEC. In Arizona the same way, I think Arizona is much improved from last year, but let’s not act like this isn’t a team that only won one game last year. So I think that those factors are really kind of causing fans in the area and everybody really around the program to hold their breath and kind of have taken a step back. While they understand why there’s no kind of attention being put on Mississippi State, they would like there to be more but on Mississippi State. But I think the fan base as a whole kind of understands that they really haven’t earned that right, yet. If they walk into Death Valley and walk out with a win, then I think you start seeing the people and coaches, polls and everything else start throwing some more respect towards Mississippi State. But until that happens, the kind of general consensus around here is that while they’ve played very well, they haven’t earned that kind of respect yet.”
Rauterkus: This is a game LSU used to dominate for much of the 2000s, but recently has turned into a competitive rivalry. From a Mississippi State perspective, what does the LSU game typically mean for that fanbase?
Marlar: “Since those days LSU has always been one of the first SEC matchups for Mississippi State during the season. So it’s become kind of a benchmark almost for whether this Mississippi State team, year in and year out is going to be competitive in the conference or not. They don’t have to go in and win every game in Death Valley. Last year, I’m sure you know, that was a competitive game. It was a sloppy game. But it showed I think that Mississippi State can compete at the conference level granted LSU had a down here with Coach O and everything of that matter. But it’s really become that kind of litmus test for Mississippi State, and what to expect from them as the season goes forward. I think that’s still true this weekend.”
Rauterkus: Lastly, the million dollar question. What’s your score prediction for this game?
Marlar: “Honestly, I think it’s gonna be back and forth really the entire way. I don’t think LSU is going into this game expecting to score 65 like they did against Southern and I know for a fact Mississippi State is not going in expecting to hang 40-plus. So it’s going to be kind of a grind it out type of game and if both teams can keep it clean and just refrain from kind of a sloppy kind of game we saw last year, that it couldn’t be a very, very good football game.”
