So here's the deal

[Tractorman]

We are better this yr. USM is also better this yr mainly due to their QB. They will win 4+.
Easiest bet of the yr was MSU over 3.5. That will happen. As I've said we will be a 6 or 7 win team. I still predict we start 4 0, UT will be an awesome atmosphere regardless if 4 0 or 3 1.
I said in years past I'm not sps cool, somebody asked what did I mean. The replies in this thread will show you sps cool, you must **** on State to qualify or say some dumb **** like I'll have what your smoking. Regardless, for the majority that just read and don't post, its gonna be a good season compared to last yr, we will go bowling.

 

[theoriginalSALTYdog]

We are better this yr. USM is also better this yr mainly due to their QB. They will win 4+.
Easiest bet of the yr was MSU over 3.5. That will happen. As I've said we will be a 6 or 7 win team. I still predict we start 4 0, UT will be an awesome atmosphere regardless if 4 0 or 3 1.
I said in years past I'm not sps cool, somebody asked what did I mean. The replies in this thread will show you sps cool, you must **** on State to qualify or say some dumb **** like I'll have what your smoking. Regardless, for the majority that just read and don't post, its gonna be a good season compared to last yr, we will go bowling.

You also thought we were a final 4 basketball team last year, so there's that......

 

[patdog]

Not an easy bet. I did take the over at 4-8. But we will have to pull off a big upset to get there.

 

[Shmuley]

We are better this yr. USM is also better this yr mainly due to their QB. They will win 4+.
Easiest bet of the yr was MSU over 3.5. That will happen. As I've said we will be a 6 or 7 win team. I still predict we start 4 0, UT will be an awesome atmosphere regardless if 4 0 or 3 1.
I said in years past I'm not sps cool, somebody asked what did I mean. The replies in this thread will show you sps cool, you must **** on State to qualify or say some dumb **** like I'll have what your smoking. Regardless, for the majority that just read and don't post, its gonna be a good season compared to last yr, we will go bowling.

4 win team. Look better than half @$$ in two more. Third year lock.

 

[Maroon13]

Man, I hope you are right. We find out a lot more Saturday.

 

[She Mate Me]

We are better this yr. USM is also better this yr mainly due to their QB. They will win 4+.
Easiest bet of the yr was MSU over 3.5. That will happen. As I've said we will be a 6 or 7 win team. I still predict we start 4 0, UT will be an awesome atmosphere regardless if 4 0 or 3 1.
I said in years past I'm not sps cool, somebody asked what did I mean. The replies in this thread will show you sps cool, you must **** on State to qualify or say some dumb **** like I'll have what your smoking. Regardless, for the majority that just read and don't post, its gonna be a good season compared to last yr, we will go bowling.

I'm definitely not worried about being SPS cool. And I still think winning six games is very, very far out of the realm of likely or possible.

I hope you're right, but I really doubt it.

 

[OG Goat Holder]

4 win team. Look better than half @$$ in two more. Third year lock.

Then the third year will be 3-9.

 

[HailStout]

No one on this board wants you to be wrong, but…….come on

 

[onewoof]

Depends on injuries, we are thin on first string.

We also have one of the toughest schedules in the country.

Morale victories this year.

 

[ckDOG]

Improved defense going to get worn down by our offensive line failing to give them much of a breather I'm afraid. They could get better but Saturday was rough looking - run blocking especially.

 

[HailStout]

Improved defense going to get worn down by our offensive line failing to give them much of a breather I'm afraid. They could get better but Saturday was rough looking - run blocking especially.

That was the most concerning thing to me. It felt like all of our big runs were when the RB ran into the wall of bodies and then had to pop it outside. That won’t happen in the SEC

 

[ckDOG]

That was the most concerning thing to me. It felt like all of our big runs were when the RB ran into the wall of bodies and then had to pop it outside. That won’t happen in the SEC

Yeah the end result running stats looked solid but it was more having a solid RB unit back there and not hitting the designed lanes - those weren't there. That pop out can't be relied on when we see better than Sun Belt speed.

 

[greenbean.sixpack]

If we win 4 it shows that Lebby has figured things out a little and he'll be locked in to year 3. If we win 5 or more, it shows we are on the right path and enthusiasm for 2026 will be through the roof.

 

[HailStout]

If we win 4 it shows that Lebby has figured things out a little and he'll be locked in to year 3. If we win 5 or more, it shows we are on the right path and enthusiasm for 2026 will be through the roof.

This is the correct take

 

[onewoof]

Look at the play calling in the first and second quarters after our first TD.

Then look at the play calling in the second half.

 

[Duggar Hall Desk]

Love your optimism but I don't see us starting 4-0. I mean, we CAN beat Arizona St, but I don't think we will.

 

[Felonious Junk]

We are better this yr. USM is also better this yr mainly due to their QB. They will win 4+.
Easiest bet of the yr was MSU over 3.5. That will happen. As I've said we will be a 6 or 7 win team. I still predict we start 4 0, UT will be an awesome atmosphere regardless if 4 0 or 3 1.
I said in years past I'm not sps cool, somebody asked what did I mean. The replies in this thread will show you sps cool, you must **** on State to qualify or say some dumb **** like I'll have what your smoking. Regardless, for the majority that just read and don't post, its gonna be a good season compared to last yr, we will go bowling.

 

[Shmuley]

Then the third year will be 3-9.

It’s the Mississippi State Way.

 

[Seinfeld]

We were an abysmal 2-10 team last season, and we just beat a sun belt team that you think should win 4 or so games this year. There are reasons for hope, but I don't think it's being SPS cool to be skeptical that this team is suddenly going to be knocking off SEC teams on its way to a 6-7 win season.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

 

[retire the banner]

We are better this yr. USM is also better this yr mainly due to their QB. They will win 4+.
Easiest bet of the yr was MSU over 3.5. That will happen. As I've said we will be a 6 or 7 win team. I still predict we start 4 0, UT will be an awesome atmosphere regardless if 4 0 or 3 1.
I said in years past I'm not sps cool, somebody asked what did I mean. The replies in this thread will show you sps cool, you must **** on State to qualify or say some dumb **** like I'll have what your smoking. Regardless, for the majority that just read and don't post, its gonna be a good season compared to last yr, we will go bowling.

The irony is “SPS cool” is actually very lame. Who wants to hang around negative losers?

 

[PBRME]

Well. This weekend will tell the tale. We win and 6 is definitely on the table. We lose and it’s not likely.

 

[85Bears]

The irony is “SPS cool” is actually very lame. Who wants to hang around negative losers?

Says the guy who constantly bashed our team during a 9-4 season because he didn’t like the HOF coach

 

[DT4248]

Not an easy bet. I did take the over at 4-8. But we will have to pull off a big upset to get there.

How do you define big? Vegas has us much closer to winning against ASU than one would think. Yea it's a home game but that's a suspiciously small spread.

 

[patdog]

How do you define big? Vegas has us much closer to winning against ASU than one would think. Yea it's a home game but that's a suspiciously small spread.

Yeah, that is a strange spread. I figured closer to 17 than 7. I hope I’m wrong, but I’m not optimistic.

 

[85Bears]

Yeah, that is a strange spread. I figured closer to 17 than 7. I hope I’m wrong, but I’m not optimistic.

Vegas doesn’t think ASU is that good, I don’t either

 

[eckie1]

Vegas doesn’t think ASU is that good, I don’t either

We were the better team last year, too. Our freshman DC had a terrible game plan and we gave up a defensive score. And still almost came all the way back.

 

[patdog]

We were the better team last year, too. Our freshman DC had a terrible game plan and we gave up a defensive score. And still almost came all the way back.

No we weren’t. At all. We were lucky the garbage time points made it look a lot closer than it was. But that was a beat down. I’m afraid Saturday won’t be pretty either.

 

[OG Goat Holder]

Genespage is over yonder ————>

 

[eckie1]

No we weren’t. At all. We were lucky the garbage time points made it look a lot closer than it was. But that was a beat down. I’m afraid Saturday won’t be pretty either.

We didn’t even try to stop the run and had a nice 14-point swing when Glass Joe handed them a TD at the 1. They had the worst Qb I’ve ever seen and we didn’t stack the box. And we still had a chance to win. I don’t give a **** about “garbage time”, we gave them an entire game of it and still could’ve won.

 

[She Mate Me]

We were the better team last year, too. Our freshman DC had a terrible game plan and we gave up a defensive score. And still almost came all the way back.

We finished 2-10. Somehow I'm doubting we were actually better than a team that went to the CFP, nearly beat Texas there and ran out to a 30-3 lead on us before we decided we were supposed to be giving an effort.

I do hope we're the better team this year, but I have my doubts.

 

[NotCadaver]

We are better this yr. USM is also better this yr mainly due to their QB. They will win 4+.
Easiest bet of the yr was MSU over 3.5. That will happen. As I've said we will be a 6 or 7 win team. I still predict we start 4 0, UT will be an awesome atmosphere regardless if 4 0 or 3 1.
I said in years past I'm not sps cool, somebody asked what did I mean. The replies in this thread will show you sps cool, you must **** on State to qualify or say some dumb **** like I'll have what your smoking. Regardless, for the majority that just read and don't post, its gonna be a good season compared to last yr, we will go bowling.

So if being realistic is "SPS Cool", what is the term for being overly optimistic? Because this team may be improved, maybe even more than we realize, but with the schedule from hell we will not win 6 games. I'm not trying to be "cool", I'm just looking at the schedule and can't find the 4th win, much less the 5th and 6th. The schedule is brutal. 6 wins will require 3 upsets

 

[DT4248]

So if being realistic is "SPS Cool", what is the term for being overly optimistic? Because this team may be improved, maybe even more than we realize, but with the schedule from hell we will not win 6 games. I'm not trying to be "cool", I'm just looking at the schedule and can't find the 4th win, much less the 5th and 6th. The schedule is brutal. 6 wins will require 3 upsets

You can talk yourself into ASU & OM taking big steps back + us being at home. Then it's if you think Ark or Florida has a lame duck coach that we can sneak a road win on. We always annoy aTm even in our bad years.

Teams are beatable, not everyone just gets better year over year. Some others get worse too. I mean tu is going to be way worse if Arch doesn't learn to throw over hand to his right side. Otherwise just blitz blindside and have right side dline spy contain and swat things down / make arm angles suck. He is super inaccurate throwing sidearm.

 

[85Bears]

You can talk yourself into ASU & OM taking big steps back + us being at home. Then it's if you think Ark or Florida has a lame duck coach that we can sneak a road win on. We always annoy aTm even in our bad years.

Teams are beatable, not everyone just gets better year over year. Some others get worse too. I mean tu is going to be way worse if Arch doesn't learn to throw over hand to his right side. Otherwise just blitz blindside and have right side dline spy contain and swat things down / make arm angles suck. He is super inaccurate throwing sidearm.

What bad years have we annoyed a and m ?

 

[NotCadaver]

You can talk yourself into ASU & OM taking big steps back + us being at home. Then it's if you think Ark or Florida has a lame duck coach that we can sneak a road win on. We always annoy aTm even in our bad years.

Teams are beatable, not everyone just gets better year over year. Some others get worse too. I mean tu is going to be way worse if Arch doesn't learn to throw over hand to his right side. Otherwise just blitz blindside and have right side dline spy contain and swat things down / make arm angles suck. He is super inaccurate throwing sidearm.

A 14-7 loss to Ohio State and suddenly Texas may be beatable for us? I cannot talk myself into that kind of stuff. Not realistic

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

We will learn a great deal about our team this weekend, or rather, whether we can keep up with the other teams on our schedule.

 

[DT4248]

A 14-7 loss to Ohio State and suddenly Texas may be beatable for us? I cannot talk myself into that kind of stuff. Not realistic

I didn't say that. But appreciate you taking the out to argue the point I didn't make. I gave an example of a team clearly taking a step back.

There's a reality where our schedule is *easier* than Ole Miss.

Tulane > ASU
LSU > tu
Wazzu > NIU / USM
OU > aTm
SCar > Tenn
Us > Them

Only difference is Mizz > UK, but Mizz did just have their QB get hurt.

 

[85Bears]

I didn't say that. But appreciate you taking the out to argue the point I didn't make. I gave an example of a team clearly taking a step back.

There's a reality where our schedule is *easier* than Ole Miss.

Tulane > ASU
LSU > tu
Wazzu > NIU / USM
OU > aTm
SCar > Tenn
Us > Them

Only difference is Mizz > UK, but Mizz did just have their QB get hurt.

Those > teams are highly questionable, you also have to factor in ole Miss is a better team with a better coach

lsu > texas ? Ou > ags ? S car > tenn ? Based on what ?

 

[She Mate Me]

I didn't say that. But appreciate you taking the out to argue the point I didn't make. I gave an example of a team clearly taking a step back.

There's a reality where our schedule is *easier* than Ole Miss.

Tulane > ASU
LSU > tu
Wazzu > NIU / USM
OU > aTm
SCar > Tenn
Us > Them

Only difference is Mizz > UK, but Mizz did just have their QB get hurt.

Are you using something objective to declare teams better than other teams or is it all just your opinion??

I mean Texas was #1 in the country and now they're not as good as LSU because they lost to a great OSU team on the road? I need more evidence.

 

[Anon2444666666]

chatgpt weighs in...

1. Offensive Line​

The offensive line looked shaky. There were too many penalties, inconsistent protection, and a lack of dominance up front—even against a less talented opponent. MSU needs more technically sound, athletic linemen who can clean up mistakes and control the line of scrimmage.

2. High-End Defensive Talent​

While the defense was solid overall, there’s a long-term concern about talent level. Mississippi State needs more difference-makers—especially in the front seven. Recruiting more explosive, high-upside defensive players is critical if the team wants to compete in the SEC long-term.

3. Disciplined, Smart Players​

The team committed a high number of penalties (especially on offense). That reflects a need for players who are mentally sharp and disciplined. Recruiting guys with high football IQ and strong fundamentals could help reduce self-inflicted mistakes.

---

What’s Working (and Should Be Sustained)​

1. Running Back Depth​

The RB group showed solid production and versatility. That room looks strong, but they should keep adding dynamic backs to maintain depth and competition.

2. Quarterback Play​

Blake Shapen was efficient and sharp. While there’s no immediate QB crisis, Mississippi State should still look to add a talented successor or developmental prospect behind him.

3. Cornerback Depth​

The secondary stepped up even without a key starter. That’s a good sign—but continuing to recruit physical, man-cover corners is important to sustain it.