Skip to main content
Mississippi State

Bulldogs and Gators time set for October 18 showdown in The Swamp

3rupauk8_400x400by: Robbie Faulk10/06/25RobbieFaulkOn3
Florida Gators The Swamp
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

It’s a much-needed bye week for Mississippi State as the Bulldogs try to get healthier and recharged for the next portion of the SEC slate, but the work continues.

State (4-2, 0-2 SEC) is back to the drawing board after having back-to-back losses to top 15 teams and another tough challenge is on the way next week at Florida. The Bulldogs and Gators have known that they will be playing afternoon football in the Swamp and now the SEC has announced that they will be playing at 3:15 p.m CT on SEC Network.

The Bulldogs will take on a Gator team that is dealing with a lot of internal pressure around head coach Billy Napier. Florida (2-3, 1-1 SEC) is coming off of a 29-21 triumph over then-No. 9 Texas at home. The Gators had lost three-straight games prior to that with South Florida, LSU and Miami all coming out victorious. The Gators play at No. 5 Texas A&M this week in their fourth-straight game against a top 10 team.

It’s the fourth-straight SEC Network ball game for the Bulldogs as they played against Northern Illinois, Tennessee and Texas A&M on the network. After having a heartbreaking 41-34 overtime outcome against the Volunteers, the Bulldogs were in the game for three quarters against the Aggies on Saturday before things unraveled in the fourth frame.

State struggled to put together anything offensively for most of the game and came away with a disappointing nine points. It tarnished what was a strong first half defensively from the Bulldogs.

“The frustration is, offensively, we were so bad on normal downs. With all the negative plays we had no chance to sustain anything whatsoever,” Lebby said postgame. “We were in third and long the entire day. The negative plays were, without a doubt, what kept the game from having a chance to go the other way. It ended up being the score it was because of the situations we were in on third down, which is very frustrating.”

The Bulldogs are beaten up heading into this bye week as they were without two of the more important players on each side of the ball. Linebacker Isaac Smith and right tackle Albert Reese each left the game against UT and didn’t return and neither were able to play in College Station. In addition to those two, State is without starting defensive end Will Whitson and RT Blake Steen for the rest of the season.

To make matters worse, State watched star running back Fluff Bothwell go down with an apparent lower leg injury in the final offensive possession of the ball game and he was carted off the field. Sources have been muddy on his status and Lebby won’t speak to the media until Tuesday morning.

In the meantime, this week, and the next, will be about preparing for the Gators, but also about getting as healthy as the team can be. State played five-straight weeks of ball before a bye week ahead of the Battle for the Golden Egg on Black Friday.

“I think those guys understand the road we’ve got in front of us. We got to go maximize the open date. We got to find ways to get better. We got to get healthy. As we go into next week, those are the goals,” Lebby said. “We’ve got to get better every single day. We got to get healthy and we’ve got to continue to develop some of the guys to create a little depth. (Saturday), we had five offensive linemen and we need to have the ability to play seven guys. We’re not quite there.”

You may also like