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Mississippi State

Initial Availability Report for Mississippi State-Florida

3rupauk8_400x400by: Robbie Faulk10/16/25RobbieFaulkOn3
isaac smith8
Photo by Jared Thomas, Maroon and White Daily

An important SEC football game is on the way this weekend with Mississippi State heading to Gainesville to take on the Florida Gators, and Bulldog fans have been anxiously awaiting updates on injuries.

The initial availability report was released by the SEC on Wednesday night that gives a bit of clarity for the weekend. Jeff Lebby has RT Albert Reese and LB Isaac Smith listed as Questionable with RB Fluff Bothwell out on Saturday against the Gators. In addition to those are the already known season-ending injuries of DE Will Whitson and RT Blake Steen as well as backup center Brennan Smith.

Reese and Smith have been at the forefront of State fans’ minds over the last three weeks. Both of the players were injured in State’s 41-34 overtime loss to Tennessee and would miss the ball game against Texas A&M.

Lebby said earlier this week that if neither were able to practice on Wednesday morning, it would be difficult for them to play in Saturday’s game. Reese started the first game of the season at left tackle before playing right tackle all of the second half against Southern Miss. Over the next three ball games, he started for the Bulldogs on the right side and has arguably been State’s best blocker to this point.

If Reese can’t play on Saturday, the Bulldogs will have Jayvin James likely starting at one tackle spot with Jimothy Lewis and Luke Work the most likely candidates at the other spot. Work started at right tackle against the Aggies as the Bulldogs surrendered 5.0 sacks as a team.

“When you look at it and we step back, we haven’t played the way we need to go play. But also understanding whether it’s Jayvin or Zack (Owens), Canon Boone moving to center about five days into fall camp. We’ve played a lot of different guys at a lot of different spots,” Lebby said of the line on Monday. “Hopefully, we have the ability to get Albert back. We’re not there yet but that’s the hope. That group has to keep developing. We knew that was going to be a challenge. We’ve got to go play better. I’ve got to continue to help those guys and find ways to create some layups. It was a great open date for those guys.”

Smith is the team’s only preseason All-SEC member after leading the conference with 127 tackles a season ago. Playing more at linebacker this fall, Smith has 28 tackles in four and a half games with two pass deflection and his first career interception. Smith went out in the first half against Tennessee with an apparent ankle injury and missed the A&M game but sources believe he will play on Saturday against the Gators.

As for Bothwell, his lack of availability this week isn’t a surprise to State fans. Bothwell left the ball game in the final 3 minutes against the Aggies after taking a hit on a dump off pass with the Bulldogs trailing 31-9.

Bothwell was carried off the field on a cart and the worst was feared. Lebby said during the bye week that the results of the scans said that it was much better than previously thought and he would be available again this year. His timeline in full is undetermined.

State still has depth at the position with veteran running back Davon Booth fully healthy and playmaking sophomore Xavier Gayten now set to see an increase in reps.

“We feel good about that room. We’ve talked about the depth in that room. We’re going to need some guys to step up, obviously,” Lebby said. “The stress and the strain becomes a little bit more on teams as (Gayten) gets to make more of an impact at running back. There’s some shuffling going on there where we’re going to need guys to step up and know their role.”

State and Florida are set to get things rolling at 3:15 on Saturday afternoon in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The game can be seen on the SEC Network.

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