100 Day Bulldog Countdown: 6 Days - No. 6, RB Davon Booth and DE Deonte Anderson

Year two of the Jeff Lebby era has arrived and the Mississippi State coach is back to work.

After a disappointing first season, the coach and his staff are doing what they can to get things back on track in Starkville. The players on the field will be the difference for State this season if they are to make a return and we’re going to discuss every single one of them over the course of the next few months.

As we do every year, we’re counting down 100 days until State’s first game at Southern Miss in Hattiesburg on August 30. Over this period of time, we’ll breakdown every scholarship player on the roster, look back at great moments in MSU history and even talk about legends that have come before the current Bulldogs.

Today, we look at two critical pieces on each side of the ball.    

6 Days: No. 6, Sr. Running Back Davon Booth         

Among all of the acquisitions that State made in the offseason adding new talent to the roster, the sudden and somewhat unexpected return of Booth might have been the best news of all.

The Bulldogs were going to be in solid shape at running back this season regardless. Johnnie Daniels was returning after a solid first year sharing reps with Booth and Keyvonne Lee. Talented freshman Kolin Wilson was coming in and paired with game breaking sophomores Xavier Gayten and Seth Davis and the Bulldogs also had one of the top backs in the portal on the way in Fluff Bothwell.

As good as a situation as things were, Booth’s return puts this group on a totally different level now. A ruling by the NCAA that granted every former junior college player after 2019 one more season of eligibility gave Booth another chance at it. A player that was working for the NFL Draft suddenly had one more season to work on his craft in the SEC and he jumped at it.

Booth enters year five of his college career coming off a strong finish with the Bulldogs. After a slow start to the season, Booth would come through with three 100-yard rushing performances late in the year and finished with 759 yards rushing and five touchdowns, 13 catches for 164 yards and four scores and 308 kick return yards. It earned him Third-Team All-SEC honors as an All-Purpose back.

The Las Vegas native played high school football in California at El Monte and rushed for nearly 3,000 yards in his senior season with 36 rushing touchdowns and another 627 yards on just 22 catches for 11 scores. The eye-popping numbers over two years include over 5,000 rushing yards and 67 touchdowns.

Booth was set to head to San Jose State out of high school but instead went the JUCO route and went to Cerritos College. Following a freshman season that netted him 564 yards and seven touchdowns, he was back to his usual self as a sophomore putting up big numbers. Booth had 1,442 yards and eight touchdowns as a sophomore and grabbed All-American honors before he would commit to Utah State to continue his college career.

As a junior, Booth split time as a starter with Utah State playing in all 12 games and starting seven and he made the most of every carry. Booth averaged nearly seven yards per tote as he put up 805 yards and scored six touchdowns to lead the team. That season had Booth’s stock at the highest it had been as he entered the transfer portal and was pushing four-star status as a hot commodity. State would be his destination in the summer.

Following his big season in Starkville last year, Booth’s stock is even higher now. He leads the running back room into a season where they will likely spearhead Lebby’s offense. It’s a loaded room, but he’s still at the top of the list and the leader of the group.

No. 6, Sr. Defensive End Deonte Anderson   

Five years after initially deciding to come to State, Anderson is getting set to wrap up his career.

A former four-star recruit in the 2021 class, Anderson was an All-American at Fort Meade High School. The Bulldogs fought for his signature with teams like Arizona State, West Virginia, UCF, Penn State, South Carolina, Nebraska and others and got him signed in the early signing period of 2020. That announcement wouldn’t come until January, but he would be locked and loaded with the Bulldogs.

Despite being a top 250 player nationally, Anderson wasn’t quite ready to hit the field for the Bulldogs in year one. He redshirted his first year on campus and then began to get some playing time in 2022 with five contests under his belt and he made two tackles.

In 2023, the Bulldog coaches relied more heavily on him as he got a full 12 games and made 38 tackles with four pass deflections, 3.0 tackles for loss, a forced fumble and half a sack. Last season was supposed to be another step forward for Anderson but it didn’t come as he and the Bulldog defensive line struggled with production. He played in 11 of the games and managed just 18 tackles with 2.5 TFL and 0.5 sack.

The offseason has been one of Anderson’s best as he is working at the defensive end position for Coleman Hutzler’s defense. Anderson should get even more playing time this year as the competition level has heated up.