Maroon and White Nation
Fansided

Mississippi State football: Can Bulldogs overcome road struggles for Egg Bowl?

By Ethan Lee

OXFORD, MS - NOVEMBER 26: Nick Fitzgerald #7 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs runs the ball for a touchdown during a game against the Mississippi Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on November 26, 2016 in Oxford, Mississippi. The Bulldogs defeated the Rebels 55-20. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
OXFORD, MS - NOVEMBER 26: Nick Fitzgerald #7 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs runs the ball for a touchdown during a game against the Mississippi Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on November 26, 2016 in Oxford, Mississippi. The Bulldogs defeated the Rebels 55-20. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Mississippi State football team has seen its share of struggles on offense while playing on the road this season. Can the Bulldogs overcome those issues in Oxford to win the Egg Bowl?

There shouldn’t be any questions about which team is currently better coming into the 2018 Egg Bowl. The Mississippi State football team is 7-4 at the moment while Ole Miss currently has a record of 5-6. In Bill Connelly’s S&P+ rankings, the Bulldogs sit at No. 11 while the Rebels are at No. 57.

MSU has been better than Ole Miss this year up to this point, but that doesn’t mean that this team is invincible. Especially when playing on the road.

The Mississippi State football team has struggled quite a bit when it comes to playing away from Davis Wade Stadium in 2018 and most of those struggles have come against SEC opponents.

When MSU faced Kentucky in Lexington early on this season, the Bulldogs lost to the Wildcats by an embarrassing 28-7 score. At the end of October, MSU traveled down to Baton Rouge and lost to LSU 19-3. And then a couple of weeks ago, Mississippi State lost in Tuscaloosa 24-0. Three SEC road trips, three losses by a combined 61 points.

More from Mississippi State Football

Mississippi State can’t afford to fall apart on offense up in Oxford tomorrow evening. Specifically, Joe Moorhead can’t afford for Mississippi State to fall apart on offense up in Oxford tomorrow evening.

The highly touted offensive genius has seen his offense struggle this season. That’s not normal for Moorhead and he can’t afford to let it become a longterm trend with MSU.

Thankfully for MSU, Ole Miss one of the worst defenses in the country.

Defensively, the Rebels are bad at just about everything. Defending the pass? Ole Miss struggles to do that. Trying to stop the run? Yeah, the Rebels aren’t exactly known for succeeding at that and haven’t been able to do that for a few years.

Time and time again, Ole Miss has been gashed for big plays throughout the 2018 season. That’ll give MSU plenty of opportunities to overcome some of its issues on offense.

This season, opposing quarterbacks have completed 63.4 percent of their passes for 275.4 passings yards and 2.3 passing touchdowns per game. On the ground, Ole Miss gives up 212.8 rushing yards and 1.9 touchdowns per game. This is a defense that is being torn apart through the air and on the ground by just about everyone.

This is a team that is routinely vulnerable to big plays, ranking 94th in IsoPPP, a stat key to measuring explosive plays that is part of Bill Connelly’s S&P+. MSU will need to take advantage of that.

Next. What must MSU do to crush Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl?. dark

If the Mississippi State football team can get a few big plays on early drives, the Bulldogs will have an opportunity to build a comfortable lead over Ole Miss while also getting in a rhythm against the Rebels. MSU should be able to do that and Moorhead’s offense should be able to have some success tomorrow evening.

Home/Mississippi State Football