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Mississippi State football: Five Iowa Hawkeyes to watch out for

By Ethan Lee

STARKVILLE, MS - NOVEMBER 17: Nick Fitzgerald #7 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs runs the ball up the middle in the first half of a game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Davis Wade Stadium on November 17, 2018 in Starkville, Mississippi. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
STARKVILLE, MS - NOVEMBER 17: Nick Fitzgerald #7 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs runs the ball up the middle in the first half of a game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Davis Wade Stadium on November 17, 2018 in Starkville, Mississippi. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /
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Keep an eye on these Iowa Hawkeyes as the Mississippi State football team tries to bring home an Outback Bowl win on New Year’s Day

For the first time ever the Mississippi State football team can bring home a win in the Outback Bowl. In Joe Moorhead’s first season as the head coach of the Bulldogs, he is on the verge of taking them to their fourth season of winning at least 9 games in the past five years.

But, if Mississippi State is going to claim that coveted 9th victory, the Bulldogs must come out on top of the Iowa Hawkeyes. And if the Bulldogs are going to come out on top of the Iowa Hawkeyes, they’ll need to watch out for the following five players:

  1. Nathan Stanley– The starting quarterback for the Iowa Hawkeyes. He’s not the most mobile and he’s not the best passer in the country, but he is robust and fairly efficient. This season, Stanley has thrown for 2638 yards, 23 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions while completing 58.5 percent of his passes. For his career, the Iowa starting quarterback has thrown for 5132 yards, 49 touchdowns, and 15 intercpetions while completing 57.2 percent of his passes.
  2. T.J. Hockenson– T.J. Hockenson hasn’t been playing college football for very long, but he’s already one of the best tight ends in the country. As a sophomore, Hockenson caught 46 passes for 717 yards and 6 touchdowns. That’s a big improvement over last season when he caught 24 passes for 320 yards and 3 touchdowns. Hockenson is 6-5 and 250 pounds, so he could very well be a matchup nightmare for the Bulldogs.
  3. Mekhi Sargent– A third member of Iowa’s offense that Mississippi State needs to keep an eye on is Mehki Sargent. Sargent, like Hockenson, is a sophomore and has run for 748 yards and 9 touchdowns. He’s only getting 4.9 yards per carry, but he’s 5-10 and 210 pounds. He could certainly be an issue if he got into the open field.
  4. Anthony Nelson– Iowa has two players who have made 9.5 sacks this season and Anthony Nelson is the first guy to do that for the Hawkeyes that we’re going to discuss. At 6-7 and 271 pounds, Nelson is a massive force who could disrupt Mississippi State’s offense and do so with ease. The star defensive end has 11 tackles for loss this year and will need to be accounted for by State’s offensive line at all times.
  5. A.J. Epenesa– Like Anthony Nelson, A.J. Epenesa has 9.5 sacks this year. Also like Nelson, Epenesa is a talented and large defensive end that might be able to get after Nick Fitzgerald. Epenesa has 15 tackles for loss this year and at 6-5, 277 pounds, is big enough to be concerning for the Bulldogs.

Next. Five things Bulldogs must do to win Outback Bowl. dark

The Mississippi State football team certainly has a great chance of winning the 2019 Outback Bowl, but the Bulldogs can’t look past these Hawkeyes. If they do, then MSU will have some issues coming out on top.

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