The wide receivers didn’t really improve much
One big issue that persisted throughout the final season of the Dan Mullen era was the overall lack of a downfield receiving threat. MSU actually lacked the existence of a reliable receiving threat of any sort in 2017.
During that season, no receiver or running back or tight end managed to even get to 300 yards receiving. Keith Mixon was Mississippi State’s leading receiver in 2017 with a grand total of 275 receiving yards and a single touchdown. Deddrick Thomas did have four touchdown receptions, but he only had 227 receiving yards.
Things were supposed to be much better in 2018. Stephen Guidry arrived in Starkville, Osirus Mitchell looked to be taking steps forward, Austin Williams was emerging during the spring and summer, and Farrod Green and Justin Johnson were present at tight end.
However, in 2018, only two receivers managed to get more than 400 yards receiving, and that was the aforementioned Guidry and Mitchell. And, well, both of those receivers had significant issues with dropped passes.
In Mississippi State’s game against Florida, the Bulldogs could have had a deep pass caught for a touchdown by Mitchell, but he dropped it. Mississippi State lost that game by 7 points.
In the bowl game against Iowa, Guidry had an opportunity to catch a ball in the endzone late in the game. Instead, the ball bounced off of him and right into the hands of an Iowa Hawkeye defensive back. That gave MSU another turnover instead of another touchdown.