Mississippi State Football: What Does Will Rogers Need on Saturday?

The Mississippi State football team is 2-0 and is coming off a win vs. a Power-5 opponent on the road. See what we did right against Arizona, here. This week the Mississippi State Bulldogs open up its SEC football schedule on Saturday. The Bulldogs take on the LSU Tigers Saturday night at 5:00 p.m. One of the keys to victory is Will Rogers having a good, maybe great, game.

What does Will Rogers need to have on Saturday? Swagger.

Yes, you read that correctly. He needs swagger to go to the Death Valley and win on Saturday night. Did Dak Prescott have swagger in 2014? Yes. Did KJ Costello have swagger in 2020? Yes. Those are the only two quarterbacks in 30 years to go to Baton Rouge and win. Can Will Rogers do the same? I think it comes down to swagger.

What does Swagger mean?

Google definition: walk or behave in a very confident and typically arrogant or aggressive way.

Google pretty much nails it on the head. Rogers needs to have the type of confidence he has had in the first two non-conference games, if not more. Confidence can make a kid play to the best of their ability. I know many hate the guy, but Johnny Manziel’s confidence was unlike any other quarterback I’ve seen play the game. Did his confidence leak into arrogance? Yes, but was he still incredible? Yes.

I want to see some confidence from Will Rogers III on Saturday night. I think it’s the only way the Bulldogs walk away with a win. I know swagger and confidence are more of a mindset than anything, but Death Valley has a reputation for creating irritating mindsets for opposing players. Rogers can’t let the hype get to him. He has proven that stage isn’t too big after his second-half comeback vs. the Auburn Tigers last season.

Personally, I think the fans have already seen more swagger out of Will Rogers through the first two games. It’s certainly easier to have confidence vs. Memphis and Arizona than it is LSU. Let’s see more of this on Saturday, Will.