5 nightmare scenarios for Mississippi State football in 2023

No. 1: Mississippi State sleep walks through a trap game against Southern Miss just before the Egg Bowl

Mississippi State has more talent than Southern Miss. Mississippi State should be able to win big against Southern Miss. But that absolutely does not mean that Mississippi State can afford to just sleepwalk through a game against an in state program with a chip on its shoulder looking to prove something just days before playing against the Ole Miss Rebels in the Egg Bowl.

The absolute last thing Mississippi State needs is to find a way to run into trouble against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles before the Bulldogs play the Egg Bowl.

That sounds like a recipe for disaster in so many ways.

Overlooking Southern Miss could prove to be a big problem for the Bulldogs. While State has the more talented roster, just trying to cruise through this contest would be foolish. MSU will need to put points on the board and play disciplined football.

Because Southern Miss is absolutely going to do everything possible to pull off an upset against a program that is more prominent than it. And if State lets the Golden Eagles hang around, that could lead to stars and starters having to play late into a game in which it’d be nice if they could get some rest.

The perfect possible outcome would be for MSU to build a big lead early and then just hold on for a multi-score win while Will Rogers and company get rest in the third and fourth quarter before facing Ole Miss.

A nightmare scenario would include the Golden Eagles managing to hold on and complicate matters for MSU.

And even if State wins, should Southern Miss find a way to stay in this game into the fourth quarter, that could mean that the Egg Bowl becomes a problem for the Bulldogs. And I’d appreciate it if that wasn’t the case.