Mississippi State football film preview: Can Bulldogs crush Western Michigan?

Mississippi State football looks to snap their three-game losing streak against the Western Michigan Broncos. What can we expect out of this MAC opponent?

After three-straight SEC games, and unfortunately three-straight SEC losses, Mississippi State football finally gets what should be a more manageable opponent on their schedule. The Western Michigan Broncos of the MAC come to Starkville this Saturday, State’s last game before a much-needed bye week in the middle of this 2023 season.

WMU, led by first-year HC Lance Taylor, enters the game with a 2-3 record, and truth be told, they’ve probably been better to this point than many preseason projections anticipated.

This was a team that underwhelmed in 2022. They fielded an incredible defense, but their ineptitude on offense led to a 5-7 finish. Now much of the production from that defense has transferred out of the program, and the returning experience is with the side of the ball that actually needed the reset: the offense.

Many viewed them as the worst team in the MAC.

What can Mississippi State football fans expect to see as the Bulldogs host Western Michigan?

Still, Taylor has done a nice job of fielding a competent team thus far. New OC Billy Kosh has done a fantastic job of getting the most of the pieces available to him. Taylor retained DC Lou Esposito, and though he doesn’t have nearly as much talent to work with this year, his attacking style has generated enough havoc to keep the Broncos respectable.

This is obviously a team that, on paper, should be greatly out-matched by Mississippi State. If the Bulldogs play sound football, they’ll win easily. But playing sound football hasn’t exactly been commonplace for State so far this year.

There’s some feistiness to WMU, a team who stuck around for a half at Iowa. State can’t afford to screw around.

Here’s what to watch for from Western Michigan…