With another week of football being played, it is time to see what the EA College Football 25 video game predicts, as the Mississippi State Bulldogs play host to the UMass Minutemen. In recent weeks, EA has correctly predicted the outcome of Mississippi State's football games. On paper, Mississippi State is the more talented team even with their struggles on the field. With that being said, who does EA Sports predict to win this game?
EA CFB 25 sees a disastrous ending for Bulldogs vs UMass
After the first half, Mississippi State was in command with a 16-3 lead, and the Bulldogs appeared to be heading to victory.
Kyle Ferrie put the Bulldogs on top with a 20-yard field goal with 4:15 left in the first quarter. He then knocked in his second field goal from 32-yards out with 22 seconds left in the first. Early in the second quarter, Jacob Lurie made a 17-yard field goal with 10:27 left to cut the lead to three. With 4:35 left in the second quarter, Ferrie made his third field goal. This time it was a 44-yard field goal which made the game 9-3 in favor of the Bulldogs. State finally scored their first touchdown with 52 seconds left when Michael Van Buren connected on a 5-yard touchdown pass to Kelly Akharaiyi.
In the third quarter, both teams struggled to find their footing offensively. UMass scored the only touchdown of the quarter when Taisun Phommachanh found Jakobie Kenney-James for an 8-yard touchdown pass. Ferrie made his fourth field goal of the day to give the Bulldogs a 19-10 lead with 28 seconds left in the quarter.
The fourth quarter is when things started to unravel for State defensively. They allowed the Minutemen to get into field goal range, and Lurie made a 33-yard field goal to cut the lead to six with 12 minutes left. State managed to push the lead back out to nine points when Ferrie converted a 37-yard field goal with 7:36 left. However, these were the last points State would score in the game. UMass reeled off two touchdowns with less than five minutes remaining in the ball game. CJ Hester scored on a 5-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to two. With 1:08 left, UMass took the lead thanks to another rushing touchdown from Hester. This time he scored from 20-yards out which ended up being the game-winning touchdown.
UMass wins 27-22
Bulldog offense far too quiet against Minutemen in simulation
Van Buren struggled passing by only completing 55 percent of his passes for 184 yards on 29 attempts. He did manage to get on passing touchdown with no interceptions, but he struggled to push the ball downfield averaging only six yards per completion. Meanwhile, UMass had a little more success passing with a 60 percent completion percentage for 202 yards and one touchdown.
Mississippi State did find some success rushing the ball in the simulation. Davon Booth had 47 rushing yards, Seth Davis gained 118 yards rushing and Akharaiyi had 31 rushing yards. UMass had three players who gained at least 40 rushing yards. Hester gained 56 yards on the ground, Jalen John had 93 rushing yards and Phommachanh had 40 rushing yards.
Kevin Coleman and Jordan Mosley were the only two receivers for State who gained over 40 receiving yards. Coleman had six catches for 60 yards and Mosley gained 43 yards on three receptions. Akharaiyi had 33 receiving yards and one touchdown in the game. Keeney-James was the leading receiver for the Minutemen hauling in four receptions for 45 yards and one touchdown.
Once again, just like in real life, Mississippi State struggled to get any pressure on the quarterback. John Lewis and Stone Blanton each had half a sack, but that was it for the pass rush. Brylan Lanier and De'monte Russell were the only Bulldogs to record a tackle for loss, and Blaton was the only Bulldog who recorded double-digit tackles with 11.