EA Sports College Football 25 might need to recalibrate their simulation feature, at least when it comes to Mississippi State football. Over the last three weeks, the game has predicted the Bulldogs to come away with wins against Arizona State, Toledo, and Florida.
Well in real life, the Bulldogs have lost all three of those games and have done so in largely embarrassing fashion. At least there's some alternate reality where State is a good team, I guess? This week State heads off to Austin to face the top-ranked Texas Longhorns.
Does EA CFB 25 continue to think highly of the Bulldogs in spite of their real life results?
EA Sports College Football 25 has Mississippi State football posting a respectable final score against Texas
Texas walked away with a 27-13 win over Mississippi State. The Longhorns jumped out to an early 17-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. Texas added another touchdown while Kyle Ferrie made his first field goal of the game as Texas entered the half leading 24-3. The Bulldogs did outscore Texas 10-3 in the second half, but it was too little too late as Texas built a large lead that was too much to overcome.
Turnovers key to Longhorns simulated victory
Both teams struggled offensively as Mississippi State gained 239 yards of total offense, and Texas gained 226 yards of total offense. Mississippi State rushed for 105 yards while Texas only rushed for 48 yards. In the passing game, Texas passed for 175 yards to Mississippi State's 130 yards. Both teams struggled on third down as State only converted twice on 11 attempts, and Texas converted three times on 11 attempts. The key stat of the game which helped Texas win was that they did not turn the ball over while also forcing two turnovers of their own.
College Football 25 expects a rough first start for Michael Van Buren
Michael Van Buren struggled in this game as he was 8/16 through the air for 130 yards and one touchdown. He also threw two interceptions which set State behind offensively in the simulation. Davon Booth had the most success running the ball for State. He rushed for 74 yards on 12 attempts. One thing to note is that Xavier Gayten who might be expected to play on Saturday is not in the game. Therefore, Johnnie Daniels got the second most rush attempts. He rushed for 21 yards on five carries. Mario Craver lead the team with three receptions for 55 yards and one touchdown. Kevin Coleman is the only other Bulldog who had more than one reception. He caught two passes for 23 yards. Lastly, Mississippi State's individual defensive stats were spread across the board. Khamauri Rogers, Branden Jennings and Trevion Williams lead the team with four tackles each. Rogers had one tackle for loss, and Williams recorded two tackles for loss. Williams also recorded the only sack of the game for the Bulldogs which is on par with what we have seen from their pass rush this season.
College Football 25 is giving Mississippi State way too much credit
With the exception of the turnovers, the teams had similar stats in the simulation. The difference in the game was that Texas won the turnover battle, and they have better talent at every single position. With these two factors along with better coaching in real life, I do believe EA has predicted this game correctly. However, I think the margin of victory will be much greater for the Longhorns come game time on Saturday.