Get to know Mississippi State football's 2024 opponents: Eastern Kentucky Colonels
Mississippi State football is just one month away from returning to action, so it's time to start getting to know their opponents for 2024. The Bulldogs will kickoff the Jeff Lebby-era August 31 at 5:00 pm CT in Starkville against FCS Eastern Kentucky.
The EKU Colonels went 5-6 a year ago, but they were 4-2 in conference play with a few close losses that easily could've gone the other way. And they did challenge a SEC team last year.
Eastern Kentucky gave the Kentucky Wildcats a a scare in 2023.
The Colonels played an early season road game against a SEC foe last season, and they ended up faring a lot better than you would've expected. EKU made the short trip north to Lexington to face the Kentucky Wildcats, and they gave Kentucky a legitimate scare.
Kentucky's offense got off to a horribly slow start, allowing EKU to stick around. The Colonels led 10-7 in the third quarter, and early in the fourth, they trailed the Cats just 21-17. UK would add another TD to put them away, 28-17, but EKU was in this one late. They certainly showed that traveling to a SEC environment won't scare them.
Eastern Kentucky has to replace a lot from last season.
The good news for Mississippi State is this won't be anywhere close to the same team that challenged Kentucky in '23. The Colonels have to replace a productive QB, their best RB, their top three WRs, their top LB and best overall defender, and much of the secondary.
EKU had several close losses last season that kept them from being a FCS playoff team, but it doesn't seem likely that things turn in their favor this year with so much new on the roster.
Eastern Kentucky should have some talent in the trenches, but that's unlikely to matter here.
What EKU will have going for themselves are good pieces along both lines of scrimmage. They have a veteran OL led by LT Payton Collins that should pave the way for a solid ground game featuring RB Joshua Carter. In the defensive front, they return some good DL in Ryan Jackson and Darrian Baker as well as LB Frank Lee, who led them in sacks last year.
That said, those matchups are unlikely to be beneficial against Mississippi State. The Bulldogs should still overwhelm them up front on offense and be able to exploit a EKU secondary that had big problems in '23. On the other side, the Colonels lack the passing threats to challenge the MSU defense.
There's no reason for State to not roll in Jeff Lebby's debut game.