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Keys to victory as Mississippi State football hopes to rebound vs the Florida Gators

Here's what the Bulldogs must do to defeat the Gators.

By Andrew Miller

Sep 14, 2024; Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs quarterback Blake Shapen (2) makes a pass against the Toledo Rockets during the fourth quarter at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-Imagn Images
Sep 14, 2024; Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs quarterback Blake Shapen (2) makes a pass against the Toledo Rockets during the fourth quarter at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-Imagn Images / Matt Bush-Imagn Images
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Mississippi State football plays its SEC opener Saturday at 11:00 AM CT in Starkville against the Florida Gators. The Bulldogs are in desperate need of a win, and here are three keys that could lead them to victory...

Get the run game going

State has been awful running the football to this point, and in this offense, it's hard to consistently find success if you have no threat of the run. They've got to be better running the ball, and against a Florida defense that's struggled up front, they should have an opportunity. Johnnie Daniels ran well in the second half against Toledo. State needs to get him involved early in this game to see if he can be the spark necessary in the run game. They also need to make more use of Blake Shapen as a runner. He's done well scrambling, but there's been very few designed runs for him. That's to protect him, but at this point, you can't worry about that. You have to do something to get a run game going, and he can help there.

Force whoever is in at QB for Florida to beat you

The Gators have issues at QB. Veteran Graham Mertz has struggled this year despite playing well last season. True freshman DJ Lagway has all the talent in the world, but unsurprisingly, he's made freshman mistakes in his chances thus far. Florida's success offensively comes when they can get the run game going through Montrell Johnson and get easy completions to Elijah Badger. If you're State, you have to put the game in the hands of whoever is playing QB for Florida. Take away the run, key in on Badger, and make Mertz or Lagway beat you.

Clean up the penalties

Last week against Toledo, MSU committed 10 penalties for 104 yards. They had a holding penalty on the very first play of the game that negated a nine yard gain and immediately got them behind the chains. The number of penalties weren't as big a deal the first two weeks, but untimely infractions still cost them. With the issues State had had, they can't afford to make these kinds of mistakes, especially on offense when they've made it clear they aren't built to succeed in long yardage. They've got to clean that up to beat Florida.

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