The SEC is so tough that you have to forecast half the teams to lose and it is hardly possible to do that. When you think about the fact that Vandy is coming up in the standings then things are really difficult. In the past you could always depend on Vandy, Kentucky and the Mississippi teams to stink!!! However, that is not the case anymore. Miss St has a good group of coaching down there and they have done a great job of getting things going again like Jackie Sherrill did for so many years. Tennessee is on the Bulldogs schedule this year and the Vols have the best receivers in the conference. There have been times that Miss St was good at stopping the run but not the pass. They may have problems with the Vols and the Razorbacks for just that reason.
I am still picking Arkansas to win this game.
Below is a review from a Miss St blogger:
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51 days ago
Reasons Mississippi State football can have a successful 2012 season:
RB:
Yes we lose Vic Ballard and he was a very good back, but this MSU backfield is very deep. JR. Ladarius Perkins, So. Nick Griffen and RFR. Josh Robinson an Derrick Milton form possibly the deepest backfield ever at State. All but Perkins is unknown, but Griffen is a bigger, stronger, slightly faster Ballard and a bruiser. Robinson is a name every household in America will know in the next few years. He shifty and explosive. And at around 220 lbs he runs in the 4.3’s. Milton is a bruiser who will be the 4th back in this rotation, but he’s a power back with good, not great speed. Overall RB will be a strength.WR:
For one, this is an highly experienced group. SR. Chad Bumphis, SR. Arceto Clark, SR. Chris Smith, SR. Brandon Heavens and JR. Ricco Sanders have taken a lot of snaps in there career and I fully expect SO. Jameon Lewis’s career to take off in 2012. Lewis has electric moves and is very quick on his feet. He can stop and go and cut on an absolute dime. I also expect great things from SO. Robert Johnson before his career is over. RFR. Joe Morrow will be a huge addition to the team this year. This guy may even end up starting pretty soon, because he brings much needed size at 6’4 plus. Can he be the deep threat we need? I think he can be. TE Malcolm Johnson, a SO. is a hybrid type that’s up to 235 pounds now. And we have good depth in SO. Brandon Hill and RFR. Rufus Warren. TE will be a major strength for this 2012 football team.Whole defense:
This whole defense will be a strength in 2012 and beyond. One thing MSU has done lately is develop major major depth on this side of the ball. Anyone who disagrees with this, is, well blind. Fletcher Cox graduates and will be a top ten pick in the 2012 draft. Normally on most years this would really hurt our program. This year, not so much. The reason why is because of the additions of Junior College All American DE Denico Autry. Autry brings something State has lacked tremendously in the past few years. A speed rusher. He has 1st round NFL potential. In fact, there is NFL potential throughout the whole defensive line. SR. DT Josh Boyd will be the leader of this defense and will play on Sundays. Boyd is a very skilled player. Returning starter at DE, SO. Kaleb Eulls, SO. DT PJ Jones, True FR. Quay Evans, Nick James and AJ Jefferson all have future NFL potential, although I fully expect James and Jefferson to redshirt this year. SR. Shane Mccardell, SO. Preston Smith and RFR. John Harris will provide depth ath the DE positions. SO. Curtis Virges, SR. Devin Jones, SR. Dwayne Cherrington will provide much needed depth at the DT positions. This group is a major strength. Linebacker was suppose to be a major weakness in 2011 and it turned out to be a strength. We return 2 gifted starters, JR. Deonte Skinner and SR. Cam Lawrence, and will be much more talented at LB in 2012 than in 2011 with the additions of RFR. Bernardrick Mcckinney, a healthy Chris Hughes and a whole year of experience from Matt Wells and Fernando Bohanna. IMO, Skinner and McKinney have NFL potential and although Cam may be our best LB right now, I think he’s just a great College LB and not an NFL one. Again, LB will be a strength in 2012 along with the Defensive Line and DB’s. Speaking of DB’s, we are loaded with CB’s. SR’s Darius Slay and Jonathan Banks both will be getting ready for the NFL draft, at this time next year. And IMO Slay may be the better prospect on the next level, of the two. Corey Broomfield has started since a FR. at State, but I expect him to slide from CB to Safety all year this year. SO. Jamerson Love, RFR. Tavez Calhoun and FR. Will Redmond provide depth. Safety’s will be an inexperienced group for the most part with the exception of Nickoe Whitley. He is a stud and big time hitter.The other starter will be SO., Dee Arrington or SO. Jay Hughes. Both have the talent, but not much experience. Look forRFR. Kendrick Market to provide some depth here as well. True FR. Quadry Antoine may not redshirt and provide needed depth here. Overall, this could be one of the best State defenses in a long time and one reason we will be in every game this year.Question Marks:
The QB position is full of questions. JR. Tyler Russell got tons of experience last year and basically was the starter for the most part. Although he’s immensely talented, probably the most talented QB State has ever seen, he still has a lot to prove. He has all the tools so maybe this is his year. His backup, RFR. Dak Prescott is a star in the making. I fully expect him to step right in his JR. year and be big time. He has the size, tools and ability to be a great QB in Mullen’s system. Like I said, you never know at QB and a great one is hard to come by. I do think we are ok here, but it’s still a question mark.
OL:
As we know we lost a couple of starters on the line, but definitely did not lose a Sherrod this time. This unit will be a whole lot better this year, because a lot of young guys gained valuable experience last year. SO. Blaine Clausell is expected to start at LT and he is a very athletic big man. He’s further ahead at this point in his career than Sherrod was. Junior College transfer, Charles Siddoway, is expected to step in and be an upgrade of Addison Lawrence. Siddoway had a chance to be a good one. At Guard spots we have an All SEC player in JR. Gabe Jackson and a very good talent on the opposite side in SR. Tobias Smith. Smith had to prove he can stay healthy though. At C we return a starter in SO. Dillon Day. He has one heck of a mean streak and could turn into an All SEC caliber player someday himself. If the starting five stay healthy, this combination has a chance to be very good. We do have a little more depth this year in SO. Damien Robinson, JR College transfer Dylan Day, SO. Archie Muniz and RFR. Justin Malone. Overall the O-Line could be the surprise of the team this year, like the LB’s were last year.Kickers:
We’ve had this problem for a few years now, so maybe it isn’t to big of a concern???Conclusion:
Call me a homer all you want, tell me I have Maroon & White goggles on or that I’m delusional, but the fact is that Mississippi State University has a football program that’s headed in the right direction. Mullen and his staff have recruited players to fit their system and it’s starting to pay off. They have now pulled in their first top 20 class and I fully expect things to keep getting better. This is a football team that is disciplined, well coached and well conditioned and that’s a pedigree for success every day of the week and twice on Sundays. It’s time for the next step and I fully expect that to happen, beginning in 2012. Thanks & God Bless!
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