Football stadium lights at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field.

Mississippi State football vs. Memphis preview: Everything you need for Bulldogs vs. Tigers

Mike Leach and his Mississippi State Bulldogs are getting set to get the 2022 Mississippi State football season underway. The Bulldogs will be facing off against the Memphis Tigers Saturday evening.

For those who don’t remember (or are trying desperately to forget) Memphis was able to come out on top of last season’s meeting between the Bulldogs and the Tigers. It was… controversial, to say the least. That said, Mississippi State should have been able to run away with that game a season ago.

But hey, such is the life of a Mike Leach-coached team in its second season under his guidance. Sometimes things are great, sometimes things aren’t so wonderful.

Now the Bulldogs have a very real shot at getting a bit of revenge for the debacle that happened a season ago. Mississippi State is hosting Memphis and the game between the two is set for a nice, evening kickoff. If you’re ready for MSU football, then here you go.

Here’s just about everything you could possibly need to keep up with the Bulldogs and Tigers this weekend:

Table of contents:

Mississippi State football vs. Memphis Tigers game preview:

Advertisements

Mississippi State football: 3 Memphis Tigers to watch

  • Seth Henigan – Memphis’ sophomore quarterback seems to be pretty talented and had a really strong freshman season. In 2021, Henigan managed to complete 59.8 percent of his passes for 3,322 yards and 25 touchdowns against just 8 interceptions. That’s not bad at all! Henigan and the Tigers’ offense could, in theory, be a problem. But when the Bulldogs and Tigers met in Memphis a season ago, Mississippi State was able to keep him pretty quiet, holding him to just 159 passing yards, though he did throw two touchdowns and an interception.
  • Eddie Lewis – Lewis has been playing football for a few seasons and that sort of experience will be valuable for the Tigers as they travel to Starkville. His experience at Rutgers may not be the most impressive thing ever, but it’s not a bad resume builder. So far during his career, Lewis has caught 51 passes for 552 yards and 5 touchdowns. He’s worth watching out for.
  • Jevyon Ducker– Mississippi State’s defense is solid at stopping rushing attacks, but that probably won’t stop Memphis and Ducker from trying to get their ground game going. Ducker was really good in 2021 while with the Northern Illinois Huskies and there’s a good chance he’ll be good once again this year. He ran for 1,148 yards and 3 touchdowns on 5.4 yards per carry. The Bulldogs can’t afford to overlook him.

Mississippi State football vs. Memphis Tigers: 3 storylines to watch

Mississippi State avoiding any special teams mishaps and frustrations

Last season was a nightmare at times. Specifically when it came to (controversial) punt returns, missed field goals, and just other generally odd issues that cost the Bulldogs dearly.

How much of that has been changed heading into this season? Can MSU football fans expect to see the Bulldogs have more success and consistency whenever it comes to important special teams plays? Last year’s loss to Memphis was controversial largely due to issues with the officials calling the game, but it’s not absurd to say that the situation possibly could have potentially been avoided had the ball been handed to the ref.

So, what will things look like this year? Will the Bulldogs be able to consistently make field goals without giving anyone a heart attack?

Can the Bulldogs contain Memphis’ offense once again?

Mississippi State’s defense has been pretty solid under Zach Arnett’s guidance and his leadership should be able to help the Bulldogs have a solid defense once again. Despite the fact that the Bulldogs were outscored a season ago, Arnett’s defense did its share of keeping Mississippi State in that game in Memphis. The Tigers weren’t able to get even 300 yards of offense. Will that be the case once more?

Advertisements

How polished and explosive is the Air Raid to start year 3?

Last year, Mississippi State fans got to see the highs and lows of the Air Raid. The Bulldogs’ offense was finally able to click (even if it wasn’t always the most consistent thing ever) and Mississippi State went from winning 4 games in 2020 to getting 7 wins and a bowl appearance in 2021. Will Rogers threw for an astonishing 4,739 yards, 36 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions all while completing 73.9 percent of his passes.

Yes, Mississippi State throws the ball a lot. That’s absolutely obvious. But the Bulldogs were able to do it very effectively and very efficiently in 2021. Will that be the case again this season?

I guess we’ll see.

Mississippi State football vs. Memphis Tigers history

Given their proximity, it’s no shocker that the Mississippi State Bulldogs and Memphis Tigers have played each other over the years. The first time the MSU football team met up with Memphis happened all the way back in 1951 when the Bulldogs beat the Tigers 27-20 in Memphis.

This series wasn’t played every single year, but it was frequent for a while.

State continued to find success over Memphis way back in the day in the early years of this series and the Bulldogs won the first nine games they played against the Tigers from 1951 to 1961. Memphis responded by stringing together three straight wins against MSU between the years of 1962 and 1965.

MSU didn’t get the chance to take on the Tigers again until 1974 and the Bulldogs went and won the next few meetings. Overall, this is a series that Mississippi State has overwhelmingly found success in. In recent years, the Bulldogs won every contest with Memphis from 1994 to 2011.

After a decade of a break between the two teams, Mississippi State and Memphis faced each other once more in 2021. And that game was awful.

Here’s to hoping that this game will be better.

Mississippi State football vs. Memphis Tigers: Bulldogs favored vs. Tigers

Advertisements

It sure looks like Mississippi State has a decent chance to get some revenge against the Memphis Tigers after last season’s controversial and infuriating road loss. The Bulldogs get to host Memphis this season and Mississippi State is now in year three of the Mike Leach era.

This is a game they should win. They should have absolutely won last year’s contest, but some costly mistakes and some errant refs ended up contributing to a pretty frustrating road loss for the Bulldogs in 2021.

As it turns out, the folks who like it when people bet on sports happen to think Mississippi State should come out on top of this matchup with Memphis. If you take a look at the betting lines, the Bulldogs are favored by a couple scores over the Tigers.

At the moment, Mississippi State is favored by 16.5 points against Memphis. That could certainly change leading up to kickoff. The over/under is currently set at 57 points, which seems to be a fair amount, all things considered. For more information on what the betting situation looks like, take a look at this handy ESPN resource right here.

Mississippi State football vs. Memphis Tigers: TV channel, live stream, live stats, online coverage

If you can’t make it to Starkville to check out the first game of the 2022 MSU football season, that’s totally understandable. Here’s everything you’ll need to know to watch the Bulldogs host the Memphis Tigers to get this season started.

Advertisements

Mississippi State vs. Memphis game info:

  • Who: Mississippi State Bulldogs vs. Memphis Tigers
  • What: Game 1 of the 2022 MSU football season
  • When: Saturday, Sept. 3 at 6:30 p.m.
  • Where: Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field in Starkville, Mississippi

How to watch Mississippi State vs. Memphis:

Mississippi State vs. Memphis online coverage and live stats:

Mississippi State football vs. Memphis Tigers weather forecast

Advertisements

Well, football season is here and the weather in Mississippi can sometimes get pretty messy this time of year. There’s a decent chance the Bulldogs will have to deal with some rain as they face off against the Memphis Tigers to get the 2022 season started.

Mississippi State and Memphis are slated for a 6:30 p.m. kickoff in Starkville and, well, the forecast from the good folks over at Weather.com seems to think that there might be a chance for at least some rain at some point during the game.

Now, I’m no meteorologist, but the weather looks like it might be okay throughout most of the day on Saturday. It’ll be a little warm though. According to Weather.com’s weekend forecast, the high is going to be around 90 degrees and the humidity is set for 74%.

Make sure you’re drinking plenty of water and staying cool.

Around game time, things appear to cool off a little bit. According to Weather.com’s hourly forecast, it’ll be around 86 degrees at 6 p.m. and there’ll be a bit of a breeze. The rain chance currently says it’ll be 16%, but that increases to 33% around 7 p.m. By 8 p.m. there’s a 45% chance of rain and the forecast says scattered thunderstorms.

So, there’s a chance of rain! It’ll be warm! It’s September in the South. Stay hydrated. Take some ziploc bags to put your cellphone in. Enjoy being in Starkville and getting to watch Mississippi State play football!

Mississippi State football vs. Memphis Tigers 2022 Prediction

Advertisements

Mike Leach and the 2022 MSU football team finally have an opportunity to right what went wrong in Memphis a season ago. The Bulldogs are looking to get a win against the Memphis Tigers, a team they really should’ve beaten in 2021.

But sometimes frustrating, dumb losses happen. And last season’s loss to Memphis certainly fits the bill of a frustrating, dumb loss. Hopefully this year’s matchup won’t play out in the same manner.

While the Bulldogs did lose some key pieces from their team a season ago, Mississippi State’s offense should, in theory, be firing a little more efficiently and effectively this year. Leach is now in his third season in Starkville and the Bulldogs are being led by a quarterback who is certainly familiar with how the offense operates. Will Rogers was remarkable at times a season ago and hopefully he’ll continue to improve this year.

If he can do that, then Mississippi State should certainly win its fair share of games even with the difficult schedule that the Bulldogs face this season.

So, what can we expect from the Bulldogs in their season opener?

Well, it looks like there’s some rain in the forecast, and that could impact how effective Mississippi State’s offense is. We’ve seen the Air Raid get impacted by less-than-ideal weather and it sure would be nice if all Mississippi State had to deal with weather wise was sunshine and friendly skies.

But given the talent differential, weather shouldn’t be too much of a factor. And it certainly doesn’t hurt that this game is in Starkville this season. This Mississippi State team should, in theory, be remarkably better than what it was a season ago. It’ll be fascinating to see just how much the Bulldogs have developed over this past offseason.

I suspect this game might be a little sloppy, but I do think the Bulldogs get a solid win thanks to what Rogers and company bring to the table. Zach Arnett’s defense should be able to contain Memphis once again and I expect that the Bulldogs will have a little more luck on the special teams ends of things.

Given how Rogers performed throughout the back half of the season, I’m willing to bet that this offense will put up some impressive numbers once more.

Prediction: Mississippi State 41, Memphis 20

For more independent Mississippi State news and commentary, follow The Underdog Tribune on Facebook and Twitter. Follow Ethan Lee on Facebook and Twitter.

Advertisement

For more independent Mississippi State news and commentary, follow The Underdog Tribune on Facebook and Twitter. Follow Ethan Lee on Facebook and Twitter.

Recent posts:

Create a website or blog at WordPress.com

%d bloggers like this: