Vanderbilt @ Mississippi State preview
Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field
Last Meeting ( Sep 19, 2009 ) Mississippi State 15, Vanderbilt 3
No. 4 Mississippi State lost its first game of the season last Saturday but didn’t lose its spot in the top four of the College Football Playoff rankings. The Bulldogs, who fell at Alabama 25-20, slipped from first to fourth in the rankings released Tuesday night, and they’ll go into Saturday’s home finale against Vanderbilt knowing the SEC West Division title and a national semifinal berth are still very much on the table. The Crimson Tide have taken over the top spot in the CFP rankings and are followed by Oregon and Florida State.
“We’ve handled winning very well this season, so we’ll see how we handle this adversity at this point,” Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen said at his Monday news conference. “It’s late in the year for that to happen, but we’ll see how our guys handle it.” Vanderbilt, meanwhile, was off this past weekend and was no doubt still stewing over its Nov. 8 loss to Florida, which knocked it out of bowl contention. Saturday’s game will be the final road contest of the season for the Commodores, who at 0-6 are the only winless team in SEC play.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network. LINE: Mississippi State -29.5
ABOUT VANDERBILT (3-7, 0-6 SEC): The Commodores won’t be playing in the postseason for the first time in four years following the 34-10 home loss to the Gators, which also snapped the program’s 10-game November win streak. A full-blown infusion of youth is underway in the program as coach Derek Mason has played an FBS-high 31 freshmen this season, including redshirt freshman quarterback Johnny McCrary, who has started the last three games and is the fourth quarterback to start for the team this season. The lack of experience and stability is evident, though, in the numbers as Vanderbilt ranks last in the SEC in scoring offense (18.9 points per game), total offense (296.5 ypg) and turnover margin (-12) and 13th in scoring defense (32.4).
ABOUT MISSISSIPPI STATE (9-1, 5-1): It’ll be Senior Night at Starkville as 20 Bulldogs will be playing their final home game. It might also turn out to be the home finale for junior quarterback Dak Prescott, who is looking to pad his Heisman Trophy resume and build on his single-season school record of 31 total touchdowns (20 passing, 11 rushing). Mississippi State leads the conference in total offense (512.7 ypg), and the defense – led by linebacker and Bednarik, Butkus and Lombardi Award semifinalist Benardrick McKinney – is ranked fifth in the SEC, allowing 20.2 points per game.
EXTRA POINTS
1. Mississippi State holds a 12-7-2 lead in the series after winning the last two games, but the two teams haven’t met since 2009.
2. Both programs sport identical 19-11 records over their last 30 games, dating back to October 2012.
3. Vanderbilt is aiming for its first victory over a top-10 team since beating No. 6 South Carolina, 17-6, on Oct. 20, 2007.
PREDICTION: Mississippi State 45, Vanderbilt 14