2020 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team

2020 Mississippi State Bulldogs football
2020 Mississippi State Bulldogs football
Armed Forces Bowl champion
Armed Forces Bowl, W 28–26 vs. Tulsa
Conference	Southeastern Conference
	Western Division
Record	4–7 (3–7 SEC)
Head coach	Mike Leach (1st season);
Offensive scheme	Air raid
Defensive coordinator	Zach Arnett (1st season)
Base defense	3–3–5
Home stadium	Davis Wade Stadium
	Seasons ← 2019 2021 →

The 2020 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team represented Mississippi State University in the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bulldogs played their home games at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Mississippi, and competed in the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They were led by first-year head coach Mike Leach.

2020 Southeastern Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
East Division
No. 13 Florida x	8	–	2	8	–	4
No. 7 Georgia	7	–	2	8	–	2
Missouri	5	–	5	5	–	5
Kentucky	4	–	6	5	–	6
Tennessee*	3	–	7	3	–	7
South Carolina	2	–	8	2	–	8
Vanderbilt	0	–	9	0	–	9
West Division
No. 1 Alabama x$#^	10	–	0	13	–	0
No. 4 Texas A&M	8	–	1	9	–	1
Auburn	6	–	4	6	–	5
LSU*	5	–	5	5	–	5
Ole Miss	4	–	5	5	–	5
Arkansas	3	–	7	3	–	7
Mississippi State	3	–	7	4	–	7
Championship: Alabama 52, Florida 46
# – College Football Playoff champion ^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions * – Tennessee vacated all wins due to NCAA violations. LSU was ineligible for postseason due to self imposed ban. Note: Due to COVID-19, the SEC played a conference-only schedule. Rankings from AP Poll.

In a season impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bulldogs compiled a 3–7 record in a 10-game all-SEC schedule. As the NCAA had waived bowl eligibility requirements for the season,^[1] the Bulldogs received an invitation to the Armed Forces Bowl where they defeated Tulsa, becoming one of the few bowl teams with a losing record to record a bowl victory.

SEC Media Days

In the preseason media poll, Mississippi State was predicted to finish in a tie for fifth place in the West Division.^[2]

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
Media poll (West Division)
1	Alabama	660 (86)
2	LSU	489 (8)
3	Auburn	488
4	Texas A&M	454 (2)
T5	Ole Miss	238
T5	Mississippi State	238
7	Arkansas	121

Schedule

Mississippi State announced its 2020 football schedule on August 7, 2019.^[3] The 2020 schedule consisted of 7 home and 5 away games in the regular season.

The Bulldogs had games scheduled against Alabama A&M, New Mexico, NC State, and Tulane, but were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[4]^[5]^[6]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 26	2:30 p.m.	at No. 6 LSU		Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	CBS	W 44–34	21,124
October 3	6:30 p.m.	Arkansas	No. 16	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	SECN Alt.	L 14–21	13,564
October 10	6:30 p.m.	at Kentucky		Kroger Field Lexington, KY	SECN	L 2–24	12,000
October 17	3:00 p.m.	No. 11 Texas A&M		Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	ESPN	L 14–28	13,142
October 31	6:00 p.m.	at No. 2 Alabama		Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL (rivalry)	ESPN	L 0–41	19,424
November 7	2:30 p.m.	Vanderbilt		Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	SECN	W 24–17	12,888
November 21	6:30 p.m.	at No. 13 Georgia		Sanford Stadium Athens, GA	SECN	L 24–31	20,524
November 28	3:00 p.m.	at Ole Miss		Vaught–Hemingway Stadium Oxford, MS (Egg Bowl)	SECN	L 24–31	16,218
December 12^[a]	6:30 p.m.	Auburn		Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	SECN	L 10–24	12,986
December 19	2:30 p.m.	Missouri		Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	SECN Alt.	W 51–32	11,748
December 31	11:00 a.m.	vs. No. 24 Tulsa*		Amon G. Carter Stadium Fort Worth, TX (Armed Forces Bowl)	ESPN	W 28–26	9,000
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings (after November 24) released prior to game All times are in Central time

^{^[a]}The game between Auburn and Mississippi State was postponed due to an outbreak of COVID-19 on the Mississippi State team. The game was originally scheduled for November 14.

Schedule Source:^[7]

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	RV	RV	RV	RV	16	RV	RV	—
Coaches	RV	RV	RV	RV	14	RV	RV	—
CFP	Not released																Not released

Game summaries

At No. 6 LSU

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Bulldogs	3	14	10	17	44
No. 6 Tigers	0	14	10	10	34

Date: September 26
Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Game start: 2:30 p.m.
Game attendance: 21,124
Game weather: 85, Sunny, Wind NW @ 5 mph
Referee: Jason Autrey
TV announcers (CBS): Brad Nessler (play-by-play), Gary Danielson (color), Jamie Erdahl (sideline)

Sources:

Statistics	MSST	LSU
First downs	24	25
Total yards	632	425
Rushing yards	9	80
Passing yards	623	345
Turnovers	4	2
Time of possession	30:28	29:32

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Mississippi State	Passing	K. J. Costello	36/60, 623 yards, 5 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Kylin Hill	7 carries, 34 yards
	Receiving	Osirus Mitchell	7 receptions, 183 yards, 2 TD
LSU	Passing	Myles Brennan	27/46, 345 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Chris Curry	9 carries, 47 yards
	Receiving	Terrace Marshall Jr.	8 receptions, 122 yards, 2 TD

Arkansas

	1	2	3	4	Total
Razorbacks	7	7	7	0	21
No. 16 Bulldogs	7	0	7	0	14

Statistics	ARK	MSST
First downs	17	24
Total yards	275	400
Rushing yards	63	87
Passing yards	212	313
Turnovers	2	4
Time of possession	23:40	36:20

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Arkansas	Passing	Feleipe Franks	20/28, 212 yards, 2 TD
	Rushing	Trelon Smith	14 rushes, 48 yards
	Receiving	De'Vion Warren	4 receptions, 100 yards, TD
Mississippi State	Passing	K. J. Costello	43/59, 313 yards, TD, 3 INT
	Rushing	Dillon Johnson	9 rushes, 39 yards, TD
	Receiving	Osirus Mitchell	5 receptions, 61 yards

At Kentucky

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	0	0	2	0	2
Wildcats	0	14	0	10	24

Statistics	MSST	UK
First downs	18	10
Total yards	295	157
Rushing yards	20	84
Passing yards	275	73
Turnovers	6	1
Time of possession	34:49	25:11

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Mississippi State	Passing	K. J. Costello	36/55, 232 yards, 4 INT
	Rushing	Kylin Hill	7 rushes, 17 yards
	Receiving	Kylin Hill	15 receptions, 79 yards
Kentucky	Passing	Terry Wilson	8/20, 73 yards, TD
	Rushing	Terry Wilson	13 rushes, 50 yards
	Receiving	Josh Ali	2 receptions, 22 yards

No. 11 Texas A&M

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 11 Aggies	0	14	14	0	28
Bulldogs	0	0	7	7	14

Statistics	TAMU	MSST
First downs	17	15
Total yards	325	217
Rushing yards	186	-2
Passing yards	139	219
Turnovers	1	2
Time of possession	30:32	29:28

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Texas A&M	Passing	Kellen Mond	13/23, 139 yards, 2 TD, INT
	Rushing	Isaiah Spiller	18 rushes, 114 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Chase Lane	2 receptions, 70 yards, TD
Mississippi State	Passing	Will Rogers	15/18, 120 yards, TD
	Rushing	Jo'Quavious Marks	7 rushes, 25 yards
	Receiving	Malik Heath	5 receptions, 57 yards, TD

At No. 2 Alabama

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	0	0	0	0	0
• No. 2 Crimson Tide	17	10	0	14	41

Date: October 31
Location: Bryant–Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, AL
Game start: 6:05 p.m.
Game attendance: 19,424
Game weather: 66, Partly cloudy skies, Wind ESE @ 6 mph
Referee: Jason Autrey
TV announcers (ESPN): Sean McDonough (play-by-play), Todd Blackledge (color), Todd McShay and Molly McGrath (sideline)

Sources:

Statistics

Statistics	MSST	ALA
First downs	12	26
Total yards	200	499
Rushing yards	37	208
Passing yards	163	291
Turnovers	3	1
Time of possession	28:18	31:42

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Mississippi State	Passing	Will Rogers	24/37, 147 yards, 2 INT
	Rushing	Jo'Quavious Marks	9 rushes, 32 yards
	Receiving	Jo'Quavious Marks	8 receptions, 38 yards
Alabama	Passing	Mac Jones	24/31, 291 yards, 4 TD
	Rushing	Najee Harris	21 rushes, 119 yards
	Receiving	DeVonta Smith	11 receptions, 203 yards, 4 TD

Vanderbilt

	1	2	3	4	Total
Commodores	0	0	7	10	17
Bulldogs	14	3	0	7	24

Statistics	VAN	MSST
First downs	30	14
Total yards	478	204
Rushing yards	142	-22
Passing yards	336	226
Turnovers	5	0
Time of possession	32:10	27:50

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Vanderbilt	Passing	Ken Seals	31/46, 336 yards, TD, 3 INT
	Rushing	Keyon Henry-Brooks	20 rushes, 115 yards, TD
	Receiving	Cam Johnson	10 receptions, 114 yards
Mississippi State	Passing	Will Rogers	35/46, 226 yards, TD
	Rushing	Jo'Quavious Marks	6 rushes, 10 yards, TD
	Receiving	Malik Heath	9 receptions, 79 yards

At No. 13 Georgia

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	3	14	7	0	24
No. 13 Bulldogs	0	17	7	7	31

Statistics

Statistics	MSST	UGA
First downs	20	18
Total yards	358	409
Rushing yards	22	8
Passing yards	336	401
Turnovers	0	0
Time of possession	32:07	27:53

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Mississippi State	Passing	Will Rogers	41–52, 336 yards, TD
	Rushing	Dillon Johnson	8 rushes, 19 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Jaden Walley	7 receptions, 115 yards, TD
Georgia	Passing	J. T. Daniels	28–38, 401 yards, 4 TD
	Rushing	Zamir White	11 rushes, 21 yards
	Receiving	Jermaine Burton	8 receptions, 197 yards, 2 TD

At Ole Miss

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	0	14	0	10	24
Rebels	14	7	0	10	31

Over/under	Pregame line
Ole Miss –9.5	70.5

Statistics

Statistics	MSST	MISS
First downs	23	24
Total yards	479	550
Rushing yards	39	163
Passing yards	440	387
Turnovers	1	0
Time of possession	32:27	27:33

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Mississippi State	Passing	Will Rogers	45–61, 440 yards, 3 TD
	Rushing	Will Rogers	4 rushes, 26 yards
	Receiving	Jaden Walley	9 receptions, 176 yards
Ole Miss	Passing	Matt Corral	24–36, 385 yards, 2 TD
	Rushing	Jerrion Ealy	18 rushes, 93 yards, TD
	Receiving	Elijah Moore	12 receptions, 139 yards

Auburn

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	3	3	3	15	24
Bulldogs	0	3	0	7	10

Over/under	Pregame line
Auburn –6.5	74.6

Statistics

Statistics	AUB	MSST
First downs	19	17
Total yards	343	240
Rushing yards	218	19
Passing yards	125	221
Turnovers	0	2
Time of possession	30:56	29:04

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Auburn	Passing	Bo Nix	15–32, 125 yards, TD
	Rushing	Tank Bigsby	26 rushes, 192 yards
	Receiving	Seth Williams	3 receptions, 57 yards, TD
Mississippi State	Passing	Will Rogers	30–51, 221 yards, TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Dillon Johnson	5 rushes, 30 yards
	Receiving	Jaden Walley	8 receptions, 100 yards

Missouri

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	7	3	8	14	32
Bulldogs	14	13	7	17	51

Statistics

Statistics	MIZ	MSST
First downs	22	24
Total yards	342	446
Rushing yards	101	151
Passing yards	241	295
Turnovers	4	3
Time of possession	28:57	31:03

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Missouri	Passing	Connor Bazelak	22–38, 225 yards, 2 TD, 3 INT
	Rushing	Larry Rountree III	25 rushes, 121 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Keke Chism	6 receptions, 64 yards, TD
Mississippi State	Passing	Will Rogers	21–36, 295 yards, 3 TD, INT
	Rushing	Jo'Quavious Marks	12 rushes, 70 yards, TD
	Receiving	Jaden Walley	5 receptions, 129 yards, TD

Vs. No. 24 Tulsa (Armed Forces Bowl)

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 24 Golden Hurricane	0	6	7	13	26
Bulldogs	7	0	14	7	28

Statistics

Statistics	TLSA	MSST
First downs	27	16
Total yards	484	271
Rushing yards	137	123
Passing yards	347	148
Turnovers	2	0
Time of possession	31:19	28:41

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Tulsa	Passing	Zach Smith	26–46, 347 yards, TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Corey Taylor II	20 rushes, 80 yards, TD
	Receiving	Keylon Stokes	9 receptions, 117 yards, TD
Mississippi State	Passing	Will Rogers	19–30, 148 yards, TD
	Rushing	Jo'Quavious Marks	11 rushes, 72 yards, TD
	Receiving	Austin Williams	3 receptions, 42 yards

Players drafted into the NFL

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL Club
7	253	Marquiss Spencer	DE	Denver Broncos
7	256	Kylin Hill	RB	Green Bay Packers

References

^ "DI Council approves football bowl eligibility requirements waiver". NCAA.org (Press release). October 14, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
^ "Preseason SEC media poll, All-SEC Team announced". SECSports.com. Southeastern Conference. September 23, 2020.
^ "2020 Football Schedule Announced". Mississippi State University Department of Athletics. August 7, 2019. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
^ Talty, John. "SEC moves to conference-only 2020 schedule, pushes back start of season". AL.com. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
^ Visser, David (July 21, 2020). "SWAC Suspends Fall Football Season". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
^ Dellenger, Ross. "Sources: SEC Adopts Conference-Only Schedule With Sept. 26 Start". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
^ "2020 Mississippi State Bulldogs Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved January 11, 2020.

[1] "DI Council approves football bowl eligibility requirements waiver". NCAA.org (Press release). October 14, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020.

[2] "Preseason SEC media poll, All-SEC Team announced". SECSports.com. Southeastern Conference. September 23, 2020.

[2020sched-3] "2020 Football Schedule Announced". Mississippi State University Department of Athletics. August 7, 2019. Retrieved January 11, 2020.

[4] Talty, John. "SEC moves to conference-only 2020 schedule, pushes back start of season". AL.com. Retrieved July 30, 2020.

[5] Visser, David (July 21, 2020). "SWAC Suspends Fall Football Season". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved July 20, 2020.

[6] Dellenger, Ross. "Sources: SEC Adopts Conference-Only Schedule With Sept. 26 Start". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved July 30, 2020.

[7] "2020 Mississippi State Bulldogs Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved January 11, 2020.

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