Mississippi State – Official Athletics Site

STARKVILLE – The Dawgs are back with Davis Wade.

Mississippi State is ready for its second home game of the season on Saturday when MSU hosts Toledo at 6:30 p.m.

That much you know. However, there are some things you may not know.

So let’s take a look at the 10 things to keep in mind before the showdown between State and the Rockets:

1. This is the third straight win — the third straight win in which the Bulldogs will face each other for the first time. Mississippi State has begun the 2024 season with three new opponents, the last of which is Toledo, as the two teams have never met on the field. This was also the case in the first two weeks of the season, when the Bulldogs had their first chance to play Eastern Kentucky and Arizona State.
2. Against Toledo, MSU will look to maintain one of the best passing attacks in the country. Through two weeks, State has a 92.1 passing percentage, according to Pro Football Focus. That’s the second-best mark in all of college football and the best mark in the Southeastern Conference.
3. A common theme of State’s offensive success over the past two weeks has been the group’s ability to strike quickly. Of the Dawgs’ nine touchdowns this season, five touchdowns have come in under two minutes, three touchdowns in under 32 seconds and two touchdowns in under 15 seconds. MSU’s average time of possession per drive this season has been 1:53.
4. quarterback Blake Shaping was the driving force behind the Bulldogs’ offense. His Pro Football Focus passing grade of 91.7 is the sixth-best among Power Four signal callers in the country. It’s the third-best grade in the SEC.
5. Shapen has now thrown a touchdown pass in 13 straight games during his time at Baylor before coming to State this season, and has scored at least two touchdowns in seven of those games. Shapen has also been great at protecting the ball, not throwing an interception in his last 99 pass attempts.
6. Other outstanding offensive players from MSU included receiver Kevin Coleman, Jr. The Louisville transfer’s rousing 80-yard touchdown pass last week against Arizona State was just the latest addition to Coleman’s early-season highlights. Coleman is one of only 10 FBS players with a game of 80 or more yards this season. He is one of only three SEC players averaging 90 or more receiving yards per game with multiple receiving touchdowns. Among players with at least seven receptions this season, Coleman leads the SEC with 21.2 yards per reception.
7. Defensively, safety Issac Smith has been fantastic for State to begin this year. He led the team in tackles in the first two games and set new career highs for tackles in a game in each game. Smith enters this week as the SEC’s all-time leader and ranks fourth nationally with 28 tackles.
8. The Bulldogs have done a really good job of avoiding injuries this season. Mississippi State enters Saturday’s game as the SEC’s least penalized team in both total penalties and penalty yards. MSU has only been penalized seven times this season for a total of 50 yards.
9. Toledo comes to town as a consistently successful football program. The Rockets haven’t had a losing season since 2009, the fifth-longest streak in the FBS behind Boise State, Wisconsin, Oklahoma State and Alabama.
10. Although the Rockets have had tremendous success over the years and have competed against Power Four competition, they have only managed one win against the Southeastern Conference. Toledo has a 1-4 record against the SEC, with its only win coming in 2015, 16-12 against Arkansas.