Miss. State doesn’t make much noise in a quiet week for Ole Miss, Southern Miss

• The Bulldogs’ next chance to do something about that is at Florida in two weeks. Southern Miss plays Thursday while No. 4 Ole Miss lock the Vaught on Saturday.

Ole Miss and Southern Miss were both off in a quiet weekend of Mississippi football.

But even Mississippi State didn’t make much noise, losing 31-9 at No. 6 Texas A&M.

Mississippi State

Although the Bulldogs were down two starting offensive linemen from the season opener, both tackles, nobody else had treated State’s offensive line the way the Aggies’ front seven did.

A&M had four sacks, nine tackles for loss and countless pressures against quarterback Blake Shapen.

The true indicator of the A&M’s dominance, however, was the run game.

State went into the season with great enthusiasm for its running backs room and started with a bang in the first five games, averaging 204.8 yards to rank No. 33 nationally.

Fluff Bothwell and Davon Booth had already combined for 10 touchdowns and more than 700 yards.

But while Shapen was running for his life on the field and yelling at his linemen on the sideline, the Bulldogs also couldn’t consistently move on the ground, finishing with 77 rushing yards and just 2.5 yards per carry.

State lost Virginia transfer Blake Steen in the season opener against Southern Miss, so there had been some time to adjust.

The loss of Albert Reese, injured in the second half against Tennessee last week, was fresh and new.

Defensively, the Bulldogs kept things close for a while.

State’s inability to move the ball made a 7-3 deficit feel larger, but A&M didn’t really assume control of the game until the back end of the third quarter. The Aggies scored 17 points in the fourth quarter.

It all added up to a 14^th consecutive SEC loss for State, which has not won in the league since beating a bad Arkansas team 7-3 in Fayetteville almost two calendar years ago.

For all good vibes this team put out through the first four games, including a win over then-No. 12 Arizona State, a 2024 playoff team that is now 4-1, the SEC streak is still a dark cloud around the Mississippi State program.

The Bulldogs’ next chance to do something about that is after this bye week, October 18 at Florida in an afternoon game.

Ole Miss

Ole Miss jumped nine spots to No. 4 in the AP Top 25 last week after its 24-19 win over then No. 4 LSU.

The Rebels’ open date allowed their fans to savor an impressive performance against their traditional rival just a little while longer.

Having spent time in the Baton Rouge area this week, some down there envision the Rebels as a College Football Playoff lock after what they did to LSU.

Nothing is a given, but Ole Miss, 5-0, has a great chance to be 6-0 – they have Washington State at home this week – heading into the defining point of its schedule for the two weeks that follow.

The Rebels play at Georgia on October 18 and at Oklahoma on October 25.

If Ole Miss can split in those two games, it would really set itself up nicely to nab that elusive College Football Playoff berth in a rebuilding year after many thought the Rebels would get there last year.

Ole Miss is not in a bad spot right now. It proved last year how difficult it is to reach the playoff with three losses.

If LSU recovers and proves to be the team it was thought to be this year, that will be quite a feather in the Rebels’ cap when the committee gathers to set the field.

Ole Miss should be the favored team in its remaining games. If they can prove oddsmakers right and win those games against South Carolina, Florida, the Citadel and Mississippi State, Ole Miss would end still end the regular season with just two losses if they fail to split the Georgia-Oklahoma road trips.

That’s easier said than done.

It was the same scenario last year when Ole Miss, an 11.5-point favorite, was dealt the season’s third loss by Florida.

This year’s Gators, for all their warts at 2-3, just stunned Texas yesterday.

South Carolina and State are also capable. Imagine the excitement level at Davis-Wade Stadium the day after Thanksgiving if the home fans believe they have a chance not only to beat the rivals but to knock Ole Miss out of the playoff in the process.

Washington State is 3-2 but has allowed 59 points each time in losses to North Texas and Washington, its most meaningful competition to date.

The Cougars are ranked No. 117 in team passing defense efficiency, No. 109 in scoring offense and No. 100 in scoring defense.

Southern Miss

State’s offensive line problems underscore a seldom-spoken reality of the Transfer Portal Era: you can sign players for quick fixes at important positions, but you’re not signing depth.

Depth still must be developed, and Southern Miss coach Charles Huff had interesting things to say about his approach to building depth in comments to SuperTalk Mississippi during the Golden Eagles’ bye week.

Traditionally, coaches have approached the open date different ways, one being extra attention and practice time for those down-the-depth chart players that you count on in the event of injuries.

But it’s those players, ones likely to be unhappy with playing time, who are most likely to enter the portal.

In short, Huff pointed out that developing those players in a bye week isn’t necessarily the best use of time when a coach could be working more toward sharpening key players.

Huff’s restoration project, while disappointing in a 30-20 loss at Louisiana Tech on September 20, is off to an encouraging 3-2 start for a program that was 1-11 last year.

His transfer-heavy roster has been especially good at home.

The Golden Eagles were competitive against Mississippi State on Opening Day and dominant in a Sun Belt Conference win over Appalachian State and a win over Jacksonville State of Conference USA.

The Golden Eagles are second in the Sun Belt in passing offense and fourth in scoring offense.

They play a Sun Belt game at Georgia State Thursday night at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.

The Statesboro Eagles are 2-3 overall, 0-1 in the league.