Mississippi State Is Going To Score a lot, But Might Give Ip More | Cover 3 Summer School

probably agree on yeah the playoff team for sure so you I mean I tell you what I don't think there was a more accurate State and if they struggle again I mean I don't think there's any way you can keep Alex crit but what's going on y'all Bud Elliott here back again for another edition of summmer school that's our college football preview series here on the cover three podcast today I'm talking Mississippi State I'm gonna head to Jean page that's a longtime Mississippi State stalwart in the space my man Justin frer first timer on the show Justin welcome man appreciate it appreciate it thanks for having me excited time to be covering the Bulldogs and uh all right new Coach Jeff Levy new coordinator both sides of the ball Dealers Choice how is this going to look different you can take your pick what side you want to start on yeah I mean offensively I think people are are expecting big numbers you know big plays a lot of points and and know big scores just because of what was lost on the defensive side and and what you know what a Jeff leby offense is is going to be brought into Starkville to do so I think high-scoring games in in Davis Wade Stadium are are expected this fall quarterback Blake shapen comes in from Baylor what what did they see in him that made him the choice in the portal I think it's his arm and and his athleticism that um that that made him the choice know he was sort of the underrated guy that not many people were talking about in terms of quarterback options in the portal for Mississippi State know Dylan Gabriel had that Oklahoma Jeff lebby connection he was sort of the guy people were expecting to at least come on a visit in Starfield and potentially be that guy that Jeff lebby brought in to sort of bridge the gap as as his first quarterback and then and out of nowhere Blake shapen um last winter you know committed out of the portal and people originally thought he was gonna be maybe a backup option they'll bring in a second guy but no this this is the guy and we sort of Saw why in this in the spring game why you know Jeff lebby thought so highly of him you know he's got a big arm he can make pretty much any throw on the field you know he's got some running capabilities we don't know how much will see of that in in the fall just because of maybe some depth issues and and and experien issues behind him in the quarterback position but we see know through for 300 yards in in one half of the spring game again it is just a spring game but some of the throws he was making in in that game were impressive we see why Jeff lby picked him to be to be the quarterback uh for his offense this year quite a bit of defensive Personnel overhaul obviously but I'm more a little more interested in like what are they trying to run how how does it look different than than what they ran last year for for the most part I mean we didn't get to see much in the in Spring practice we saw about two 20 minute sessions all all of practice so we're still sort of learning ourselves what what things are going to look like especially under a firsttime defensive coordinator in Coleman Hustler it's not like we have a track record to to see you know what's G what he does what Blitz packages stuff like that um for the most part it looks I think it's going to look pretty similar in terms of formation for from last year where you're going to have five in the secondary you're going to have uh four up front and then three uh I think I got that math right two in the middle three in the middle um but uh yeah I mean and we're still sort of finding out ourselves what things are going to look like and who's going to be where and and and Mi mixes and matches on that side of the ball that's sort of where the biggest unknowns are with this team is is defensively what are they going to look like who are they going to be are can they can they even be semi-competitive on that side of the ball to to keep you know the offense not having a score touchdown every single possession of every game it looks like he's got quite a bit of background with what mus champ and then and then with Sav huntler you mentioned so I yeah that that I guess that kind of ma matches up little surprising they wouldn't give more practice access with the you know coach that needs to get off on the right foot and you know generate little you know just more buzz but obviously any kind of points will generate some buzz after the the offense that Mississippi State fans were subjected to last year unfortunately um no question all right so let's fast forward or depending on when we release this rewind uh to SEC media day in Dallas this year which is kind of wild to say but it's a reality who's a player who will probably not make the preseason first or second Team all SEC group but might have a chance to be there come the postseason yeah I'm gon to go with stone Bland the linebacker transfer from South Carolina you know he had a pretty good year for the Gamecocks and he's a Mississippi native originally committed to Mississippi State baseball out of out of high school um and he's sort of been brought in to help bridge that Gap after losing jet Johnson jet Johnson and Nathaniel Watson last year you know the two top tacklers in the conference um sort of that run stuffer maybe a little bit past rushing cover skills to him but he's sort of been brought in as as that experienced SEC linebacker to help bridge be the veteran presence of that of that linebacker group and and and help that defense out a lot what are the positions where they can most survive dipping into their depth what do you mean by that like what are the deepest position rooms gotcha okay um no I'd say I'd say wide receiver especially on offense is is really big and and weirdly enough you know they lose their three top wide outs from last year and and lri Griffin who's who's now with the Raiders in the NFL zavon uh Thomas who transferred to LSU and Justin Robinson who's who's uh just committed to West Virginia out of the portal but I feel like that group got significantly better than it did last year now you bring in a thousand yard receiver and Kelly aari from utap you bring in a slot guy uh that has some power five experience in Kevin Coleman he was at Louisville started at Jackson State but he seems to be a you know somewhat of a Speedster in the middle of the field and has that ability to get get open uh for for Blake shape and we saw that a lot in the in the spring game and then you bring in four uh four stars in the uh in the freshman class and JJ Harold uh brillan Burnside Mario Craver and then San Frisco McGee who's coming in uh this fall and then you have a couple guys who lingered from last year too and Creed Whitmore and and Jordan Mosley who who showed spurts of of being you know top top wide receiver guys for for a quarterback and and so I think that uh position group is going to be huge for Miss Mississippi State especially with how fast that offense is going to be moving and how many you know moving Parts they're going to have to have to to Interchange between plays and drives what are the most meaningful fall position battles that you're goingon to be following I think secondary is going to be a big one you know uh they brought in a couple transfers uh Bri near from from the Jo ranks at EMCC they brought in a couple cornerback transfers Diego Brumfield from Memphis and montre Miller from West Virginia you know that position group lost four out of the five starters and the one returner is a was a true freshman last year so you know there there's a lot of unknowns in the back end uh for Mississippi State you know Isaac Smith a top freshman guy that sort of emerged in Camp last year saw some playing time last year and is expected to step into one of those safety roles you have a couple veterans in Hunter Washington and Cory Ellington who have seen playing time over over the past couple years that that are expected to step into uh starting roles and be veteran presences back there so I think that that group is going to be very interesting to see who emerges and and takes over those starting spots the offense is better than the defense this year right I because last year the def expect way better than the offense yes that the expectation is that this that offense is gonna have to carry this team to wins at least through majority of of the Season especially with how tough this SEC schedule is for them this year I'm glad you brought that up it I guess if you're if you're going to take your lumps you'd probably rather have them in year one than year two because then if you have them in year two instead of year one it looks like a a lack of progress although that's not always the case right I mean sometimes you can have an easy year One schedule and then a tough year two and and actually have have a better team in year two just maybe not a better record but you no vanderbelt no South Carolina they do draw Arkansas which is helpful the nonon is probably tougher in in name than it is an actual roster quality since Toledo did lose you know so much of what it had last year in Arizona State you know lost a decent number of guys to the portal as well but still I mean I see Texas I see Georgia I see A&M I see Tennessee I see Missouri and I see obis this is a bowl is possible for this team right it it is possible I mean you look at the four the four non-conference games against Eastern Kentucky Toledo at Arizona State and and home against Massachusetts late in the year in November I think the expectation is at least four wins there and then you're sort of hoping to grab two out of three or three out of the three and maybe in home games against Arkansas Texas A&M and Florida now who knows what all three of those teams are going to look like when they roll into Starkville especially especially Florida and and Arkansas with with you know coaching hot seats going on over there and and then a lot of unknowns I guess in in Aggy land too and even Missouri at home I know Missouri is good but they I mean they lost a lot on defense and and you know home home environments and college football can change a lot so especially at the end of the year so who knows what that game I think there's a lot of potential to make a bowl game it starts with going four and0 in non-conference you can't go out to Arizona State and lose you can't know drop a home game against Toledo so I think that that's where it starts and then you try to you know pick spots and hopefully you catch teams at the wrong time in in SEC play and you mentioned catching teams at the wrong time I think this is probably the wrong year to catch Missouri and Old Miss but in in theory because the expectations for those teams are so high and and the way thatan especially Old Miss obviously with being so portal heavy you it it's not insane to think that they could come together for the common goal of making the playoffs if they're already played their way out of the playoff that maybe they're not quite as into it although the Egg Bowl is is its own you know crazy intense rivalry in of itself but I I could see one of like Tennessee Missouri old miss all you have playoff aspirations already being out by that point that's their final three games for for non Mississippi State fans listening at home you know potentially maybe one of those teams lays an egg and and Miss Mississippi State comes and and smacks us right I'm fasc to see what Jeff leby can do here man this is gonna be it's gonna be a lot of fun and see how he can build this thing back up because you know I think we know well at least in the old alignment of the SEC like we know what good Mississippi state looks like and and I think excitement with him is is higher just just because know good Mississippi state has as usually correlated with really strong defense and know multiple first rounders on that side of the ball especially defensive line you know think of you know Jeffrey Simmons and you know Chris Jones and all these guys in the past B I mean it sort of flipped this year like we've talked about where where offense is in big numbers and a lot of touchdowns and points are expected this year so I think there's more excitement just because of it's It's not know Blue Collar as as much as it always has been with Mississippi State absolutely Justin really enjoyed us I know we'll be following all your work on Jean's page following us fall position battles that you mentioned and all your coverage as well throughout the season man it's been fun appreciate it