2018 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team

The 2018 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team represented Mississippi State University in the 2018 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 Joe Moorhead.

2018 Mississippi State Bulldogs football
Outback Bowl, L 22–27 vs. Iowa
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Division	Western Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 25
2018 record	8–5 (4–4 SEC)
Head coach	Joe Moorhead (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Luke Getsy (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Bob Shoop (1st season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Davis Wade Stadium (Capacity: 61,337)

2018 Southeastern Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
No. 7т Georgia x		7	–	1					11	–	3
No. 12 Kentucky		5	–	3					10	–	3
No. 7т Florida		5	–	3					10	–	3
South Carolina		4	–	4					7	–	6
Missouri		4	–	4					8	–	5
Vanderbilt		3	–	5					6	–	7
Tennessee		2	–	6					5	–	7
West Division
No. 2 Alabama x$^		8	–	0					14	–	1
No. 16 Texas A&M		5	–	3					9	–	4
No. 6 LSU		5	–	3					10	–	3
Mississippi State		4	–	4					8	–	5
Auburn		3	–	5					8	–	5
Ole Miss		1	–	7					5	–	7
Arkansas		0	–	8					2	–	10
Championship: Alabama 35, Georgia 28
^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

Previous season

The Bulldogs finished the 2017 season 9–4, 4–4 in SEC play to finish in a tie for fourth place in the Western Division. They were invited to the TaxSlayer Bowl where they beat Louisville.

Head coach Dan Mullen resigned at the end of last season to become the head coach at Florida. Running backs coach Greg Knox served as interim head coach for the TaxSlayer Bowl. On November 28, Penn State offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead was hired as their new head coach, beginning in the 2018 season.

Preseason

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

Award	Player	Position	Year
Lott Trophy[1]	Jeffery Simmons	DT	JR
Rimington Trophy[2]	Elgton Jenkins	C	SR
Chuck Bednarik Award[3]	Montez Sweat	DE	SR
	Jeffery Simmons	DT	JR
Maxwell Award[4]	Nick Fitzgerald	QB	SR
Davey O'Brien Award[5]	Nick Fitzgerald	QB	SR
Doak Walker Award[6]	Aeris Williams	RB	SR
Bronko Nagurski Trophy[7]	Jeffery Simmons	DT	JR
	Montez Sweat	DE	SR
Outland Trophy[8]	Jeffery Simmons	DT	JR
Lou Groza Award[9]	Jace Christmann	K	SO
Paul Hornung Award[10]	Deddrick Thomas	WR/KR	JR
Wuerffel Trophy[11]	Gerri Green	LB	SR
Ted Hendricks Award[12]	Montez Sweat	DE	SR
Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award[13]	Nick Fitzgerald	QB	SR
Manning Award[14]	Nick Fitzgerald	QB	SR

SEC media poll

The SEC media poll was released on July 20, 2018 with the Bulldogs predicted to finish in third place in the West Division.[15]

Media poll (West)
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Alabama	1,971 (263)
2	Auburn	1,664 (19)
3	Mississippi State	1,239 (2)
4	Texas A&M	1,091
5	LSU	1,025
6	Ole Miss	578
7	Arkansas	412

Preseason All-SEC teams

The Bulldogs had five players selected to the preseason all-SEC teams.

Offense 3rd team Nick Fitzgerald – QB Aeris Williams – RB

Defense 1st team Montez Sweat – DL Jeffery Simmons – DL 3rd team Mark McLaurin – DB

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	6:30 p.m.	Stephen F. Austin*	No. 18	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	ESPNU	W 63–6	54,289
September 8	11:00 a.m.	at Kansas State*	No. 18	Bill Snyder Family Stadium Manhattan, KS	ESPN	W 31–10	49,784
September 15	6:30 p.m.	Louisiana*	No. 16	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	ESPN2	W 56–10	56,505
September 22	6:00 p.m.	at Kentucky	No. 14	Kroger Field Lexington, KY	ESPN2	L 7–28	60,037
September 29	5:00 p.m.	Florida	No. 23	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	ESPN	L 6–13	61,406
October 6	6:30 p.m.	No. 8 Auburn		Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	ESPN2	W 23–9	60,635
October 20	6:00 p.m.	at No. 5 LSU	No. 22	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	ESPN	L 3–19	101,340
October 27	6:00 p.m.	No. 16 Texas A&M		Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	ESPN	W 28–13	57,085
November 3	6:30 p.m.	Louisiana Tech*	No. 21	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	SECN	W 45–3	58,709
November 10	2:30 p.m.	at No. 1 Alabama	No. 18	Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL (rivalry)	CBS	L 0–24	101,821
November 17	11:00 a.m.	Arkansas	No. 25	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	ESPN	W 52–6	57,772
November 22	6:30 p.m.	at Ole Miss	No. 22	Vaught–Hemingway Stadium Oxford, MS (Egg Bowl)	ESPN	W 35–3	56,561
January 1	11:00 a.m.	vs. Iowa*	No. 18	Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL (Outback Bowl)	ESPN2	L 22–27	40,518
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Schedule Source:[16]

Rankings

Further information: 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	18	18	16	14	23	RV	24	22	RV	21	18	25	22	20	18	RV
Coaches	18	18	16	14	19	RV	RV	RV	RV	21	15	23	20	19	18	25
CFP	Not released									18	16	21	18	18	18	Not released

Game summaries

Stephen F. Austin

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lumberjacks	0	3	3	0	6
No. 18 Bulldogs	21	14	14	14	63

See also: 2018 Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

at Kansas State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 18 Bulldogs	3	14	7	7	31
Wildcats	3	0	7	0	10

See also: 2018 Kansas State Wildcats football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–1	October 1, 1977	W 24–21 (MSU Later forfeited)

Mississippi State quarterback Nick Fitzgerald made his first appearance on the football fields since November 2017, when a foot injury sidelined him for the season and a 1-game suspension kept him out of the season opener. Fitzgerald threw for 154 yards with two touchdowns and ran for another 159 yards. Mississippi State compiled a total of 538 yards of total offense where Kansas State only managed 213.

Kansas State continued with its two-quarterback system, switching snaps between Skylar Thompson and Alex Delton. Kansas State running back Alex Barnes managed 75 yards rushing, but the Wildcats fell short to lose the game 31-10.[17]

Louisiana

	1	2	3	4	Total
Ragin' Cajuns	3	0	0	7	10
No. 16 Bulldogs	14	21	14	7	56

See also: 2018 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3–0	September 5, 1987	W 31–3

at Kentucky

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

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
23–22	October 21, 2017	W 45–7

Florida

	1	2	3	4	Total
Gators	0	3	7	3	13
No. 23 Bulldogs	3	3	0	0	6

See also: 2018 Florida Gators football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
19–33–2	October 16, 2010	W 10–7

Auburn

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 8 Tigers	3	0	3	3	9
Bulldogs	3	10	3	7	23

See also: 2018 Auburn Tigers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
26–63–3	September 30, 2017	L 10–49

at LSU

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 22 Bulldogs	3	0	0	0	3
No. 5 Tigers	7	3	6	3	19

See also: 2018 LSU Tigers football team and LSU–Mississippi State football rivalry

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
35–73–3	September 16, 2017	W 37–7

Texas A&M

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 16 Aggies	0	10	3	0	13
Bulldogs	7	0	7	14	28

See also: 2018 Texas A&M Aggies football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
6–5	October 28, 2017	W 35–14

Louisiana Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
LT Bulldogs	3	0	0	0	3
No. 21 MSU Bulldogs	21	10	7	7	45

See also: 2018 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
10–3	September 9, 2017	W 57–21

at Alabama

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 18 Bulldogs	0	0	0	0	0
No. 1 Crimson Tide	14	7	0	3	24

See also: 2018 Alabama Crimson Tide football team and Alabama–Mississippi State football rivalry

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
18–81–3	November 11, 2017	L 24–31

Arkansas

	1	2	3	4	Total
Razorbacks	0	3	3	0	6
No. 25 Bulldogs	3	14	21	14	52

See also: 2018 Arkansas Razorbacks football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
11–16–1	November 18, 2017	W 28–21

at Ole Miss

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 22 Bulldogs	7	14	7	7	35
Rebels	0	3	0	0	3

See also: 2018 Ole Miss Rebels football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
45–64–6	November 23, 2017	L 28-31

vs. Iowa (Outback Bowl)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hawkeyes	0	17	7	3	27
No. 18 Bulldogs	6	0	13	3	22

See also: 2018 Iowa Hawkeyes football team and 2019 Outback Bowl

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First Meeting

Players drafted into the NFL

See also: 2019 NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL Club
1	19	Jeffery Simmons	DT	Tennessee Titans
1	26	Montez Sweat	DE	Washington Redskins
1	27	Johnathan Abram	S	Oakland Raiders
2	44	Elgton Jenkins	C	Green Bay Packers
6	199	Gerri Green	LB	Indianapolis Colts

References

1. "2018 Watch List | Lott IMPACT Trophy | Honoring College Football's Defensive Best". lottimpacttrophy.org. Retrieved 2018-07-17.
2. "Rimington Trophy Press Release". May 30, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
3. "2018 Bednarik Award Watch List". July 16, 2018. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
4. "2018 Maxwell Award Watch List". July 16, 2018. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
5. "Davey O'Brien Award Watch List includes 26 players". July 17, 2018. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
6. "2018 Doak Walker Award Candidates". July 18, 2018. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
7. "2018 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Preseason Watch List". July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
8. "22018 OUTLAND TROPHY WATCH LIST UNVEILED". July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
9. "Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award Announces 2018 Preseason Watch List". July 25, 2018. Archived from the original on August 17, 2009. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
10. "43 PLAYERS NAMED TO 2018 PAUL HORNUNG AWARD WATCH LIST". July 26, 2018. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
11. "Wuerffel Trophy Unveils 2018 Watch List". July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
12. "Preseason Watch List - 2018 edition of the Ted Hendricks Award" (PDF). August 14, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
13. "Watch List for 2018 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award ® Presented by A. O. Smith Announced". August 14, 2018. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
14. "Manning Award: See which quarterbacks made the preseason watch list for 2018". August 16, 2018. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
15. http://www.secsports.com/article/24148392/media-predicts-alabama-win-2018-sec-championship
16. "2018 Mississippi State Bulldogs Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
17. "Fitzgerald leads No. 18 Miss St to 31-10 rout of K-State". ESPN. September 15, 2018. Retrieved September 16, 2018.