2019 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team

The 2019 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team represented Mississippi State University in the 2019 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 second-year head coach Joe Moorhead. Following the team's loss in the Music City Bowl Moorhead was fired as the Bulldogs' head coach.

2019 Mississippi State Bulldogs football
Music City Bowl, L 28–38 vs. Louisville
Conference	Southeastern Conference
	Western Division
2019 record	6–7 (3–5 SEC)
Head coach	Joe Moorhead (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Bob Shoop (2nd season)
Base defense	4–3
Captain	Errol Thompson Kody Schexnayder
Home stadium	Davis Wade Stadium (Capacity: 61,337)

2019 Southeastern Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
No. 4 Georgia x		7	–	1					12	–	2
No. 6 Florida		6	–	2					11	–	2
Tennessee		5	–	3					8	–	5
Kentucky		3	–	5					8	–	5
Missouri *		3	–	5					6	–	6
South Carolina		3	–	5					4	–	8
Vanderbilt		1	–	7					3	–	9
West Division
No. 1 LSU x$^		8	–	0					15	–	0
No. 8 Alabama		6	–	2					11	–	2
No. 14 Auburn		5	–	3					9	–	4
Texas A&M		4	–	4					8	–	5
Mississippi State		3	–	5					6	–	7
Ole Miss		2	–	6					4	–	8
Arkansas		0	–	8					2	–	10
Championship: LSU 37, Georgia 10
^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions * – ineligible for postseason due to NCAA sanctions Rankings from AP Poll

Previous season

The Bulldogs finished the 2018 regular season 8–4, 4–4 in SEC play to finish in fourth in the Western Division. They were invited to play in the Outback Bowl, where they lost against Iowa.

Preseason

SEC media poll

The SEC media poll was released on July 19, 2019 with the Bulldogs predicted to finish in fifth place in the West Division.[1]

Media poll (Western) Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place) 1 Alabama 1,813 (253) 2 LSU 1,493 (5) 3 Texas A&M 1,268 4 Auburn 1,090 (1) 5 Mississippi State 769 (1) 6 Ole Miss 504 7 Arkansas 343

Media poll (SEC Championship) Rank Team Votes 1 Alabama 209 2 Georgia 49 3 LSU 3 4 Auburn 1 Florida 1 Mississippi State 1 South Carolina 1 Tennessee 1

Preseason All-SEC teams

To be released

Schedule

Mississippi State announced its 2019 football schedule on September 18, 2018.[2] The 2019 schedule consisted of 7 home and 5 away games in the regular season.

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	11:00 a.m.	vs. Louisiana*	Mercedes-Benz Superdome New Orleans, LA	ESPNU	W 38–28	22,440
September 7	2:30 p.m.	Southern Miss*	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	ESPNU	W 38–15	55,143
September 14	11:00 a.m.	Kansas State*	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	ESPN	L 24–31	54,522
September 21	3:00 p.m.	Kentucky	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	SECN	W 28–13	54,556
September 28	6:00 p.m.	at No. 7 Auburn	Jordan–Hare Stadium Auburn, AL	ESPN	L 23–56	87,451
October 12	11:00 a.m.	at Tennessee	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN	SECN	L 10–20	85,462
October 19	2:30 p.m.	No. 2 LSU	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS (rivalry)	CBS	L 13–36	59,282
October 26	11:00 a.m.	at Texas A&M	Kyle Field College Station, TX	SECN	L 30–49	102,025
November 2	3:00 p.m.	at Arkansas	Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium Fayetteville, AR	SECN	W 54–24	52,256
November 16	11:00 a.m.	No. 5 Alabama	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS (rivalry)	ESPN	L 7–38	57,607
November 23	6:30 p.m.	Abilene Christian*	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	SECN Alt.	W 45–7	54,683
November 28	6:30 p.m.	Ole Miss	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS (Egg Bowl)	ESPN	W 21–20	57,529
December 30	3:00 p.m.	vs. Louisville*	Nissan Stadium Nashville, TN (Music City Bowl)	ESPN	L 28–38	46,850
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings after November 5 released prior to game All times are in Central time

Schedule Source:[3]

Personnel

Coaching staff

Staff from 2019.[4]

Name	Position
Joe Moorhead	Head Coach
Mark Hudspeth	Associate Head Coach & Tight Ends Coach
Terry Richardson	Assistant Head Coach, Run Game Coordinator, & Running Backs Coach
Deke Adams	Defensive Line Coach
Andrew Breiner	Pass Game Coordinator & Quarterbacks Coach
Terrell Buckley	Cornerbacks Coach
Luke Getsy	Offensive Coordinator* & Wide Receivers Coach
Marcus Johnson	Offensive Line Coach
Joey Jones	Special Teams Coordinator
Tem Lukabu	Linebackers Coach
Bob Shoop	Defensive Coordinator & Safeties Coach
Anthony Piroli	Head Strength and Conditioning Coach
Andrew Warsaw	Director of Football Operations

Game summaries

vs. Louisiana

	1	2	3	4	Total
Ragin' Cajuns	7	7	0	14	28
Bulldogs	7	14	7	10	38

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
4–0	Sept. 15, 2018	W, 56–10

Southern Miss

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Eagles	0	0	7	8	15
Bulldogs	7	14	7	10	38

Overall record	Last ten meetings	Last meeting	Result
14–14–1	6–4	Sept. 5, 2015	W, 34–16

Kansas State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	3	14	0	14	31
Bulldogs	0	14	7	3	24

Mississippi State led in almost every statistical category: more first downs (21-17); more total yards (352-269), more yards rushing (201-146), and more yards passing (151-123). Both teams committed 3 turnovers and 7 penalties and Mississippi State controlled the game clock, holding possession for 33:05 to K-States 26:55.[5]

Solid statistical production wasn't enough, as Kansas State ended up winning the game 31-24.[6]

Kentucky

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	3	0	7	3	13
Bulldogs	7	14	0	7	28

Overall record	Last ten meetings	Last meeting	Result
23–23	8–2	Sept. 22, 2018	L, 7–28

at Auburn

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	6	3	7	7	23
No. 7 Tigers	21	21	7	7	56

Overall record	Last ten meetings	Last meeting	Result
27–63–2	4–6	Oct. 6, 2018	W, 23–9

at Tennessee

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	0	3	0	7	10
Volunteers	7	3	3	7	20

Overall record	Last ten meetings	Last meeting	Result
16–28–1	2–8	Oct. 13, 2012	W, 41–31

LSU

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 2 Tigers	3	19	14	0	36
Bulldogs	0	7	0	6	13

Overall record	Last ten meetings	Last meeting	Result
35–74–3	2–8	Oct. 20, 2018	L, 3–19

at Texas A&M

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	0	10	7	13	30
Aggies	14	14	14	7	49

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
7–5	Oct. 27, 2018	W, 28–13

at Arkansas

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	14	24	7	9	54
Razorbacks	0	10	7	7	24

Overall record	Last ten meetings	Last meeting	Result
12–16–1	6–4	Nov. 17, 2018	W, 52–6

Alabama

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 5 Crimson Tide	21	14	3	0	38
Bulldogs	7	0	0	0	7

Overall record	Last ten meetings	Last meeting	Result
18–81–3	0–10	Nov. 10, 2018	L, 0–24

Abilene Christian

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	0	7	0	0	7
Bulldogs	7	14	7	17	45

Ole Miss

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rebels	0	14	0	6	20
Bulldogs	7	7	7	0	21

Overall record	Last ten meetings	Last meeting	Result
45–62–6	6–4	Nov. 22, 2018	W, 35–3

vs Louisville (Music City Bowl)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	7	7	0	14	28
Cardinals	0	10	14	14	38

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3–3	Dec. 30, 2017	W, 31–27

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	15	Final
AP	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
Coaches	RV	RV	23	RV	RV	RV	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
CFP	Not released										NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	Not released

Players drafted into the NFL

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL Club
2	63	Willie Gay	ILB	Kansas City Chiefs
3	89	Cameron Dantzler	CB	Minnesota Vikings
3	106	Tyre Phillips	OT	Baltimore Ravens
7	240	Tommy Stevens	QB	New Orleans Saints
7	249	Brian Cole II	S	Minnesota Vikings

References

1. https://www.thestate.com/sports/college/university-of-south-carolina/usc-football/article232869247.html
2. "2019 Football Schedule Unveiled". Mississippi State University Department of Athletics. September 18, 2018. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
3. "2019 Mississippi State Bulldogs Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
4. "2018 Football Coaching Staff". hailstate.com. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
5. "Kansas State vs Mississippi State (team stats)". ESPN. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
6. Robinett, Kellis (September 14, 2019). "K-State upsets Mississippi State 31-24 for first signature win under Chris Klieman". Wichita Eagle. Retrieved September 14, 2019.