On a picture-perfect day for college football, the Mississippi State Bulldogs opened their season at Davis Wade Stadium as they welcomed the Lions of Southeastern Louisiana to Starkville, Mississippi.

On the grounds around Davis Wade Stadium, Mississippi State fans were going hard as the highly anticipated first home game of the Zach Arnett era was on the docket. For an entire off-season, Mississippi State awaited the return of Bulldogs Football under a completely different system.

As expected, the first half left Mississippi State fans a bit concerned about the offensive side of the ball. Mississippi State had 20 points heading to the break but failed to finish several drives by stalling out and having to settle with either a field goal or a punt. However, Coach Arnett and his staff discovered they had a sniper at kicker as Kyle Ferrie nailed two long-distance field goals to give the Bulldogs an extra six points on the scoreboard. Will Rogers connected with Creed Whittemore to give the Bulldogs a 20-7 lead at the break.

Mississippi State would carry on in the third quarter without a spark on the offensive side of the ball. Until the Mississippi State coaching staff called the number of backup quarterback Mike Wright to come in and break a 53-yard QB keeper to bring the Bulldogs into the red zone. From there, Will Rogers connected with Jaden Walley on a five-yard touchdown pass to extend the Bulldogs lead to 27-7 with 1:30 left in the third quarter. Mississippi State would score another offensive touchdown with 9:20 remaining to extend the Bulldogs lead to 41-7 over the Lions. With 5:19 left in the game, Creed Whittemore would take 53 yards to the house off a jet sweep to extend the Mississippi State lead to 48-7 over the Lions.

On the defensive side of the ball, Mississippi State dominated in all aspects on Saturday at Davis Wade Stadium. Coach Arnett had his Bulldogs playing like a pack of junkyard dogs on Saturday as they forced Southeastern Louisiana out of rhythm for all sixty minutes. Mississippi State forced several turnovers, including a blocked punt for a touchdown with 14:53 remaining in the game to extend the Bulldogs lead to 34-7 over the Lions.

Overall, Saturday was a day of excitement as the Bulldogs cruised to a 48-7 victory over Southeastern Louisiana. Mississippi State will return to Davis Wade Stadium next Saturday as the Bulldogs welcome the Wildcats of Arizona to Starkville, Mississippi, for an exciting SEC/ Pac 12 non-conference matchup.