Week two brought the Mississippi State Bulldogs an ugly rock fight with the Arizona Wildcats at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Mississippi. Saturday’s 31-24 overtime thriller victory over Arizona was as ugly as it comes. As the sun rose on Sunday, Coach Arnett and his Bulldogs remained unbeaten, with the LSU Tigers coming to town for a week three rivalry matchup. Saturday was a weird game for the Bulldogs, but great teams find a way when it seems impossible or wacky. In some aspects, the Bulldogs looked improved from week one, and in some areas, the Bulldogs have more ground to cover ahead of the Southeastern Conference opener against LSU on Saturday.

Starting with the ugly from Saturday’s Arizona game, the Mississippi State offense left to be desired from the win over the Wildcats. As in week one, Mississippi State stalled many offensive drives on Saturday night, leaving points on the field. Mississippi State had several chances to add to the lead but failed. Coach Barbay and his offensive unit would put together a few nice plays before falling flat in the red zone. Mississippi State will need to open the playbook up on the offensive side of the ball, creating opportunities for the endless amounts of playmakers the Bulldogs have on offense.

On to the mid, on defense, Mississippi State forced five turnovers, four of which came from interceptions. Without the Junkyard Dawg linebacker core of Jett Johnson and Nathaniel Watson, the Bulldogs would have likely struggled to close the deal in overtime on Saturday night. Combined, Johnson and Watson had three turnovers and 21 tackles. Approaching the LSU game, the Bulldogs will need to see a vast improvement in the secondary from the Arizona game. Arizona methodically picked apart the Mississippi State secondary, completing several deep passes for large chunks of yards.

The positive outlook from an ugly but gritty 31-24 win over Arizona might differ in week one; the Bulldogs remain unbeaten and in control of the narrative surrounding the 2023 season. For Coach Arnett and his program, all that matters is learning from a gritty win over a solid Arizona team and preparing for the Southeastern Conference opener on Saturday morning against LSU. It won’t come easy, but learning from a gritty win is a better position to be in rather than a gut-wrenching loss to dwell on. Practice will be challenging this week for the guys, but Coach Arnett and the Bulldogs will use what happened on Saturday against Arizona to better prepare for LSU on Saturday.

Overall, it was an ugly but a win either way. Mississippi State is unbeaten heading into the week three matchup with LSU on Saturday morning at Davis Wade Stadium. A win over the Tigers on Saturday and the Bulldogs will then control their destiny in the chase for an SEC Western Division Championship. Mississippi State has the talent; it comes down to learning the system and preparing for the unexpected in Southeastern Conference play.