It’s week three of the 2023 Mississippi State Football season, and the Bulldogs remain unbeaten as they prepare to welcome the LSU Tigers to Davis Wade Stadium for an early kick-off. Saturday will be an insane environment as the Bulldogs anticipate SEC Nation, LSU fans, and a sold-out Davis Wade Stadium to the first Southeastern Conference game of the Zach Arnett era.

Mississippi State approaches the LSU game on Saturday with an undefeated 2-0 record after a thrilling overtime win over the Wildcats of Arizona last Saturday. Despite not playing their best football against Arizona, the Bulldogs understand that to beat LSU on Saturday, they will have to play a full sixty on Saturday morning. Except for Western Michigan on October 7th, Mississippi State has to put up or shut up. In September alone, Mississippi State has LSU on Saturday at Davis Wade Stadium, on the road at Williams Brice Stadium to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks, then back home to play Alabama to close the month.

At this point, Coach Arnett and his Bulldogs control their destiny and will have to play big-boy Southeastern Conference Football from Saturday on. As the season progresses, there will be speed bumps in the road that the Bulldogs will have to overcome; how they respond to that adversity will determine the success the 2023 Mississippi State Bulldogs will have. Coach Arnett has preached to his guys about the Mississippi State way; Saturday will be the first big test for the Bulldogs to overcome the onslaught of Southeastern Conference Football.

LSU is big, they’re physical, and they have the talent across the board to make a run at a bid to the College Football Playoffs. However, LSU struggled over Labor Day Weekend with a physical Florida State Football team that dominated the Tigers to give Brian Kelly and his Tigers their first loss of the 2023 season.

For Mississippi State to prevail on Saturday over the visiting LSU Tigers, the Bulldogs need improvement on two things from the previous games.

First, the Offensive Coordinator, Kevin Barbay, has got to turn Will Rogers and the Mississippi State offensive unit loose. Let your playmakers do what playmakers do best. Let them make the plays that put Mississippi State in the best position to play, winning Mississippi State Football. There are instances when conservative playcalling works; Saturday against LSU is not one of those days. Let the guys play the offensive schemes that make Mississippi State Football so challenging to contain.

Second, play Mississippi State Football. Simple. Don’t let the LSU brand scare you into playing a style of football that doesn’t fit the Mississippi State brand.

Mississippi State and LSU will have an early 11:00 kick-off Saturday morning at Davis Wade Stadium. Unable to make it to Starkville, Mississippi? The Bulldogs and Tigers will have a national audience with a broadcast on ESPN.