How Mississippi State football matches up against potential SEC East opponents

STARKVILLE – It just means more … SEC games.

For the first time ever, Mississippi State is slated to play 10 conference games. The Bulldogs’ entire regular season will consist of those 10 games, six of which will come against SEC West foes as usual and four against SEC East opponents.

Mike Leach and his staff already knew they’d play Kentucky and Missouri in their inaugural season in Starkville. Now they have to prepare for two other cross-divisional teams. Here’s a look at who they might have to play.

More:What SEC schedule announcement means for Mississippi State football

Georgia

It’s been a decade since the Bulldogs from the Magnolia State beat the Bulldogs from the Peach State. Mississippi State hasn’t bested Georgia since Sept. 15, 2010. MSU has lost twice to UGA since then by scores of 24-10 and 34-3.

It might not be as easy to better scores counts as you’d think.

Georgia’s defense returns many of the players who led the team to a No. 3 national ranking in total defense last year. Leach will counter that with one of the most experienced quarterbacks in the conference, though.

Graduate transfer K.J. Costello has more passing yards than every signal caller in the SEC other than Texas A&M senior Kellen Mond. Costello will be flanked by the running back who led the league in rushing last year in senior Kylin Hill, too.

The Georgia offense struggled at times last year with junior Jake Fromm leading the charge. New offensive coordinator and former Southern Miss head coach Todd Monken and either Wake Forest transfer Jamie Newman or USC transfer JT Daniels would be tasked with keeping up with Leach’s Air Raid.

Florida

Mississippi State had its chance at revenge against former head coach Dan Mullen two years ago. It didn’t go so well in a 13-6 loss at Davis Wade Stadium.

The unique circumstances could give the Bulldogs a second shot at getting the best of Mullen much sooner than anticipated. It won’t be easy again, though.

Mullen won 10 games in his first season in Gainesville and 11 in his second. He has an experienced quarterback to work with in redshirt senior Kyle Trask. The Gators had the No. 3 passing offense in the SEC last year behind LSU and Alabama.

The Florida defense lost its leading sack man in Jonathan Greenard and the team’s leading tackler in David Reese II, however. Florida’s strength this season should be stability in Mullen’s offense, which could create a potential shootout should Leach and Mullen go head to head this year.

Tennessee

This could be the least likely of added opponents for Mississippi State. The two teams met last year at Neyland Stadium. Yet again, though, it would be an opportunity for Mississippi State to get revenge for the 20-10 loss Tennessee handed the Bulldogs.

Coach Jeremy Pruitt righted the ship by guiding the Volunteers to a six-game winning streak to end the season. If he’s to replicate that success in 2020, though, the Vols have to be better offensively. They ranked 12th in the SEC in total offense ahead of only Arkansas and Vanderbilt.

Tennessee won’t be facing the Mississippi State team that couldn’t complete 50% of its passes and only threw for 146 yards in last year’s game as well. What a difference a year could make if Costello and company is given the chance to rewrite those numbers.

South Carolina

Mississippi State has only faced South Carolina once during the Will Muschamp era. The Bulldogs beat the Gamecocks 27-14 on Sept. 10, 2016.

South Carolina stumbled to a 4-8 record last year. Muschamp’s team didn’t particularly do anything well. The Gamecocks ranked 10th or worse in the SEC in rushing offense (No. 10), rushing defense (No. 12) and passing defense (No. 12).

Muschamp could have been ousted from Columbia if not for a major upset victory over Georgia. Sophomore quarterback Ryan Hilinski’s role as the starter is not set in stone with graduate transfer Collin Hill coming in from Colorado State.

If Mississippi State is afforded the opportunity to play South Carolina, the Bulldogs might be pitted against a meandering team with a head coach desperate to find answers.

Vanderbilt

Mississippi State is scheduled to play Vanderbilt in 2021. You’d be hard-pressed to find anybody in maroon and white who wouldn’t mind facing the Commodores two years in a row.

Vanderbilt was the worst team in the SEC East last year by many metrics, including its conference record of 1-7 and overall mark of 3-9. Vandy allowed 436.6 yards per game, which ranked 13th in the SEC and 101st in the country.

Somewhere in Starkville Leach is licking his lips.

Contact Tyler Horka at thorka@gannett.com. Follow @tbhorka on Twitter. To read more of Tyler's work, subscribe to the Clarion Ledger today!