The best things about Mississippi State in 2025 ...Middle East

Jeff Lebby’s rebuilding job was never going to be easy. At a program that replaced its head coach twice in as many seasons, Mississippi State dealt with roster turnover that proved to be a massive challenge. As a result, Year 1 of the Lebby era felt more like Year 0.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that when you go 2-10 without an SEC win, improvement feels imminent. The bar is low after 1-15 mark in SEC play in the last 2 seasons.

Excuse my negativity. This isn’t the place for that. Today, we’ll focus on why there are indeed positives for the 2025 version of Mississippi State.

There’s no better time to be positive than talkin’ season. That’s what I always say. Each of the next 16 days, we’ll look at the best things about each SEC team. This daily series will align with the SEC Network Takeover, which runs from Saturday, June 28 until July 13, AKA just before talkin’ season officially kicks off at SEC Media Days on July 14.

Mark your calendars! ?️The @SECNetwork Takeover returns June 28-July 13Each of the 16 @SEC schools will takeover the network for a day of school-centric programming with 24 hours of the year's best momentsMore on #SECNTakeover ➡️ t.co/LJHK4ml6wk pic.twitter.com/WScfaJo7Tp

For those keeping track at home, that’s alphabetical order.

So far, here are the teams that we’ve done:

Today, we’ll continue with the best things about Mississippi State in 2025:

Best offensive player: Davon Booth, RB

Booth is being slept on as one of the better returning backs in the SEC. How? Well, I don’t expect him to be anywhere near the preseason All-SEC discussion, yet he enters 2025 after finishing with more rushing yards than Caden Durham, Jadan Baugh, Nate Frazier and all but 2 SEC returners. Those 3 guys will be all over preseason All-SEC ballots, and Booth will be an afterthought.

That’s common for a running back on a 2-win team, but he had at least 90 scrimmage yards in 5 of the last 6 games, and he essentially matched his 2023 production at Utah State. In that 6-game stretch, he also forced 19 missed tackles and he racked up 319 yards after first contact. Mind you, that was without fumbling once all season.

Lebby added South Alabama running back Fluff Bothwell to that room, so it’s not likely that Booth becomes some 250-touch guy. But Booth can still be a 3-down back if he continues to progress in the passing game after he averaged 12.9 yards per catch. Don’t be surprised if the Bulldogs’ offense revolves around the 23-year-old tailback after a sneaky-impressive first season against SEC competition.

Best defensive player: Red Hibbler, DE

I can’t confirm that Mississippi State strictly targeted new players with elite first names, but between “Fluff” and “Red,” the Bulldogs certainly checked that box. Hibbler’s 2024 season at NC State was to injury, but when he was last healthy in 2023, he was plenty impactful. That year, he had 7 tackles for loss, 6.5 of which were sacks. Hibbler earned this title because he led a top-25 NC State defense in sacks.

That bodes well for an overhauled Mississippi State defensive line that’ll be desperate for improvement up front. That’s probably an understatement. Last year, Oregon State was the only FBS team who finished with fewer sacks than the Bulldogs (10). In 8 SEC games, Mississippi State had just 5 sacks. There are teams like South Carolina and Ole Miss who got 5 sacks in a quarter last season. Hibbler, who also had 9 QB hurries and 2 batted passes in 2023, will be tasked with helping turn that number around. The Mississippi native’s return to his home state will have a big say in whether the Bulldogs can get on the board in SEC play under Lebby.

Best freshman: Gracen Harris, WR

Harris was committed to Oklahoma back in May 2023 when Lebby was the Sooners’ offensive coordinator, but he flipped to Mississippi State more than a year and a half later at the 11th hour of the 2025 cycle. Clearly, Harris has great respect for Lebby and vice versa. Now that Harris is locked in on being a full-time receiver — he also played quarterback in high school — he could benefit from the trust with Lebby in what should be a wide-open receiver room. As we saw last year with Kevin Coleman Jr., who left for Mizzou, there are tons of opportunities for slot receivers in the Lebby offense. Shoot, Drake Stoops was a first-team All-Big 12 selection when he got that opportunity at Oklahoma in 2023.

Not surprisingly, Lebby already sang Harris’s praises for what he did in the spring. He’s got a better shot of getting on the field than someone like 4-star quarterback KaMario Taylor, who might have more long-term upside but is unlikely to crack the 2-deep as quickly as Harris will.

Best game: Week 14, Ole Miss vs. Mississippi State

Do you want me to pretend that the Egg Bowl has completely lost its juice because it isn’t being played on Thanksgiving? It’s a bummer that it’ll be an 11 a.m. CT kickoff on Black Friday, but I refuse to dismiss that matchup. This game still matters because it’s the safest bet of any game on the college football calendar to turn into a chippy, ridiculously wild game.

Lane Kiffin is 4-1 in Egg Bowls, including last year’s 26-14 win, but Mississippi State hung tougher on the road than some might’ve assumed. This year in Starkville, could the Bulldogs be in a spot to play spoiler for Ole Miss’s Playoff chances? Much of that will depend on if the Bulldogs’ defense can take advantage of having 67% of last year’s production back and not be the doormat it was in 2024 when it had the SEC’s worst scoring defense by 9 points per game.

Lebby closing the regular season with an Egg Bowl victory would be the program’s best moment of the post-Mike Leach era … by a long shot.

Best reason for improvement: The track record of Year 2 of Jeff Lebby offenses

At Ole Miss and Oklahoma, Lebby’s Year 2 offenses were electric. When healthy, Matt Corral turned 2021 Ole Miss into a juggernaut and with full offensive autonomy in Norman, Lebby and Dillon Gabriel lit up scoreboards for the No. 4 scoring offense in 2023. Both of those teams had offenses fuel massive year-to-year improvements in the wins department.

Could that be on the way in Starkville? The Year 1 blueprint wasn’t supposed to include Blake Shapen going down with a season-ending injury in September and turning to a true freshman quarterback for the majority of the season. Any sort of Year 2 blueprint needs Shapen to be the calming force, along with consistent production from the aforementioned Booth. Shapen showed real promise before getting hurt in the Florida game. With his ability to stretch the field, could he have a 2018 Jordan Ta’amu-like presence? Apologies for the rivalry comp, but that could dictate what sort of improvement is in store in Starkville.

I can’t help but think that Lebby’s coaching DNA will be more evident in this year’s version of Mississippi State.

The best things about Mississippi State in 2025 Saturday Down South.

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