SEC Preview: Western Michigan at Mississippi State

Mississippi State-Western Michigan Preview

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Western Michigan faces Mississippi State on Saturday in Starkville. 14Powers.com previews this SEC football game and predicts the final score.

Rowan Rehbein, 14Powers.com SEC Football
Follow @14powerscom

TEAM SCHEDULES/RESULTS

Western Michigan

Date	Opponent	Score
31-Aug	vs. Saint Francis U	W 35 – 17
9-Sep	at Syracuse	L 7 – 48
16-Sep	at 25 Iowa	L 10 – 41
23-Sep	at Toledo	L 31 – 49
30-Sep	vs. Ball State	W 42 – 24
7-Oct	at Mississippi State
14-Oct	vs. Miami (OH)
21-Oct	at Ohio
28-Oct	at Eastern Michigan
7-Nov	vs. Central Michigan
14-Nov	at Northern Illinois
21-Nov	vs. Bowling Green

Mississippi State

Date	Opponent	Score
2-Sep	vs. Southeastern Louisiana	W 48 – 7
9-Sep	vs. Arizona	W 31 – 24
16-Sep	vs. LSU	L 14 – 41
23-Sep	at South Carolina	L 30 – 37
30-Sep	vs. Alabama	L 17 – 40
7-Oct	vs. Western Michigan
21-Oct	at Arkansas
28-Oct	at Auburn
4-Nov	vs. Kentucky
11-Nov	at Texas A&M
18-Nov	vs. Southern Miss
23-Nov	vs. Ole Miss

COLLEGE FOOTBALL RATINGS

Rating	Western Michigan	Mississippi State
ESPN FPI	115	45
Sagarin	11	19
Massey Composite	113	70
PiRate Ratings	108	38

KEY STATS

Statistic	Team	National Rank	Conference Rank	Value
3rd Down Conversion Pct Defense	Mississippi St. Western Mich.	3 31	1 2	0.266 0.348
4th Down Conversion Pct	Western Mich. Mississippi St.	40 122	5 14	0.588 0.353
4th Down Conversion Pct Defense	Mississippi St. Western Mich.	6 51	2 6	0.348 0.500
Blocked Kicks
Blocked Kicks Allowed	Mississippi St. Western Mich.	25 112	3 11	1 4
Blocked Punts
Blocked Punts Allowed	Mississippi St. Western Mich.	1 125	1 10	0 3
Completion Percentage	Western Mich. Mississippi St.	48 119	3 14	0.614 0.511
Defensive TDs
Fewest Penalties	Western Mich. Mississippi St.	64 82	3 8	77 83
Fewest Penalties Per Game	Western Mich. Mississippi St.	60 76	3 9	5.92 6.38
Fewest Penalty Yards	Western Mich. Mississippi St.	62 82	3 9	678 748
Fewest Penalty Yards Per Game	Western Mich. Mississippi St.	59 79	3 10	52.15 57.54
First Downs Defense	Mississippi St. Western Mich.	9 58	1 5	212 255
First Downs Offense	Western Mich. Mississippi St.	31 78	4 12	296 255
Fumbles Lost	Mississippi St. Western Mich.	1 81	1 7	3 10
Fumbles Recovered	Western Mich. Mississippi St.	22 81	3 10	11 7
Kickoff Return Defense	Western Mich. Mississippi St.	30 103	5 11	19.07 22.39
Kickoff Returns	Mississippi St. Western Mich.	59 126	10 11	20.76 15.76
Net Punting	Mississippi St. Western Mich.	72 127	11 11	37.21 32.58
Passes Had Intercepted	Western Mich. Mississippi St.	43 53	4 11	9 10
Passes Intercepted	Mississippi St. Western Mich.	33 79	5 8	13 9
Passing Offense	Western Mich. Mississippi St.	62 111	3 13	237.4 173.8
Passing Yards Allowed	Mississippi St. Western Mich.	7 59	1 8	168.0 220.8
Passing Yards per Completion	Mississippi St. Western Mich.	22 49	3 5	13.69 12.70
Punt Return Defense	Mississippi St. Western Mich.	53 58	6 6	7.43 7.85
Punt Returns	Western Mich. Mississippi St.	2 105	1 12	21.44 5.52
Red Zone Defense	Mississippi St. Western Mich.	8 117	2 12	0.735 0.909
Red Zone Offense	Mississippi St. Western Mich.	29 83	5 7	0.881 0.818
Rushing Defense	Mississippi St. Western Mich.	2 68	1 5	95.1 165.8
Rushing Offense	Mississippi St. Western Mich.	20 38	2 3	223.6 199.5
Sacks Allowed	Western Mich. Mississippi St.	27 49	2 9	1.54 1.92
Scoring Defense	Mississippi St. Western Mich.	2 106	1 10	13.2 34.5
Scoring Offense	Western Mich. Mississippi St.	38 67	4 10	32.0 28.5
Tackles for Loss Allowed	Mississippi St. Western Mich.	17 32	5 4	4.69 5.15
Team Passing Efficiency	Western Mich. Mississippi St.	56 91	4 13	138.95 126.12
Team Passing Efficiency Defense	Mississippi St. Western Mich.	2 122	1 12	101.47 160.70
Team Sacks	Mississippi St. Western Mich.	10 47	1 5	3.00 2.38
Team Tackles for Loss	Mississippi St. Western Mich.	8 30	1 2	7.9 6.9
Time of Possession	Western Mich. Mississippi St.	6 38	1 5	33:36 31:01
Total Defense	Mississippi St. Western Mich.	1 57	1 6	263.1 386.6
Total Offense	Western Mich. Mississippi St.	35 70	3 10	436.8 397.4
Turnover Margin	Mississippi St. Western Mich.	26 63	5 6	0.54 0.08
Turnovers Gained	Western Mich. Mississippi St.	56 56	7 6	20 20
Turnovers Lost	Mississippi St. Western Mich.	9 62	1 4	13 19
Winning Percentage	Mississippi St. Western Mich.	39 57	7 4	0.615 0.538

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Western Michigan

QB Treyson Bourguet, RB Jalen Buckley, WR Anthony Sambucci, LT Michael Shanahan, DE Marshawn Kneeland, LB Boone Bonnema, CB Keni-H Lovely, K Palmer Domschke, P Cameron Peasley.

Mississippi State

QB Will Rogers, RB Jo’Quavious Marks, WR Justin Robinson, OL Cole Smith, DE Jaden Crumedy, LB Jett Johnson, LB Nathaniel Watson, DB Esaias Furdge, K Nick Barr-Mira.

INJURIES

Western Michigan



Player			POS	Status

No injuries to report.

Mississippi State



Player		POS	Status

K. Dinkins	DL	Out indefinitely – Undisclosed

T. Williams	DL	out for season – Undisclosed

J. Robinson	WR	Prob Sat – Undisclosed

J. Albert	S	out for season – Knee

G. Spivey	TE	out for season – Eligibility

S. Traore	TE	Out indefinitely – Eligibility

Source: Covers.com

Western Michigan vs. Mississippi State Football Series History

First meeting

COMMENTS

Mississippi State should win this one but they’d better not overlook Western Michigan. However, I don’t see WMU coming into cow bell heaven and winning.

PREDICTIONS

14Powers Preseason Prediction

Western Mich 17, Mississippi St 30

14Powers.com Gameweek Prediction

Mississippi State 38, Western Michigan 17

Saturday‘s game kicks off at 12:00 PM ET. Watch this SEC football game on the SEC Network.