Scouting the Opponent: Three questions about Mississippi St.

SCHOOL: Mississippi State

HEAD COACH: Jeff Lebby (0-0, 1st year)

2023 RECORD: 5-7 overall, 1-7 (T-6th in SEC West)

RETURNING STARTERS: Offense – 0; Defense – 2; Special Teams – 1

PLAYERS TO WATCH: QB Blake Shapen, WR Kelly Akharaiyi, DE De'Monte Russell, LB Donterry Russell, CB Brice Pollack, S Isaac Smith

VERSUS GEORGIA: October 12 (Sanford Stadium, Athens).

MSU does not return a single offense starter from last year.

But that's apparently just fine with new head coach Jeff Lebby, who takes over the program after coming over from Oklahoma where he served as the offensive coordinator.

MSU did bring in a talented quarterback in Blake Shapen, a transfer from Baylor. Shapen threw for 30 touchdowns in each of his two seasons with the Bears, along with wide receiver Kelly Akharaiyi, who caught 48 passes for over 1,000 yards last season for UTEP.

The Bulldogs hope senior Keyvone Lee will highlight the team's running back.

Lebby still has to sort out who his starters will be on the offensive line, yet another unknown for a team with seemingly more questions than answers.

Mississippi State's defense isn't in much better shape than the offense with only two starters returning.

That would be defensive end DeMonte Russell and safety Corey Ellington.

Otherwise, new defensive coordinator Coleman Hutzler - who coached inside linebackers last year at Alabama - will have his work cut out.

The Bulldogs will keep the 3-3-5 scheme they ran a season ago, and there's some experience back on the defensive line.

However, besides Ellington, the group is inexperienced and will be forced to learn on the fly once the season begins.

That's going to be tough.

The first four games are certainly navigatable with Eastern Kentucky, Arizona State, Toledo, and Florida making up the first four weeks.

It gets much tougher after that.

With the new schedule, MSU does not have to worry about Alabama. Still, back-to-back road games at Georgia and Texas loom in October, before closing out the season against Tennessee, Missouri, and the annual grudge match against Ole Miss.