Mississippi State — SEC
HC
Jeff Lebby · Davis Wade Stadium · Starkville, MS · 61,337 cap
PPA off / def
0.15 / 0.20
2025
Class rank
#23
class of 2026
Returning PPA
34%
returning production
2026 schedule
| Wk | Opponent | All-time series | Venue |
|---|
| wk1 | vs UL Monroe | leads 4–1–1 · W2 | Davis Wade Stadium |
| wk2 | at Minnesota | | Huntington Bank Stadium |
| wk3 | at South Carolina | South Carolina leads 10–7 | Williams-Brice Stadium |
| wk4 | vs Missouri | Missouri leads 4–2 · L2 | Davis Wade Stadium |
| wk5 | vs Alabama | Alabama leads 86–16–3 · L16 | Davis Wade Stadium |
| wk7 | at LSU | LSU leads 74–36–3 · L3 | Tiger Stadium (LA) |
| wk8 | vs Oklahoma | | Davis Wade Stadium |
| wk9 | at Texas | Texas leads 4–2 · L3 | DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium |
| wk10 | vs Vanderbilt | leads 14–7–2 · W5 | Davis Wade Stadium |
| wk11 | vs Auburn | Auburn leads 63–30–3 | Davis Wade Stadium |
| wk12 | vs Tennessee Tech | | Davis Wade Stadium |
| wk13 | at Ole Miss | Ole Miss leads 67–46–5 · L3 | Vaught-Hemingway Stadium |
2025 results (5–8)
Statistical comps — 2025 Mississippi State's closest analogs
Nearest neighbors by z-scored success rate, explosiveness, run rate & havoc (offense + defense), 2015–25.
2025 leaders
Transfer portal — 2026 (27 in / 40 out)
Origins
Cowbells, legal again since 2010, make Davis Wade the most physically unpleasant place to visit in the conference. The 2014 team spent five weeks at number one, the only time the program has been there.
Founded 1878 · Land-grant agricultural and mechanical college · first football 1895 · defined by Jackie Sherrill
All-time record
All-time
611–599–37
1902–2025
Win %
50.5%
123 seasons played
Winning seasons
60
49% of seasons
| Best seasons | W | L | Conference |
|---|
| 1940 | 10 | 0 | SEC |
| 1999 | 10 | 2 | SEC |
| 2014 | 10 | 3 | SEC |
| 1976 | 9 | 2 | SEC |
| 1980 | 9 | 3 | SEC |
Season records from CollegeFootballData, which is why the span starts at 1902 — that is where its coverage of this program begins, not necessarily the first year it fielded a team.
Play-calling tendencies (2025 · garbage time excluded)
| Situation | Plays | Run % | Success % | Nat'l | Avg yds | Expl % |
|---|
| 1st down | 365 | 59% |
41% | 98 of 136 | 5.4 | 11% |
| 2nd down | 277 | 53% |
42% | 60 of 136 | 5.9 | 9% |
| 3rd & short (≤3) | 49 | 73% |
67% | — | 4.7 | 8% |
| 3rd & medium (4–7) | 62 | 37% |
37% | — | 4.4 | 8% |
| 3rd & long (8+) | 68 | 21% |
28% | — | 7.9 | 16% |
| 4th down | 26 | 38% |
46% | — | 5.5 | 19% |
167 drives · 41% ended in points · 6.9 plays and 39.5 yards per drive · 0.86 PPA per drive
Success: 50% of yardage needed on 1st, 70% on 2nd, 100% on 3rd/4th. Explosive: 12+ yd rush / 16+ yd pass. National rank is shown only for 1st and 2nd down, where every team has 100+ plays; the later buckets average 18-43 and a rank there would be noise.
League leaderboard →Most valuable plays (by PPA, 2025)
| Wk | Opp | Play | Yds | PPA |
|---|
| 3 | Alcorn State |
Blake Shapen pass complete to Jordan Mosley for 75 yds for a TD (Kyle Ferrie KICK) |
75 | 6.78 |
| 2 | Arizona State |
Blake Shapen pass complete to Brenen Thompson for 58 yds for a TD (Kyle Ferrie KICK) |
58 | 6.45 |
| 1 | Southern Miss |
Blake Shapen pass complete to Seydou Traore for 55 yds for a TD (Kyle Ferrie KICK) |
55 | 6.16 |
| 9 | Texas |
Davon Booth 62 Yd pass from Blake Shapen (Kyle Ferrie Kick) |
62 | 4.95 |
| 2 | Arizona State |
Blake Shapen pass complete to Brenen Thompson for 47 yds for a TD (Kyle Ferrie KICK) |
47 | 4.66 |
| 4 | Northern Illinois |
Blake Shapen pass complete to Anthony Evans III for 57 yds to the NIU 6 for a 1ST down |
57 | 4.66 |
| 14 | Ole Miss |
(10:50) No Huddle-Shotgun #1 K.Taylor rush middle for 35 yards gain to the OM 00 TOUCHDOWN… |
35 | 4.58 |
| 10 | Arkansas |
(13:51) No Huddle-Shotgun #1 K.Taylor pass complete deep middle to #3 A.Evans III caught a… |
45 | 4.20 |