ATLANTA -- The defining moment for Mississippi State's 2021 season came the week after blowing a 28-23 lead in the final minute in a 31-28 loss at Arkansas in which the Bulldogs missed three field goals, including one from 40 yards on the last play of the game.
Mississippi State trailed 28-3 late in the second quarter at Auburn before scoring 40 unanswered points in a 43-34 win.
That comeback showed how well the Bulldogs can compete when they're running in high gear on both sides of the ball under Coach Mike Leach.
"That's definitely something you remember," receiver Austin Williams said at SEC Media Days last week. "At one point it's 28-3 and you're looking at the scoreboard and you're like, 'This isn't how you draw it up.'
"But after halftime we came out and we were just lights out. That's something you'll remember the rest of your life. That was an amazing afternoon. You just see what we can really be capable of when we put it all together."
Mississippi State entered the final weekend of the season with a chance to finish second in the SEC West behind Alabama before falling 31-21 to Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl, where Leach is 0-2 against Lane Kiffin, with whom he shares a solid relationship.
Mississippi State did not generate a lot of buzz as a contender in the SEC West at SEC Media Days, but there is data that suggests the Bulldogs will have to be reckoned with this fall.
Leach, the third-year coach, brings back eight starters on both sides of the ball, including almost all his skill talent, and a couple of returning starters don't project to the first unit.
Mississippi State ranked in the top 30 in the nation in both total offense, with 441.5 yards per game, and total defense, which allowed 344.8 yards per game.
Perhaps recent history, a daunting schedule and the caliber of competition in the nation's toughest division caused media voters to be reluctant to be high on the Bulldogs.
Leach spoke last year about having one of the least experienced rosters in college football. Now, after those youngsters produced a solid statistical year, including 378.3 passing yards per game to rank fourth in the nation, the Bulldogs sport one of the most veteran rosters in the game.
Leach wasn't providing specifics at SEC media days about where his club should be better.
"There's not much to adjust," Leach said. "If you're determined to improve your team, the best way to improve the team is improve yourself, then after that everybody gets on that page.
"If you're constantly trying to improve yourself, trying to get better, trying to do the best you can, if you have full effort, eventually you can improve from that and set a new ceiling."
Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers did not make any of the top three All-SEC teams voted on last week, but his numbers from last year suggest the junior could be one of the nation's best.
Rogers led the country with 73.9% completions and 38.9 completions per game and ranked fourth with 364.5 passing yards per game while throwing 36 touchdowns and 9 interceptions.
"I think Will Rogers is going to improve," Leach said. "I think he needs to incrementally improve. ... I think we took a step in spring. We have to keep doing it during camp."
Rogers has weapons all around him to move the ball quickly in Leach's Air Raid Spread offense, which was the highest-volume passing team in the country by 27% over the next-highest passing team.
Running backs Jo'quavious Marks and Dillon Johnson amassed 1,149 and 1,046 all-purpose yards, respectively as Rogers' top two targets after departed wideout Makai Polk. Marks rushed for 416 yards, caught 83 passes for 502 yards and scored 9 touchdowns. Johnson rushed for a team-high 485 yards, had 65 catches for 422 yards and scored 5 touchdowns.
Mississippi State's top returning players at wideout are Jaden Walley (55 receptions, 628 yards, 6 TD) and Williams (52-617, 4).
All the skill talent will work behind an offensive front that brings back four senior starters in center LaQuinston Sharp and Kwatrivous Johnson, Kameron Jones and Cole Smith.
Defensively, multiple starters return on each unit.
Seniors Tyrus Wheat and Nathaniel Watson spearhead the linebacking corps, and seniors Randy Charlton, Jaden Crumedy and Cameron Young are back on the front. The three-man front will also get back top pass rusher Jordan Davis, who missed last year with a knee injury.
Junior cornerback Emmanuel Forbes is the top returning defensive back, while senior safeties Collin Duncan and Jalen Green have starting experience.
Coaches around the SEC have adopted a zone strategies to contend with the Air Raid, like the "Drop 8" scheme Arkansas employed to frustrate the Bulldogs in 2020. Yet it's still difficult to keep the short-passing approach from racking up numbers.
Leach said refining execution is the big key to his team improving in 2022.
"So many people are adopting Air Raid concepts," Leach said. "Maybe it's not exactly what we do, [but] like basically spread, control passing games. That's all around the league now, with rare exceptions, the whole NFL.
"But football has always been a game of execution. There's not a lot of Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote, who you ambush, fool the other guy, then you walk away laughing like Muttley after the rock fell on the guy or something like that.
"It's always been a game of execution. It doesn't matter what you do schematically, you have to execute well. ... We spend more time thinking about practice and how to teach what we want to execute. And the more sharply refined you can teach it and focus on it, the better you're going to be."
Bulldogs at a glance
2022 Schedule
All times Central
DATEOPPONENTTIME/TV
Sept. 3Memphis6:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
Sept. 10at Arizona10 p.m. (FS1)
Sept. 17at LSU*5 p.m. (ESPN)
Sept. 24Bowling GreenTBA
Oct. 1Texas A&M*TBA
Oct. 8Arkansas*TBA
Oct. 15at Kentucky*TBA
Nov. 5Auburn*TBA
Nov. 12Georgia*TBA
Nov. 19E. Tenn. StateTBA
Nov. 24at Ole Miss* TBA
* - SEC game
LAST SEASON 7–6, 4-4 (tied for 3rd in SEC West)
COACH Mike Leach (11-13 in 3rd year at MSU, 150-103 in 21st year overall)
RETURNING STARTERS Offense 8, Defense 8
KEY PLAYERS QB Will Rogers, CB Emmanuel Forbes, WR Jaden Walley, LB Nathaniel Watson, RB Jo’quavious Marks, LB Tyrone Wheat, WR Austin Williams
OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR Mike Leach
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR Zach Arnett
SPECIAL TEAMS Eric Mele
SEC WEST TITLE SCENARIO
The Bulldogs have a large amount of returning starters, but they’ll need to stay healthy against a schedule that challenges Arkansas’ as toughest in the league. They were good enough to win road games at Auburn and Texas A&M last year, but lost at home to LSU and Ole Miss, so consistency is an issue.