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2017 Mississippi State

9–⁠4 (4–⁠4 Southeastern Conference), coached by Dan Mullen, then Greg Knox (interim, bowl game), finished No. 19 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Mississippi State in 2017, game by game: won vs. Charleston Southern 49–0; won at Louisiana Tech 57–21; won vs. No. 12 LSU 37–7; lost at No. 11 Georgia 3–31; lost at No. 13 Auburn 10–49; won vs. BYU 35–10; won vs. Kentucky 45–7; won at Texas A&M 35–14; won vs. Massachusetts 34–23; lost vs. No. 1 Alabama 24–31; won at Arkansas 28–21; lost vs. Ole Miss 28–31; won vs. Louisville 31–27+49−39Won 49–0 vs. Charleston Southern+49Charleston Sout…Won 57–21 at Louisiana Tech+36Louisiana TechWon 37–7 vs. No. 12 LSU+30No. 12 LSULost 3–31 at No. 11 Georgia-28No. 11 GeorgiaLost 10–49 at No. 13 Auburn-39No. 13 AuburnWon 35–10 vs. BYU+25BYUWon 45–7 vs. Kentucky+38KentuckyWon 35–14 at Texas A&M+21Texas A&MWon 34–23 vs. Massachusetts+11MassachusettsLost 24–31 vs. No. 1 Alabama-7No. 1 AlabamaWon 28–21 at Arkansas+7ArkansasLost 28–31 vs. Ole Miss-3Ole MissWon 31–27 vs. Louisville+4Louisville
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 2vsCharleston SouthernW 49–⁠076%
Sep 9atLouisiana TechW 57–⁠2145%
Sep 16vs12LSUW 37–⁠748%
Sep 23at11GeorgiaL 3–⁠3145%
Sep 30at13AuburnL 10–⁠4942%
Oct 14vsBYUW 35–⁠1073%
Oct 21vsKentuckyW 45–⁠765%
Oct 28atTexas A&MW 35–⁠1445%
Nov 4vsMassachusettsW 34–⁠2390%
Nov 11vs1AlabamaL 24–⁠3131%
Nov 18atArkansasW 28–⁠2170%
Nov 23vsOle MissL 28–⁠3177%
Dec 30Bowls & playoffvsLouisvilleTaxSlayer BowlW 31–⁠2753%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Louisville 31–⁠27 in the TaxSlayer Bowl; No. 19 in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 5th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 4: 17
  2. Wk 5: 24
  3. Wk 10: 21
  4. Wk 11: 18
  5. Wk 12: 17
  6. Wk 13: 16
  7. Wk 14: 24
  8. Wk 15: 24
  9. Final: 19
Record
9–⁠4
Conference
4–⁠4 tied for 6th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 19 peak No. 16
Points
416–⁠272
Coach
Dan Mullen, then Greg Knox (interim, bowl game)
Elo
1669 +104 this season
SP+ rating
16.0 No. 19 of 128; offense No. 40, defense No. 18, special teams No. 14
SRS
12.6 No. 19 of 130 in FBS
Returning
78% of last season’s EPA, No. 27 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 24 roster talent No. 26 in FBS
Offensive coordinators
Billy Gonzales and John Hevesy
Defensive coordinator
Todd Grantham
Offense
Spread
Defense
3–⁠4

How good, play by play

  • Offense70th of 130
  • Defense12th of 130
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted56th of 130
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted7th of 130
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0746%1.0370th of 130
Defense-0.0438%1.2712th of 130
Opponent-adjusted0.10 off
-0.06 def		46% off
36% def		—56th off
7th def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense3.6own 3214% allowed
Defense2.5own 3121% caused

CORE rating 17.6, 12th of 130 (offense 2.3, defense -15.3).

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsNick Fitzgerald QB1,782 yds
Passing touchdownsNick Fitzgerald QB15 TD
Rushing yardsAeris Williams RB1,107 yds
Rushing touchdownsNick Fitzgerald QB14 TD
Receiving yardsJesse Jackson WR276 yds
Receiving touchdownsDeddrick Thomas WR4 TD
TacklesMark McLaurin S79 tkl
SacksMontez Sweat DE10.5 sacks
InterceptionsMark McLaurin S6 INT

Top recruits in the 2017 class

Willie Gay Jr. OLB★★★★No. 70
Keytaon Thompson DUAL★★★★No. 169
Kylin Hill RB★★★★No. 203
Noah Elliss DT★★★★No. 335
Tyler Dunning OLB★★★No. 532

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2017 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks23.50.869
Running backs14.00.922
Receivers22.50.808
Offensive line33.00.839
Defensive line43.30.853
Linebackers23.50.918
Defensive backs32.70.824
Athletes and specialists22.00.762
Whole class193.00.844

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2018

The 2018 draft
Rd 3Martinas Rankin CHouston Texans
Rd 6Jordan Thomas TEHouston Texans
Rd 7Hunter Bradley LSGreen Bay Packers
Rd 7Logan Cooke PJacksonville Jaguars

Roster 111

The 2017 roster

111 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2017 line; 58 have a stat line. See the roster

All-SEC

3 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 2017 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2017 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama7–⁠113–⁠11
Georgia7–⁠113–⁠22
Auburn7–⁠110–⁠410
LSU6–⁠29–⁠418
South Carolina5–⁠39–⁠4
Mississippi State4–⁠49–⁠419
Kentucky4–⁠47–⁠6
Missouri4–⁠47–⁠6
Texas A&M4–⁠47–⁠6
Ole Miss3–⁠56–⁠6
Florida3–⁠54–⁠7
Vanderbilt1–⁠75–⁠7
Arkansas1–⁠74–⁠8
Tennessee0–⁠84–⁠8

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.