CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2022 Mississippi State

9–⁠4 (4–⁠4 Southeastern Conference), coached by Mike Leach, then Zach Arnett (bowl game), finished No. 20 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Mississippi State in 2022, game by game: won vs. Memphis 49–23; won at Arizona 39–17; lost at LSU 16–31; won vs. Bowling Green 45–14; won vs. No. 17 Texas A&M 42–24; won vs. Arkansas 40–17; lost at No. 22 Kentucky 17–27; lost at No. 6 Alabama 6–30; won vs. Auburn 39–33; lost vs. No. 1 Georgia 19–45; won vs. East Tennessee State 56–7; won at No. 20 Ole Miss 24–22; won vs. Illinois 19–10+49−26Won 49–23 vs. Memphis+26MemphisWon 39–17 at Arizona+22ArizonaLost 16–31 at LSU-15LSUWon 45–14 vs. Bowling Green+31Bowling GreenWon 42–24 vs. No. 17 Texas A&M+18No. 17 Texas A&MWon 40–17 vs. Arkansas+23ArkansasLost 17–27 at No. 22 Kentucky-10No. 22 KentuckyLost 6–30 at No. 6 Alabama-24No. 6 AlabamaWon 39–33 vs. Auburn+6AuburnLost 19–45 vs. No. 1 Georgia-26No. 1 GeorgiaWon 56–7 vs. East Tennessee State+49East Tennessee …Won 24–22 at No. 20 Ole Miss+2No. 20 Ole MissWon 19–10 vs. Illinois+9Illinois
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 3vsMemphisW 49–⁠2356%
Sep 10atArizonaW 39–⁠1760%
Sep 17atLSUL 16–⁠3148%
Sep 24vsBowling GreenW 45–⁠1478%
Oct 1vs17Texas A&MW 42–⁠2447%
Oct 8vsArkansasW 40–⁠1758%
Oct 15at22KentuckyL 17–⁠2744%
Oct 22at6AlabamaL 6–⁠3020%
Nov 5vsAuburnW 39–⁠3372%
Nov 12vs1GeorgiaL 19–⁠4526%
Nov 19vsEast Tennessee StateW 56–⁠788%
Nov 24at20Ole MissW 24–⁠2237%
Jan 2Bowls & playoffvsIllinoisReliaQuest BowlW 19–⁠1052%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Illinois 19–⁠10 in the ReliaQuest Bowl; No. 20 in the final AP poll; tied for 5th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 13th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 6: 23
  2. Wk 7: 16
  3. Wk 8: 24
  4. Wk 14: 25
  5. Wk 15: 24
  6. Final: 20

Led the nationLiedeatrick Griffin: kickoff return average (32.3)

Consensus All-AmericanEmmanuel Forbes, DB

Record
9–⁠4
Conference
4–⁠4 tied for 5th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 20 peak No. 16
Points
411–⁠300
Coach
Mike Leach, then Zach Arnett (bowl game)
Elo
1622 +105 this season
SP+ rating
15.4 No. 19 of 131; offense No. 32, defense No. 30, special teams No. 58
SRS
13.1 No. 16 of 131 in FBS
Returning
42% of last season’s EPA, No. 94 of 130
Recruiting class
No. 27 roster talent No. 29 in FBS
Defensive coordinator
Zach Arnett
Offense
Air Raid
Defense
3–⁠3–⁠5

How good, play by play

  • Offense74th of 131
  • Defense30th of 131
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted55th of 131
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted17th of 131
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0745%1.1074th of 131
Defense0.0440%1.2530th of 131
Opponent-adjusted0.12 off
0.00 def		47% off
37% def		—55th off
17th 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
Offense4.2own 3216% allowed
Defense3.5own 2918% caused

CORE rating 9.0, 29th of 131 (offense -2.1, defense -11.1).

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 yardsWill Rogers QB3,963 yds
Passing touchdownsWill Rogers QB35 TD
Rushing yardsJo’quavious Marks RB582 yds
Rushing touchdownsJo’quavious Marks RB9 TD
Receiving yardsRara Thomas WR626 yds
Receiving touchdownsCaleb Ducking WR8 TD
TacklesNathaniel Watson LB109 tkl
SacksNathaniel Watson LB6 sacks
InterceptionsEmmanuel Forbes CB6 INT

Top recruits in the 2022 class

Trevion Williams DL★★★★No. 187
Mojo Dortch WR★★★★No. 229
Jacarius Clayton DL★★★★No. 367
Braedyn Locke QB★★★★No. 383
Zavion Thomas WR★★★★No. 391

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

The 2022 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.893
Receivers43.50.889
Offensive line33.00.866
Defensive line43.50.892
Linebackers33.00.880
Defensive backs23.00.866
Athletes and specialists23.00.871
Whole class193.30.881

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 2023

The 2023 draft
Rd 1Emmanuel Forbes CBWashington Commanders
Rd 4Cameron Young DTSeattle Seahawks

Roster 114

The 2022 roster

114 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2022 line; 66 have a stat line. See the roster

Transfers in 10

The 2022 portal
Jackie Matthews CB★★★★from West Virginia
Marcus Banks CB★★★from Alabama
Jordan Mosley WR★★★from Northwestern
Justin Robinson WR★★★from Georgia
Steven Losoya III OL★★★from Middle Tennessee
Hunter Washington CB★★★★from Florida State
Jordan Morant S★★★★from Michigan
George Georgopoulos P★★from Massachusetts
Massimo Biscardi K★★from Coastal Carolina
Ben Raybon Kfrom Northern Colorado

Transfers out 24

Aaron Brule LB★★★to Michigan State
Malik Heath WR★★★to Ole Miss
Theodore Knox WR★★★to SMU
Jacobi Moore WR★★★to Ole Miss
Janari Dean S★★★to Southern Miss
Ani Izuchukwu DE★★★to Tulsa
Armondous Cooley DL★★★to Southern Miss
Aaron Odom DE★★★to Southern Miss
Calvin McMillian OT★★★to Southern Miss
Jack Abraham QB★★★to Missouri
Omni Wells RB★★★to South Alabama
Cameron Threatt CB★★★to Akron

And 12 more, lower-rated or unrated.

All-SEC

2 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2022 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2022 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Georgia8–⁠015–⁠01
Tennessee6–⁠211–⁠26
Alabama6–⁠211–⁠25
LSU6–⁠210–⁠416
Mississippi State4–⁠49–⁠420
Ole Miss4–⁠48–⁠5
South Carolina4–⁠48–⁠523
Arkansas3–⁠57–⁠6
Kentucky3–⁠57–⁠6
Florida3–⁠56–⁠7
Missouri3–⁠56–⁠7
Vanderbilt2–⁠65–⁠7
Texas A&M2–⁠65–⁠7
Auburn2–⁠65–⁠7

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