Mississippi State vs. Vanderbilt football preview

As college football enters week eight of the season, the standings are starting to shake out. This weekend, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt have a chance to boost their SEC standings rankings.

What Vanderbilt football brings to the table

Vanderbilt enters the game at 2-5 on the season, 0-3 in SEC play. With a new coach in Clark Lea, Vanderbilt is looking to bring a new culture to the program.

One of the ways Lea is trying to do that is to teach the team how to finish out games.

The Commodores are also an older team. Mississippi State’s Mike Leach talked about how Vanderbilt has more experience than the Bulldogs.

Vanderbilt’s defense is a big weak point of the team. They allow 34 points per game and gives up 449 yards per game.

The Commodores are coming off of a one point loss to South Carolina and a 42 point shutout against the Gators.

Mississippi State entering the game

Mississippi State is 3-3 on the season. They are 1-2 in SEC play. This is Mike Leach’s second year as the Bulldogs coach.

One of Leach’s biggest points of emphasis for his team is tuning out distractions and not letting them affect the play of the team.

Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea talked about the powerful passing offense that Mississippi State brings to this weekend’s matchup.

Mississippi State’s offense is done almost exclusively through the air. The Bulldogs average 360 passing yards per game and only 46 rushing yards.

They do have a more potent scoring offense than Vanderbilt football. Miss. State scores 24.7 points per game to Vanderbilt’s 14.3.

Quarterback Will Rogers has 14 touchdowns to five picks on the season. He also has 2,162 passing yards, good enough for sixth in the NCAA.

Mississippi comes into the matchup as 20.5 point favorites despite Vanderbilt being the home team. The game will have coverage on SEC Network at 4 p.m.