GAMEDAY: State Closes Regular Season At Home Saturday

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State will close the regular season by hosting a rare matchup with Missouri on Saturday. The game will be televised at 2:30 p.m. CT on the SEC Network Alternate channel, with Roy Philpott (play-by-play), Kelly Stouffer (analyst) and sideline reporter Dawn Davenport on the call. Fans can also listen for free on HailState.com/plus or on the TuneIn app.

Mississippi State has several new protocols in place for the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Visit www.HailState.com/COVID for all COVID-related guidelines & protocols for the 2020 MSU football season.

Premium gates open at 11:30 p.m. with all remaining gates opening at 12:15 p.m. Fans should check their tickets for their assigned entry gate. Mobile tickets should be downloaded prior to arriving at the stadium. For complete game day information, visit HailState.com/Gameday.

State's Storylines vs. Missouri

Mississippi State and Missouri will meet for just the fourth time in the series and just the second time as an SEC matchup. It will be Missouri's first trip to Starkville, though the first meeting was played in Jackson, Mississippi.

The two teams last met in 2015, when the Bulldogs claimed a 31-13 victory in Columbia. That was the first meeting in 31 years between the two schools.

Missouri is the second-most-common opponent for head coach Mike Leach on the 2020 schedule behind Texas A&M. Leach met the Tigers four times while leading Texas Tech in the Big 12, including two games against ranked Missouri teams. He has posted a 1-3 record with his lone victory coming in 2002 by a score of 52-38 in Lubbock.

Mississippi State is set to play the second-latest non-bowl game in its history when the Bulldogs host Missouri, surpassing last week's game against Auburn for the honor. Entering 2020, the latest non-bowl game played in December was a tie between a 16-0 loss at Memphis Athletic Club in 1895, and a 13-0 victory in the 1918 Egg Bowl on December 7 of their respective years.

MSU will wear black uniforms on Saturday, giving them a black alternate in five of the last six years. Since 2009, State is 5-2 when wearing black with three of the victories coming against SEC opponents.

The Bulldog offense has already broken 17 different passing and receiving records this season and is on pace to break three more before the season ends.

25 Bulldogs have made their first career start this year, second-most in the Power Five and tied for fourth in the FBS. 48 percent of snaps have been taken up by first-time starters, and on average, MSU has 5.2 first-time starters on the field for every play.

WR Jaden Walley currently leads MSU with 562 receiving yards and would be first freshman to lead State in receiving yardage since Chad Bumphis (375) in 2009. He has broken Mardye McDole's freshman record of 510 yards set in 1977 and is just the second MSU freshman with a 500-yard season.

Walley is the first freshman to post three 100-yard receiving games in a season, and the first Bulldog with three consecutive 100-yard games through the air since Fred Ross had four straight in 2015.

Will Rogers is the first quarterback in MSU to complete 30 or more passes in four consecutive games, and his four career 30-completion games rank second behind only Dak Prescott (5, 2012-15) for the Bulldog career record.

MSU's true freshmen have combined for 136 catches, the most by any true freshman group in the NCAA (LSU, 87; Texas Tech, 80; Pittsburgh, 69; Penn State, 65).

LB Aaron Brule leads the Bulldogs with 34 total pressures this year per PFF, which is third in the SEC and leads all FBS linebackers. He is also tied for the team lead with 3.5 sacks and 8.0 tackles for loss.

LB Erroll Thompson became the 16th player in program history to record 300 career tackles against Auburn. He boasts 302 stops, which ranks 12th among active players nationally.

For more information on the Bulldogs, follow MSU football on Twitter, like them on Facebook and join them on Instagram by searching for "HailStateFB."

Mississippi State University Athletics

GAMEDAY: State Closes Regular Season At Home Saturday

Players Mentioned

Aaron Brule

Will Rogers

Erroll Thompson

Jaden Walley

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