Update (Oct. 23): Final: LSU 31, Mississippi State 0. This column was written before kickoff.
Guest column by Remus (Rohn’s son). This is a guest column. The opinions and the pick below are the author’s own, not Gridiron Gumbo’s official picks.
Saturday morning, 11 a.m. CT, Tiger Stadium, on ESPN. No. 16 Mississippi State (AP) (4-1, 2-1 SEC) at No. 22 LSU (AP) (4-2, 1-2 SEC), the 118th meeting between these two and the first since 2023. Yes, the Bulldogs are ranked above the Tigers, and nobody in Baton Rouge is thrilled about it. And I’ll be in the building. My dad’s driving, the cowbell’s riding in the truck (whether it makes it past the gate is between us and one very polite security guard), and Section 514 will hold at least one spot of maroon in a sea of purple and gold.
Disclosure: I’m a Mississippi State fan, and so is my dad, who runs this site. I’ll tell it straight anyway. Tags below: CONFIRMED (official report or record), REPORTED (credible outlet), TAKE (mine). Status as of early Saturday morning; the SEC’s game-day report comes out around 9:30 a.m. CT. This game runs through one name on the injury report.
The Taylor question. State quarterback Kamario Taylor, who still leads the SEC with 17 passing touchdowns, was downgraded from questionable to doubtful on Friday night’s SEC availability report with the turf toe/foot injury that had him in a boot against Alabama. Fluff Bothwell, State’s leading rusher, was downgraded to doubtful too (CONFIRMED, Friday-night SEC report). On3 and ESPN’s Pete Thamel report that Taylor is not expected to play, and redshirt freshman Parker “Billy” Puckett is in line to make his first start, with AJ Swann also on the depth chart (REPORTED). The final word comes with the game-day report. The market moved with the news: DraftKings had LSU -15.5, total 57.5, on Oct. 17 (DraftKings Network, Oct. 17; lines move). If Taylor somehow goes and he’s himself, State’s offense can hang with anybody. If he sits, a redshirt freshman is getting a tough first start in Tiger Stadium, and that’s the situation, not the kid (TAKE).
The good news for State. Three players who weren’t on the first report are now probable (CONFIRMED): receiver Anthony Evans III (first in the SEC at 114.8 receiving yards a game), safety Isaac Smith, and lineman DJ Chester. That’s real help, both directions, and with Taylor and Bothwell doubtful, State will lean on them.
The bad news. State’s linebacker room is thin: Jalen Smith and Zakari Tillman are both out (CONFIRMED, Thursday report). LSU is banged up too, with Whit Weeks and Trey’Dez Green headlining the Tigers’ outs and linebacker Tylen Singleton doubtful, and they’ll be fired up after last week’s 35-34 overtime loss at Kentucky. Nobody should bring a pirogue to this fight. And LSU at home is LSU at home: LSU’s own page had the Tigers at 147-25 in Tiger Stadium since 2000 through 2024; add 6-1 last year and 4-0 this year and, by my math, that’s 157-26. State has won there three times since 1991 (that 1991 win, 2014 and 2020) in 17 trips. My mama had a saying for games like this: until you can knock the big dog off the porch, all you can do is sit back and bark. Saturday, State gets its swing at the porch.
My call (mine, not the site’s). I made this pick Monday: LSU 34, Mississippi State 24, UNDER the total (58.5 at DraftKings, Oct. 12). Since then the news has run against State all week: Taylor still not cleared, the line moved to LSU -15.5 at DraftKings (DraftKings, Oct. 17), and folks have asked if I’m moving my pick. I’m not. I locked my own pick Thursday at 7:10 p.m., and a guy who moves his pick on Friday when the wind changes doesn’t have a record, he has a weather vane. If Taylor sits and State gets run out of the building, I’ll own that one. Gridiron Gumbo’s official pick is different: the site’s straight-up pick is LSU too, and the Beat the Gumbo tracker shows an updated Friday night projection of LSU 33, Mississippi State 17 (after the Taylor downgrade it passes on the spread and leans Under; its Thursday Taylor-only plays are void if Taylor doesn’t play). And on the site, picks lock at kickoff, so you can enter right up until game time.
Win or lose, I’ll report back on how it looked from Section 514.
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