The 2019 football season will open outside of the Magnolia State for both Ole Miss and Mississippi State on Saturday, with each game kicking off at 11 a.m.
The Rebels play at Memphis on ABC, while the Bulldogs face Louisiana-Lafayette inside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans on ESPNU.
Ole Miss is entering Matt Luke’s third campaign as head coach and is eligible for the postseason for the first time during his tenure. The Rebels are coming off a 5-7 year in which they lost their final five games.
Memphis posted an 8-6 record in 2018, losing the AAC championship game to Central Florida and the Birmingham Bowl to Wake Forest to close the year.
The Rebels lead the series 47-11-2. Ole Miss won the last meeting, 48-28 in Oxford in 2016.
MSU will aim to reach a bowl game for the 10th consecutive season, coming off an 8-5 campaign – the first under coach Joe Moorhead – in which the Bulldogs reached the Outback Bowl.
Louisiana-Lafayette went 7-7 last year, dropping its final two outings to Appalachian State in the Sun Belt championship game and to Tulane in the Cure Bowl.
The Bulldogs beat the Ragin’ Cajuns 56-10 behind 607 yards offense in Starkville last season and lead the series 4-1.
Both Mississippi teams will be breaking in new starting quarterbacks this season. Redshirt freshman Matt Corral will lead the Ole Miss offense after completing 16 of 22 passes for 239 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in four games last season.
MSU turns the reins over to graduate transfer Tommy Stevens, who makes his first career start after three seasons serving as a back-up to Trace McSorley at Penn State. Stevens has completed 24 of 41 throws for 304 yards, four touchdowns and one interception in his career.
And while the No. 1 signal caller is decided, the backup quarterback picture has become slightly muddied in the days since.
Roughly 24 hours after losing out in the preseason competition, junior Keytaon Thompson entered the transfer portal.
Thompson was expected to be used in varying roles this season, despite being the No. 2 guy.
Though he could choose to return tao Starkville, he was not at MSU Fan Day Saturday afternoon with the rest of the team.
As Thompson heads for the exit, the backup role now likely falls to freshman Garrett Shrader. An early enrollee, Shrader has been on Moorhead’s radar since his time at Penn State and has earned rave reviews throughout camp.
Redshirt freshman Jalen Mayden could also factor in, though there’s been little-to-no talk of his play this fall.
USM: The Southern Miss football team will be without All-Conference USA receiver Quez Watkins for the first two games of the 2019 season, head coach Jay Hopson confirmed in Monday’s press conference.
Watkins tweeted out on Sunday that he “won’t spin until Sept. 14.”
Hopson acknowledged Monday that Watkins “will be held out for the first two games,” but he declined to explain why.
