It’s The Magnolia State Roundup and it’s your weekly guide to who’s playing where and against whom for all the four-year football programs in Mississippi. All listed game times are Central Standard.

 

Thursday, Aug. 29

Delta State at Mars Hill University, Mars Hill, N.C.

7 pm.

Everybody knows that the Gulf South Conference runs through Cleveland, Mississippi. The Delta State Statesmen have won back-to-back conference championships and come into the 2024 season as the 18th ranked Division II program in the nation.

DSU has a handful of Copiah-Lincoln alums on its roster in defensive back Kaden Dukes, defensive lineman Joseph Barton, defensive lineman Mario Martin, and offensive lineman Jessie Shorts.

Last season the team was led by Patrick Shegog at quarterback, a multi-year starter who ended his career by winning the Conerly Trophy as the MVP of college football in Mississippi. Replacing him will be redshirt senior Cole Kirk.

Mars Hill went 8-2 last season and is located outside picturesque Asheville, North Carolina.

 

Alcorn State at UAB, Birmingham, Al.

ESPN+, 7 p.m.

The Cedric Thomas era will begin with a road game at Alabama-Birmingham for the 2024 edition of Alcorn State football.

Gone from Lorman is longtime head coach Fred “Air” McNair, who led Alcorn to a 7-4 season last year. Twice McNair took the Braves to a SWAC championship title and the school won their division five times during his term that lasted from 2016-2023. McNair is now on staff at Southern University in Baton Rouge.

Thomas is a former Alcorn assistant coach who knows the SWAC well. He was also head coach for one season at Mississippi Delta CC.

The Braves were picked to finish first in the SWAC West at the league’s annual media day. Tight end Tavarious Griffin and defensive end Malachi Bailey are two all-conference selections that will lead the Braves.

UAB went 4-8 last season under first year head coach Trent Dilfer. Both schools have talented quarterbacks directing their offense. For Alcorn, it’s former four-star prep signal caller Tyler Macon, who started his career at the University of Missouri. The Blazers return quarterback Jacob Zeno, who threw for over 3,000 yards last season and finished second nationally in completion percentage.

 

Belhaven at Millsaps, Jackson

7 p.m.

The annual Riverside Rumble between NCAA Division III schools Belhaven University and Millsaps College will mark the first game for new head coaches at both schools.

Belhaven had the best season in program history last year, finishing 9-2 and receiving a Division III playoff spot. That success led former head coach Blaine McCorkle to move up the ladder and take the job as head coach at Northwestern State University in Louisiana.

CJ Nightingale, a coach who had previous success on the D3 level as a coordinator at Wheaton College, was picked to succeed McCorkle.

 New Millsaps head coach Brandon Lechtenberg is familiar with the Majors as he’s previously been an assistant at the school earlier in his career, during a time when Millsaps had solid on-field success.

Last season the Blazers drubbed the Majors 47-7 to pick up their third straight win in the series.

 

 Saturday, Aug. 31

Furman at Ole Miss, Oxford

ESPN+, 6 p.m.

Couple quick questions and don’t use Google to cheat. Where is Furman located and what is their mascot?

The dog days of summer have had the talking heads on the four-letter sports network going goo-goo about the chances for Ole Miss to reach the now expanded college football playoff field.

There will be some stiff tests down the road to see if that’s going to happen, but the Rebels won’t be facing one of them on Saturday when they take on the Paladins from Greenville, South Carolina. Now the question is, what exactly is a Paladin?

Led by the self-appointed King of the Transfer Portal, Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss has a roster stocked with talent and a quarterback in Jaxson Dart who’s getting buzz as a potential Heisman Trophy candidate.

A paladin is a knight in service and Kiffin and his staff have more offensive weapons than can fit around a round table.

Expect them to score in bunches against a Furman squad that plays at the lower FCS level.

 

Eastern Kentucky at Mississippi State, Starkville

SEC+, 5 p.m.

Folks in Starkville would love it if they also got to watch their beloved Bulldogs put up big points against an FCS foe in Eastern Kentucky.

New head coach Jeff Lebby directed a high-paced offense during his time as the offensive coordinator at Ole Miss and State plucked him from the staff at Oklahoma to revitalize the program at MSU.

Watching the Bulldogs on offense last year was as painful at times as a root canal performed by a dentist that finished last in his graduating class.

Everything has been reset with longtime starting quarterback Will Rogers now the starter at the University of Washington and Lebby bringing in Baylor transfer Blake  Shapen to lead the Bulldogs offense in 2024.

You don’t go from a Ford Fiesta offense to a Maserati overnight and MSU fans will be patient with Lebby as he brings in his guys for the revamp. A blowout win over EKU would make the cowbell ringers happiest of all heading into Labor Day.

 

Southern Miss at Kentucky, Lexington, Ky.

SEC Network, 6:45 p.m.

Finally, head coach Will Hall has a quarterback in Hattiesburg. The position has seen everyone from walk-ons to running backs take their turn during the first three seasons under Hall, but the team picked up transfer Tate Rodemaker from Florida State to go along with new offensive and defensive coordinators in a season where there’s pressure to show improvement.

Hall has not named Rodemaker the starter yet, but it’s likely that Kentucky knows that he’ll be the one directing the offense on Saturday in Lexington. Rodemaker isn’t the only transfer as an influx of Division I and junior college signees appears to have raised the talent level on the roster in Hattiesburg.

There was a time when Southern Miss rolled into visiting SEC stadiums like Kroger Field and had more than a puncher’s chance to pull off an upset. College football has a different landscape now and being a giant killer is tougher than ever, but Golden Eagles fans know that the last SEC win for their program came at Kentucky in the first year under former coach Jay Hopson.

It’s been a wild six months for longtime Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops. Stoops was set to take the Texas A&M head job to replace Jimbo Fisher before a fan revolt led the Aggies to select Mike Elko from Duke, a dude who reminds you a lot of Mark Stoops.

Stoops also had 10 wins erased from his record for violations committed in 2021 after an NCAA investigation. The big newspaper in Lexington has the Wildcats winning 42-10. This little newspaper editor who graduated from Southern Miss sure hopes it’s closer than that.

 

Jackson State at UL-Monroe, Monroe, La.

ESPN+, 6 p.m.

Head coach TC Taylor and his Tigers make the quick trip down I-20 to face the University of Louisiana at Monroe to begin Taylor’s second season atop the program. The large landfill and its wafting smells beside the interstate let you know that Monroe is close once you cross over into Ouachita Parish if you’re a JSU fan travelling to the game.

The Warhawks of ULM have a new head coach in Bryan Vincent and they signed a slew of transfers to try and turn things around after going 2-10 last season under former coach Terry Bowden.

Among those transfers are Copiah-Lincoln alums Billy Pullen, Kevontay Wells, and Quentis Griffin Jr. They also have one of the most talked about transfers in the nation playing quarterback in former Oklahoma signal caller General Booty. Booty has topped multiple “All-Name” teams ahead of the season. Lawrence County alum Kendrick Hardy is also on the ULM roster.

Jackson State was picked to finish third in the SWAC East at the annual media day, behind Alabama State and Florida A&M, respectively. The Tigers also have a couple CLCC alumni on their roster in wideout Tyquan Henderson, who transferred from Southern Miss, and wide receiver Richard Mays Jr., who played at both CLCC and USM earlier in his career.

Jacobian Morgan, a 6-foot-4 quarterback, returns for Jackson State after becoming the starter early in the 2023 season. Morgan, a native of Canton, originally started his career playing at Syracuse.

 

Mississippi Valley State at Tennessee State, Nashville, Tn.

ESPN+, 5 p.m.

The Mississippi Valley State University Delta Devils were tabbed to finish last in the SWAC East in the preseason poll after going 1-10 last season. Someone did give the team a first place vote and that person probably really, really loves MVSU football.

There might not be a tougher job in the league than the one in Itta Bena. The Devils will head to Nashville to take on the TSU Tigers, led by head coach Eddie George. The former Ohio State great and Heisman trophy winner went 6-5 last season and has been the head coach at Tennessee State since 2021.

Valley head coach Kendrick Wade is starting his second season leading his alma mater.

 

Wednesday, Sept. 4

Mississippi College at Shorter

6 p.m.

A football game on a Wednesday night for the Southern Baptist Choctaws? Will a fellowship meal be served during the 5 o’clock hour?

Shorter went 3-8 last season and Mississippi College finished 3-7 in 2023. MC ended up moving on from former head coach John Bland and picked Mike Kershaw, a Rice assistant with a diverse background, as its next head football coach.

Kershaw knows the Gulf South Conference as he played and coached at Delta State earlier in his career.

MC will return to a traditional playing date when they make their home debut on Saturday, Sept. 16 by hosting Texas A&M-Kingsville in Clinton.