We head into the weekend strong! Looking at the statistics in this matchup show them to be pretty even on both sides with Wake Forest having a slight edge on offense and Mississippi St. having a slight edge on defense. When putting together power rating based on statistics, it is very important to include other factors with strength of schedule being one of the most important additions.

In this case, the Bulldogs have played a much tougher schedule including three teams ranked in the top ten with Wake Forest facing none. Mississippi St. needed to win the Egg Bowl in its regular season finale to become bowl eligible and it did just that as Mississippi showed no resistance. It was supposed to be a better year for the Bulldogs as they came into the preseason ranked in the top 20 but a seven-point loss at Auburn knocked them out and they could never recover. Playing in the SEC West will do that as Mississippi had to face LSU, Alabama and Arkansas and to make it worse, it drew Georgia and South Carolina out of the East. Wake Forest started the season 4-1 including a win over Florida St. to grab that fourth win and it was talking ACC title but it was short-lived. A blowout loss against Virginia Tech, a one-point win over Duke and then three more losses had the Demon Deacons reeling but they were able to become bowl eligible with a win over lowly Maryland. They lost their season finale against Vanderbilt as they forgot to show up and were hammered by an equally as good if not slightly worse than Mississippi St. team.

This is where things could get more dicey for Wake Forest. They were clearly mentally and physically exhausted after a long season so head coach Jim Grobe gave them some extended time off leading up to this game. While it could get them more energized, it could also have a reverse effect and bring the Demon Deacons in completely unprepared. This is the time when most teams cherish this time as they get in as many practices to prepare for the bowl game and for next season. Wake Forest did neither. I think the Bulldogs defense is going to be too strong for Wake Forest to have any success. They allowed 24 or fewer points in 10 of 12 games which is very impressive against the schedule they faced. Wake Forest meanwhile was outgained overall on the season and it was outgained in seven of its last eight games including four times by at least 152 total yards. This also includes getting outrushed in each of those final seven games and against Mississippi St., that will be a big problem.

3* (234) Mississippi St. Bulldogs

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