Mississippi State Football releases lineup against Eastern Kentucky

It's finally game week in Starkville. The Mississippi State football team will open the 2024 season this Saturday at Davis Wade Stadium against FCS Eastern Kentucky. Just before the start of Jeff Lebby's debut season as head coach of the Bulldogs, MSU has released its first 2024 roster.

By far the most notable news from State's initial roster release is that the Bulldogs will be without two starters when they face Eastern Kentucky on Saturday. Wide receiver Kelly Akharaiyi, who transferred from UTEP, and veteran strong safety Corey Ellington are both out for the season opener due to injuries.

According to head coach Jeff Lebby, both players are “battered from fall camp.” Lebby did not provide a timeline for the pair's return, but stated that they are monitoring their situation and hope to get them back sooner rather than later.

State definitely needs both of them to get healthy quickly. Akharaiyi was widely expected to be the Bulldogs' best receiver this season. While there are plenty of players at the WR position and his loss shouldn't impact the season opener, he appears to be the leader in that room and has game-winning ability as a vertical threat. He's a talent they won't want to give up against better defenses.

Ellington was one of the few Bulldogs defenders with starting experience at MSU. He's a veteran they'll need to rely on with so many new, younger players starting on that side of the ball. Fullbacks Jordan Mosley and Trent Hudson will have to step in in Akharaiyi's absence, while safety Hunter Washington will fill in for Ellington.

The other big story from the roster released on Monday was the absence of RB Jeffery Pittman from the lineup. According to Jeff Lebby, Pittman is no longer with the team, citing an “internal matter.” No further details were released and it is unknown whether or not Pittman's absence is permanent.

At the running back position, Keyvone Lee and Davon Booth, who transferred from Utah State, are listed as co-starters. Johnnie Daniels, who transferred from Utah State, is also expected to have plenty of work to do, as State will likely take a “RB by committee” approach on offense.

The Week 1 roster makes it clear that Mississippi State's defense is still in contention for starting positions. Five positions – jack linebacker, both defensive tackle positions, dime linebacker and cornerback – have an “OR” for the starting position on the roster.

Ty Cooper still has Branden Jennings hitting as the Jack LB. Interestingly, Donterry Russell, who many would have assumed would be in the starting lineup, is behind both of them in the rankings. Kedrick Bingley-Jones, Trevion Williams, Kalvin Dinkins and Sulaiman Kpaka could all still start as the DT. Either Kelley Jones or Traveon Wright will start opposite Brice Pollock as the CB. Perhaps most surprising is that John Lewis is not locked into a starting position as the Dime LB, as Nic Mitchell is pushing him to that position.

There are two ways to look at this. On the optimistic side, you could say that there is plenty of competition on defense and Coleman Hutzler has several great options to fall back on. However, the more pessimistic view is that no one stands out enough to be confidently named a starter.

Hopefully it is the former rather than the latter.