2017 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team

The 2017 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team represented Mississippi State University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bulldogs played their home games at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Mississippi and competed in the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They were led by ninth-year head coach Dan Mullen. They finished the season 9–4, 4–4 in SEC play to finish in a tie for fourth place in the Western Division. They were invited to the TaxSlayer Bowl where they beat Louisville.

2017 Mississippi State Bulldogs football
TaxSlayer Bowl champion
TaxSlayer Bowl, W 31–27 vs. Louisville
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Division	Western Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 20
AP	No. 19
Record	9–4 (4–4 SEC)
Head coach	Dan Mullen (9th season; regular season) Greg Knox (interim; bowl game)
Co-offensive coordinators	Billy Gonzales (4th season) John Hevesy (4th season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Todd Grantham (1st season)
Base defense	3–4
Home stadium	Davis Wade Stadium (Capacity: 61,337)
Seasons ← 2016 2018 →

2017 Southeastern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Eastern Division
No. 2 Georgia x$^		7	–	1					13	–	2
South Carolina		5	–	3					9	–	4
Kentucky		4	–	4					7	–	6
Missouri		4	–	4					7	–	6
Florida		3	–	5					4	–	7
Vanderbilt		1	–	7					5	–	7
Tennessee		0	–	8					4	–	8
Western Division
No. 10 Auburn xy		7	–	1					10	–	4
No. 1 Alabama x#^		7	–	1					13	–	1
No. 18 LSU		6	–	2					9	–	4
No. 19 Mississippi State		4	–	4					9	–	4
Texas A&M		4	–	4					7	–	6
Ole Miss*		3	–	5					6	–	6
Arkansas		1	–	7					4	–	8
Championship: Georgia 28, Auburn 7
# – College Football Playoff champion ^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant * Ole Miss ineligible for postseason due to NCAA sanctions Rankings from AP Poll

Head coach Dan Mullen resigned at the end of the regular season to become the head coach at Florida.^[1] Running backs coach Greg Knox served as interim head coach for the TaxSlayer Bowl. On November 28, Penn State offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead was hired as their new head coach, beginning in the 2018 season.

Rankings

Further information: 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	—	RV	RV	17	24	—	—	RV	RV	21	18	17	16	24	24	19
Coaches	RV	RV	RV	19	24	RV	RV	RV	RV	22	18	19	17	24	23	20
CFP	Not released									16	16	16	14	23	23	Not released

Schedule

Mississippi State announced its 2017 football schedule on September 13, 2016. The 2017 schedule consists of 7 home and 5 away games in the regular season. The Bulldogs will host SEC foes Alabama, Kentucky, LSU, and Ole Miss, and will travel to Arkansas, Auburn, Georgia, and Texas A&M.^[2]

The Bulldogs will host three of the four non-conference opponents, BYU, UMass both are football independent schools and Charleston Southern from the Big South Conference and travel to Louisiana Tech of Conference USA.

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	3:00 p.m.	No. 14 (FCS) Charleston Southern*		Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	SECN	W 49–0	54,215
September 9	6:30 p.m.	at Louisiana Tech*		Joe Aillet Stadium Ruston, LA	CBSSN	W 57–21	28,100
September 16	6:00 p.m.	No. 12 LSU		Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS (rivalry)	ESPN	W 37–7	60,596
September 23	6:00 p.m.	at No. 11 Georgia	No. 17	Sanford Stadium Athens, GA	ESPN	L 3–31	92,746
September 30	5:00 p.m.	at No. 13 Auburn	No. 24	Jordan–Hare Stadium Auburn, AL	ESPN	L 10–49	86,901
October 14	11:00 a.m.	BYU*		Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	SECN	W 35–10	54,866
October 21	3:00 p.m.	Kentucky		Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	SECN	W 45–7	58,963
October 28	6:15 p.m.	at Texas A&M		Kyle Field College Station, TX	ESPN	W 35–14	96,128
November 4	11:00 a.m.	UMass*	No. 16	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	SECN	W 34–23	57,374
November 11	6:00 p.m.	No. 2 Alabama	No. 16	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS (rivalry)	ESPN	L 24–31	61,344
November 18	11:00 a.m.	at Arkansas	No. 16	Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium Fayetteville, AR	CBS	W 28–21	64,153
November 23	6:30 p.m.	Ole Miss	No. 14	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS (Egg Bowl)	ESPN	L 28–31	59,345
December 30	11:00 a.m.	vs. Louisville*	No. 23	EverBank Field Jacksonville, FL (TaxSlayer Bowl)	ESPN	W 31–27	41,310
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings after October 31 released prior to game All times are in Central time

Schedule Source:^[3]

Game summaries

Charleston Southern

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 14 (FCS) Buccaneers	0	0	0	0	0
Bulldogs	23	12	7	7	49

See also: 2017 Charleston Southern Buccaneers football team

At Louisiana Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
MSU Bulldogs	16	20	21	0	57
LTU Bulldogs	9	5	0	7	21

See also: 2017 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football team

LSU

	1	2	3	4	Total
No.12 Tigers	0	7	0	0	7
Bulldogs	0	17	13	7	37

See also: 2017 LSU Tigers football team

At Georgia

	1	2	3	4	Total
No.17 MSU Bulldogs	0	3	0	0	3
No.11 UGA Bulldogs	14	0	17	0	31

See also: 2017 Georgia Bulldogs football team

At Auburn

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 24 Bulldogs	3	7	0	0	10
No. 13 Tigers	14	7	7	21	49

See also: 2017 Auburn Tigers football team

BYU

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars	0	3	7	0	10
Bulldogs	7	14	7	7	35

See also: 2017 BYU Cougars football team

Kentucky

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	0	7	0	0	7
Bulldogs	7	10	7	21	45

See also: 2017 Kentucky Wildcats football team

At Texas A&M

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	7	7	14	7	35
Aggies	0	0	7	7	14

See also: 2017 Texas A&M Aggies football team

UMass

	1	2	3	4	Total
Minutemen	3	17	0	3	23
Bulldogs	10	3	14	7	34

See also: 2017 UMass Minutemen football team

Alabama

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 1 Crimson Tide	7	7	3	14	31
Bulldogs	7	7	7	3	24

See also: 2017 Alabama Crimson Tide football team

At Arkansas

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	0	14	0	14	28
Razorbacks	14	0	7	0	21

See also: 2017 Arkansas Razorbacks football team

Ole Miss

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rebels	7	3	14	7	31
Bulldogs	0	6	0	22	28

See also: 2017 Ole Miss Rebels football team

vs Louisville–TaxSlayer Bowl

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	7	14	3	3	27
Bulldogs	14	3	0	14	31

See also: 2017 Louisville Cardinals football team and 2017 TaxSlayer Bowl