The Vast Difference Between 6-6 & 5-7 - MSU Football 2025

[Goldendawg]

6-6

A Bowl Game with more practice time for the players we hope to keep in 2026.

A signature win over a Top 10 SEC team.

A win over our rival OM (With the portal I think this is just another game to our paid, many one or two and gone players, however, as about 40 or so come in from all over the country yearly.). Still bigtime victory to MSU fans.

Renewed hope for 2026

More upside to sell for HS recruiting and the portal for players that we need to make a difference in wins in 2026 and beyond.

5-7

Third straight losing season.

Three game SEC losing streak to end 2025.

Possible skull dragging in the EGG Bowl.

"Signature" SEC win is Arkansas, only SEC team possibly worse than us.

Lebby and his staff are 1-15 in the SEC over two years.

Little hope for 2026 from many fans and season ticket sales again suffer for 2026.



Lebby, get the upset! Biggest game of your HC coaching career to date.

[Tbonewannabe]

This is probably the biggest game as far as program stability in a long time. If Lebby wins this game it catapults ticket sales and Goodwill for 2026. Lose this game and a lot of fans will have one foot out the door and Lebby needs to have a strong recruiting/portal class and another strong start in 2026 to win fans back.

I am personally still in a wait and see mode on Lebby. On one hand, up until UGA and Mizzou, we looked like a team that at least got after it. We got out coached some but the effort was there and we lacked talent in the trenches. On the other hand, I see some Moorhead tendency to not look in hindsight on what could have been better choices. Not acknowledging that you should run clock against Texas is insane. He seems to be in that same mindset as Moorhead in that everything he calls is always right. Even Saban shifted from what he saw wasn't always the best choice.

[Quaoarsking]

It really is a career-defining game for Lebby. The fanbase is desperate to jump on the bandwagon if he can give them some nugget of hope.

[PGHBulldogBG]

I usually do not say things like this, but this Egg Bowl is truly the most important Egg Bowl and possibly game in the history of the program. Assuming Lane goes to LSU or UF, Ole Miss ends the season losing their coach and not hosting a home playoff game. This puts Lebby and State as the more stable program in the state and a huge opportunity to have portal players believe in Lebby and show more interest in coming to State to play ball. A win of this caliber will also help gain fan support, improve our NIL and really catapult us into the new year with a positive trajectory. Unfortunately, a loss will most likely put us at the bottom of the SEC for several more years to come and possibly any type of foreseeable future. Lebby will have barely any fan support, NIL will decrease, it will be hard to field a roster and we will most likely be looking for a new coach next off season. In the NIL era, it makes it a lot more important to not fall so far behind that you can't catch up with support. We have not had true fan support with 100% of the fans being bought in since Mullen. Lebby has a chance to be the first State coach to do that and I believe the support will come if he wins this game. Leach was a good hire, but he did divide the fan base and he was just never going to get support from everyone. Lebby on the other hand has an opportunity to do that and we absolutely must win this game in order for that to happen.

[R2Dawg]

6-6

A Bowl Game with more practice time for the players we hope to keep in 2026.

A signature win over a Top 10 SEC team.

A win over our rival OM (With the portal I think this is just another game to our paid, many one or two and gone players, however, as about 40 or so come in from all over the country yearly.). Still bigtime victory to MSU fans.

Renewed hope for 2026

More upside to sell for HS recruiting and the portal for players that we need to make a difference in wins in 2026 and beyond.

5-7

Third straight losing season.

Three game SEC losing streak to end 2025.

Possible skull dragging in the EGG Bowl.

"Signature" SEC win is Arkansas, only SEC team possibly worse than us.

Lebby and his staff are 1-15 in the SEC over two years.

Little hope for 2026 from many fans and season ticket sales again suffer for 2026.



Lebby, get the upset! Biggest game of your HC coaching career to date.

Agree and if Lane leaves the door just opened up for all good things for MSU and Lebby if he can cash it in. Lane has to leave for us to pull it off.

[AROB44]

I usually do not say things like this, but this Egg Bowl is truly the most important Egg Bowl and possibly game in the history of the program

Massive, massive overstatement.

[ScooterDog]

Yes, it the biggest game, but why did it come down to this game? Why didn't he address this importance at the Fla game? Or Texas game.

[msstate7]

I usually do not say things like this, but this Egg Bowl is truly the most important Egg Bowl and possibly game in the history of the program

Massive, massive overstatement.

Yeah, 2014 was the biggest one I can remember off the top of my head. Coulda went to playoffs

[StarkVegasSteve]

Yeah, 2014 was the biggest one I can remember off the top of my head. Coulda went to playoffs

14 was bigger because we would have been 11-1. We would not have made the playoffs, but we'd have been 11-1 and gotten the Peach Bowl.

15 was bigger because a win would've put us in the Sugar Bowl and probably puts Dak in NYC for the Heisman. He doesn't win it but that puts him there. He also probably is there in 14 with a win.

[PGHBulldogBG]

I usually do not say things like this, but this Egg Bowl is truly the most important Egg Bowl and possibly game in the history of the program

Massive, massive overstatement.

Not in the NIL era it is 100% truth. I wouldn't have said this in the traditional old school times. If we do not win this game, the support next year will be limited, NIL funding will decrease. The support this year was already poor based on half the stadium being visiting fans. This will make it nearly impossible for Lebby to field a competitive team in this environment. It will then lead to Lebby being dismissed from the school and finding a new coach after Ole Miss already finds a new coach and starts to create stability post Kiffin. If we win, that will cure a lot of our problems and allow Lebby to field a competitive team next year and create stability within the program. This will in turn help portal players make a decision to play ball at State.

[PGHBulldogBG]

14 was bigger because we would have been 11-1. We would not have made the playoffs, but we'd have been 11-1 and gotten the Peach Bowl.

15 was bigger because a win would've put us in the Sugar Bowl and probably puts Dak in NYC for the Heisman. He doesn't win it but that puts him there. He also probably is there in 14 with a win.

Yea losing to Bama in 2014 was bigger than losing to Ole Miss. Even if we lost to Ole Miss and beat Bama, we would've been in the playoffs and SEC champs. That game was not super relevant once Ohio State won the Big 10.

[msstate7]

Yea losing to Bama in 2014 was bigger than losing to Ole Miss. Even if we lost to Ole Miss and beat Bama, we would've been in the playoffs and SEC champs. That game was not super relevant once Ohio State won the Big 10.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought our game was before the iron bowl. Bc of this, the sec championship wasn't out of play when we played OM. Auburn was a top 20 team too. At the time of the egg, it was massive; you can't look at it in hindsight.

[Pancho]

They fully think the egg bowl is his last game there.

[Lord McBuckethead]

14 was bigger because we would have been 11-1. We would not have made the playoffs, but we'd have been 11-1 and gotten the Peach Bowl.

15 was bigger because a win would've put us in the Sugar Bowl and probably puts Dak in NYC for the Heisman. He doesn't win it but that puts him there. He also probably is there in 14 with a win.

11-1 MSu team in 2014 was making the playoffs.

[1eyedog]

This EB is YUGE......for all the aforementioned reasons.....but 14....THE TEAM......froze against BAMA but absolutely got Mullened against om. 15 the DOGS seemed to be physically whipped and it was a different Dog team that year, not nearly as physical as 14 that absolutely didn’t seem to make the trip to the ditch. Yes, as bad as the last 3 years have been plus CML ......THIS IS YUGE......It is IMPERATIVE........It used to be worrying about the Dick Pace refs or Bellard going conservative.....now is the time Coach Lebby.....GO DOGS...!!

Just for you young pups.......never forget

https://youtu.be/DocxZM1lQEg?si=pmR7LqI9KQaG7HGK

[HoopsDawg]

It really is a career-defining game for Lebby. The fanbase is desperate to jump on the bandwagon if he can give them some nugget of hope.

You made this exact post before the Arkansas game.

[Turfdawg67]

You made this exact post before the Arkansas game.

His hate is getting lazy. Now just cut-and-paste. Lolz... Really made a mockery of his pre-Lebby posts, which were good.

[Quaoarsking]

You made this exact post before the Arkansas game.

Even though Lebby got the win over Arkansas, fanbase morale is even lower than ever now. Even on this board (the most pro-Lebby place on the Internet), we've seen several notable defections from the pro-Lebby to the anti-Lebby camp since then.

[Maroon Glasses]

Even though Lebby got the win over Arkansas, fanbase morale is even lower than ever now. Even on this board (the most pro-Lebby place on the Internet), we've seen several notable defections from the pro-Lebby to the anti-Lebby camp since then.

This is true. I was very pro Lebby until the Mizz game. I'm not saying fire him or anything like that. It just made me realize he may not be the guy. But I hope he is.

[HoopsDawg]

Even though Lebby got the win over Arkansas, fanbase morale is even lower than ever now. Even on this board (the most pro-Lebby place on the Internet), we've seen several notable defections from the pro-Lebby to the anti-Lebby camp since then.

Sure.

[HoopsDawg]

This is true. I was very pro Lebby until the Mizz game. I'm not saying fire him or anything like that. It just made me realize he may not be the guy. But I hope he is.

Why would you ever think we had a shot on the road at Mizzou with their LOS advantage.

[Maroon Glasses]

Why would you ever think we had a shot on the road at Mizzou with their LOS advantage.

I didn't. Just like I didn't think we initially had shot against Tenn, Texas, Or Georgia. It's just the way the games were coached. Texas, Florida, and Missouri games has very questionable coaching decisions and I will just leave it at that. Some will argue it was jimmy's and Joe's that lost the games. Was we outmatched? On paper, yes. But I think coaching decisions lost those games and that's my opinion. Georgia is a different story. We had no shot in that one. Mizz- Outmatched but once again.. in the game. And coaching decisions took us out in my opinion.

Lebby had us in those games which is why I'm not one screaming to fire him. But that doesn't mean he didn't make costly decisions during those games.. both can be true. So can being outmatched which is also true.

[HoopsDawg]

I didn't. Just like I didn't think we initially had shot against Tenn, Texas, Or Georgia. It's just the way the games were coached. Texas, Florida, and Missouri games has very questionable coaching decisions and I will just leave it at that. Some will argue it was jimmy's and Joe's that lost the games. Was we outmatched? On paper, yes. But I think coaching decisions lost those games and that's my opinion. Georgia is a different story. We had no shot in that one. Mizz- Outmatched but once again.. in the game. And coaching decisions took us out in my opinion.

Lebby had us in those games which is why I'm not one screaming to fire him. But that doesn't mean he didn't make costly decisions during those games.. both can be true. So can being outmatched which is also true.

We gave up 300 yards to a RB. I came on this board and people were blaming Shapen and Lebby. Twilight Zone.

[Quaoarsking]

We gave up 300 yards to a RB. I came on this board and people were blaming Shapen and Lebby. Twilight Zone.

Lebby is responsible for everything the football team does, good or bad.

[Maroon Glasses]

We gave up 300 yards to a RB. I came on this board and people were blaming Shapen and Lebby. Twilight Zone.

We did give up 300. But going 3 and out consistently doesn't help that situation. Bad O Line play leads to bad QB play to a not so mobile QB. 7 straight plays inside the red zone and then a botched field goal doesn't help either side. Plus the offense already works fast so our 3 and outs kill our defense. On top of that defensive front sucks. They really suck when they can't breathe or get water.

I'm not in the twilight zone. I agree with everything you say except I also believe Lebby's decision making hasn't been beneficial to the W-L record. He has had us in those games which is awesome. Just my side of things.. not trying to poop on anyone.

[Jacknut]

1) Lebby is not going anywhere
2) Ole Miss is going to squash us like a bug

[msstate7]

Lebby is responsible for everything the football team does, good or bad.

Amazing he can't see this. When the team is competitive, it's all Lebby. When we get throttled, don't look at Lebby!

[Goldendawg]

Amazing he can't see this. When the team is competitive, it's all Lebby. When we get throttled, don't look at Lebby!

He finally took some responsibility for our issues in his press conference this week, free Q and A article on genespage. He, like all coaches these days is excellent at "CoachSpeak". Is this a PR type class that they teach for aspiring coaches in their college undergrad classes these days.

[HoopsDawg]

Lebby is responsible for everything the football team does, good or bad.

Its Year 2. Good case its Year 1.

[R2Dawg]

We gave up 300 yards to a RB. I came on this board and people were blaming Shapen and Lebby. Twilight Zone.

You do realize that the D gave up right? We played good D all year till last two games and watching it is sooooo obvious most players have quit on D. Watching our O and coaching will do that to you.

[HoopsDawg]

You do realize that the D gave up right? We played good D all year till last two games and watching it is sooooo obvious most players have quit on D. Watching our O and coaching will do that to you.

#0 and #2 being out didn?t help. Lebby has done a great job of keeping the players engaged. Thats one of the reasons I still believe in him.

[Coach34]

You do realize that the D gave up right? We played good D all year till last two games and watching it is sooooo obvious most players have quit on D. Watching our O and coaching will do that to you.

Thats just dumb

We average 31.5 PPG this season. Thats the 3rd highest for us in the last 10 years and a top 10 in school history total. For scale- 32 PPG is best in the last 10 years

Some of you idiots baffle me. We are watching one of schools best offenses in history and we got people acting like it's the Croom Show out there. It is the Twilight Zone

[Quaoarsking]

Thats just dumb

We average 31.5 PPG this season. Thats the 3rd highest for us in the last 10 years and a top 10 in school history total. For scale- 32 PPG is best in the last 10 years

Some of you idiots baffle me. We are watching one of schools best offenses in history and we got people acting like it's the Croom Show out there. It is the Twilight Zone

Well now you know how I felt when people put down our offense in 2021, which was the 3rd best in school history and #1 outside of Dak.

[Activated Alpha]

The Mizz game solidified my thoughts on Lebby is not a good HC. Who calls 7 straight QB runs in a row? And do not tell me, well that could have been Shapen doing some of those. **** that, you tell your player to hand it off to the RB no matter what. Stop running the damn ball yourself.

Also, I am seeing a trend in the same people who adamantly defended Arnett, when it was painfully obvious that he was not fit to be a HC let alone an SEC HC, do the same with Lebby. Has he improved on a 2 win season? Sure, but pretty sure Leach?s tombstone could do the same.

[Maroon Glasses]

The Mizz game solidified my thoughts on Lebby is not a good HC. Who calls 7 straight QB runs in a row? And do not tell me, well that could have been Shapen doing some of those. **** that, you tell your player to hand it off to the RB no matter what. Stop running the damn ball yourself.

Also, I am seeing a trend in the same people who adamantly defended Arnett, when it was painfully obvious that he was not fit to be a HC let alone an SEC HC, do the same with Lebby. Has he improved on a 2 win season? Sure, but pretty sure Leach?s tombstone could do the same.

The Missouri game was a very bad coached game.. Last Saturday I would have been okay with Lebby getting fired right then after I advocatedfor patience. I've cooled off since then and I really hope he gets us turned around. He does have a lot of good things about him but also has some bad. Unfortunately the bad is the difference between winning and losing. If someone says the Mizz game wasn't poorly coached then there is no point in arguing with them. I'm pulling for him to get us an Egg Bowl win and have some big wins in the portal and recruiting.

[Activated Alpha]

The Missouri game was a very bad coached game.. Last Saturday I would have been okay with Lebby getting fired right then after I advocatedfor patience. I've cooled off since then and I really hope he gets us turned around. He does have a lot of good things about him but also has some bad. Unfortunately the bad is the difference between winning and losing. If someone says the Mizz game wasn't poorly coached then there is no point in arguing with them. I'm pulling for him to get us an Egg Bowl win and have some big wins in the portal and recruiting.

I hope so too, but not sure if I can see Lebby doing that. I agree that he gets one more year no matter what because this is a terrible year to be searching for a HC, but he needs to start being a better HC

[Goldendawg]

Our PPG in SEC games only is 24.0. 4 OOC victories, 3 cupcakes, and a miracle against AZ ST, but that's improvement as we didn't get embarrassed like against Toledo last year. An Ole Miss upset could turn the trajectory of our program around in so many ways for 2026.

[Coach34]

Our PPG in SEC games only is 24.0. 4 OOC victories, 3 cupcakes, and a miracle against AZ ST, but that's improvement as we didn't get embarrassed like against Toledo last year. An Ole Miss upset could turn the trajectory of our program around in so many ways for 2026.

Its actually 26.9 in SEC games and thats tied for 7th in the SEC- top half of the conference

That is also 3rd best the last 10 years and one of the best in school history

You are watching one of the best offenses our school has ever had no matter how u spin it

https://cfbstats.com/2025/leader/911/team/offense/split07/category09/sort01.html

and to pile on- only 4 other SEC teams have scored more TD's in SEC play than we have. Helluva offensive year for us and Shapen

[Goldendawg]

Its actually 26.9 in SEC games and thats tied for 7th in the SEC- top half of the conference

That is also 3rd best the last 10 years and one of the best in school history

You are watching one of the best offenses our school has ever had no matter how u spin it

https://cfbstats.com/2025/leader/911/team/offense/split07/category09/sort01.html
My bad, I got my info from SEC rant and it wasn't up to date.

[Maroon Glasses]

Our PPG in SEC games only is 24.0. 4 OOC victories, 3 cupcakes, and a miracle against AZ ST, but that's improvement as we didn't get embarrassed like against Toledo last year. An Ole Miss upset could turn the trajectory of our program around in so many ways for 2026.

An upset would be huge for 2036.. especially if KT is the guy who leads us there. I feel like him having a good game or leading us to the gane winning drive would really kick start fan support going into next year. Atleast I would be pumped about it if he was the guy who lead the charge.

[Maroon Glasses]

Its actually 26.9 in SEC games and thats tied for 7th in the SEC- top half of the conference

That is also 3rd best the last 10 years and one of the best in school history

You are watching one of the best offenses our school has ever had no matter how u spin it

https://cfbstats.com/2025/leader/911/team/offense/split07/category09/sort01.html

and to pile on- only 4 other SEC teams have scored more TD's in SEC play than we have. Helluva offensive year for us and Shapen

You're correct coach. And when it's clicking it's a fun offense to watch

[HoopsDawg]

Its actually 26.9 in SEC games and thats tied for 7th in the SEC- top half of the conference

That is also 3rd best the last 10 years and one of the best in school history

You are watching one of the best offenses our school has ever had no matter how u spin it

https://cfbstats.com/2025/leader/911/team/offense/split07/category09/sort01.html

and to pile on- only 4 other SEC teams have scored more TD's in SEC play than we have. Helluva offensive year for us and Shapen

Incredible considering our Oline.

[Coach34]

Incredible considering our Oline.

100%...and this is why I want to insult our fans and call them dumbasses. Most of them are mad because KT isnt the QB just like they were mad Tyler Russell wasnt the QB when he wasnt ready and mad Todd Jordan wasnt the QB when he wasnt near ready and on and on

Lebby is not a dumbass- he is actually proven to be one of the best offensive coaches in the SEC in spite of his O-Line. He has done a helluva job. We have to get better in the trenches- thats the bottom line

[Bothrops]

If we go 5-7, and we will, unless Lane bolts and i think he's staying; I expect about 40K maroon crowds in big conference games next year. I think the only game where we had 50k State fans in attendance was against Arizona State.

[Coach34]

If we go 5-7, and we will, unless Lane bolts and i think he's staying; I expect about 40K maroon crowds in big conference games next year. I think the only game where we had 50k State fans in attendance was against Arizona State.

My excitement for 2026 will be based on who we buy in the trenches this offseason- has nothing to do with what happens this season. We have to win Free Agency

[Quaoarsking]

My excitement for 2026 will be based on who we buy in the trenches this offseason- has nothing to do with what happens this season. We have to win Free Agency

The most important money we can spend is on a analytics/scouting staff who can find the undervalued linemen in the portal that everyone else misses on.

[Maroon Glasses]

The most important money we can spend is on a analytics/scouting staff who can find the undervalued linemen in the portal that everyone else misses on.

I was thinking something along this line too. I think it would be better for us, since we need so much depth, to go get guys that are undervalued or very solid as there position. In other words.. if we loaded up on some high 3 star guys. A few of those could really turn out to be playmakers. Instead of getting just a handful of 4 stars where some of those may play not even pan out. Im just using stars as a reference on what the point I was trying to make. Is it better to 1 mill for 8-9 3 star guys or 1 mill for 4 4 stars? Numbers are just for reference. Depth and talent killed usbthis year. We need both

[Todd4State]

An upset would be huge for 2036.. especially if KT is the guy who leads us there. I feel like him having a good game or leading us to the gane winning drive would really kick start fan support going into next year. Atleast I would be pumped about it if he was the guy who lead the charge.

I think any win no matter who the QB is would be good for us. Our fans need to stop making it about Shapen vs. KT. There's nothing productive about it.

[Todd4State]

I was thinking something along this line too. I think it would be better for us, since we need so much depth, to go get guys that are undervalued or very solid as there position. In other words.. if we loaded up on some high 3 star guys. A few of those could really turn out to be playmakers. Instead of getting just a handful of 4 stars where some of those may play not even pan out. Im just using stars as a reference on what the point I was trying to make. Is it better to 1 mill for 8-9 3 star guys or 1 mill for 4 4 stars? Numbers are just for reference. Depth and talent killed usbthis year. We need both

I don't know how much stars really matter when you're talking about the portal. We should be able to use PFF analytics to grade players much more accurately than some recruiting guru.

[Maroon Glasses]

I think any win no matter who the QB is would be good for us. Our fans need to stop making it about Shapen vs. KT. There's nothing productive about it.

I didn't mean it the way you took it.. I mean it as a positive. I guess I'm trying to say the fans want to see him play and if he does and wins.. it will give fans that much more to look forward to. Double win for fans. I'm not making it a Shapen vs KT thing right now.