Mississippi State @ Southern Miss Picks & Props

Shapen is a fifth-year senior who has already faced tougher road environments. Though last season was cut short, he still managed an 8-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio, following a 13-to-3 mark the year before. Southern Miss could make this game strange, but that’s more likely to come from their offense than from mistakes forced on the QB.

This is not the Southern Miss of last year. If anything, this is the Sun Belt-winning Marshall of last year. Head coach Charles Huff brought the Herd's biggest playmakers and most of its starting defense with him to his new job. Power rankings and bookmakers struggle to adjust their math for that kind of program-wide importation. And against a team as wretched as Mississippi State, that kind of edge is edge enough.