Mississippi State @ Louisiana State preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 12, 2015 ) Louisiana State 21, Mississippi State 19

No. 22 LSU's entire backfield is up in the air Saturday when Mississippi State pays a visit in SEC action. The Tigers are likely to have star running back Leonard Fournette back in the lineup, but the team's starting quarterback remains a secret with conference play ready to begin.

Fournette (ankle) missed last week's win over Jacksonville State, while Danny Etling took over for Brandon Harris under center. Etling replaced a struggling Harris on the third possession and led three straight scoring drives in an eventual 34-13 triumph. "It was a pretty cool feeling. It was pretty nice, especially since we were down at the time," Etling said to reporters. "It was nice to put ourselves in a position to succeed." The Bulldogs began SEC play last week with a 27-14 win against South Carolina as Nick Fitzgerald set a school record for rushing yards by a quarterback.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, ESPN2. LINE: LSU -14

ABOUT MISSISSIPPI STATE (1-1, 1-0 SEC): Bulldogs wideout Fred Ross caught a touchdown and threw for another score last week, and the senior enters this weekend leading all active SEC receivers in career catches (138). Fitzgerald, meanwhile, is looking to deliver an encore to his 195-yard rushing effort against South Carolina and enters this weekend second in the nation in rushing yards among quarterbacks. On the defensive side of the ball, A.J. Jefferson is tied for the SEC lead with three sacks and has a league-high six tackles for loss.

ABOUT LSU (1-1, 0-0): The Tigers leaned on sophomore Derrius Guice in Fournette's absence last week and were rewarded with 155 rushing yards and a score. Etling, a transfer from Purdue who was making his LSU debut, completed only six passes but those passes went for 100 yards and a score, plus he added a rushing TD. Linebacker Kendell Beckwith paces LSU with 17 tackles, while cornerback Tre'Davious White had a pick-six in Week 1 and a punt return for a touchdown in Week 2.

EXTRA POINTS

1. LSU is 8-1 in its last nine conference openers.

2. The Tigers have won 15 of the last 16 meetings with the Bulldogs, although Mississippi State won the last time the teams met here in 2014.

3. The Bulldogs have outscored their opponents 41-0 in the first half this season.

PREDICTION: Mississippi State 29, LSU 23