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Pat McAfee completely flips his opinion on Mississippi State following season-altering win over Arizona State
Sep 6, 2025; Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs quarterback Blake Shapen (2) passes the ball during warm ups prior to the game against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Pat McAfee completely flips his opinion on Mississippi State following season-altering win over Arizona State

Originally posted on A to Z Sports  |  By Adam Holt  |  Last updated Sep 12, 2025 2:54 PM ET

Upsets in college football are some of the most exciting parts of the gridiron. For Mississippi State, they went and shocked tons of people when they took down last year's Big 12 champion in the Arizona State Sun Devils in Week 2 of the college football season last weekend.

The win was sparked by a "score from far" concept - an ideal that head coach Jeff Lebby loves to discuss for his offensive unit. The environment in Starkville also gave the Bulldogs an upper hand and dramatically improved their chance to stave off a major comeback by Arizona State. Bulldogs WR Brenen Thompson (Oklahoma transfer) caught the game-winning pass, a 58-yard touchdown, in the final minute. Social media collectively lost their minds in the hours and days following the upset.

Mississippi State's big win and atmosphere changed Pat McAfee's mind

Ahead of their ranked matchup with the Sun Devils, the Bulldogs lacked much faith around the national media. There was a strong expectation that Arizona State would come in and take care of business, even away from their homeland.

Pat McAfee even pointed to the incredibly-talented Kamario Taylor as a player who should see more playing time - if he's getting so much hype this year. Taylor has such a bright future ahead of him with the Bulldogs, but there's clearly no need to rush him into the starting role quite yet. I did love to see Taylor be the first player to congratulate Lebby after the win, though. He's their leader of the future, undoubtedly.

Instead, though, veteran QB Blake Shapen made some big-time throws to lead Mississippi State to the win over Arizona State. While there were ebbs and flows to the offense's output, the long-range success that Lebby has been looking for was on full display when it mattered most. Shapen said that he was going to go and win it for his team before their game-winning drive, and he did.

McAfee also revealed that his thought process for the Bulldogs entering the season was a "negative one" due to their QB decision and recent struggles on the gridiron. That's not surprising, but now, he has paid them a ton of respect for the environment at Davis-Wade Stadium. The fans, upgrades, and cowbells certainly made a difference to help the Bulldogs grab the ranked win.

McAfee wasn't the only big-time part of football Twitter discussing Mississippi State's win. They were arguably the most-talked about team in the country on Saturday evening. That is important for a program that's trying to rebuild, following some tumultuous seasons and unfortunate luck over the years.

More social media hype for the Bulldogs

When you earn a ranked win early in the season, you garner plenty of attention. When your previous season ended in two wins (zero in your conference) - members of the media notice even more. For the Bulldogs, that's their reality. The expectations were incredibly low entering this season, so this early season victory has sparked a lot of excitement on social media.

For Jeff Lebby's team, they cannot afford to get too high or too low. A daunting SEC schedule still awaits them after a couple more weekends of non-conference play. It is a conference slate that many believe is one of the toughest in the entire country.

Jeff Lebby must build on it now

Lebby had quite a few recruits in attendance for this matchup. That wasn't just for football, either. Some notable baseball recruits for Brian O'Connor's squad witnessed the win, as well as targets for Sam Purcell's women's basketball team and Chris Jans' men's basketball team.

"Jackson (Miss.) Callaway 2027 four-star OL Li’Marcus Jones, who de-committed from Ole Miss this summer, said: “It was amazing and I was right there in the student section when it happened. I was so shocked when I saw him catch the ball for the game-winning touchdown. I love Mississippi State. They are most definitely up there in my recruitment right now.'" -- Adam Gorney, On3.com

Gorney also mentioned other important recruiting class pieces over the next two years, like Brodie McWhorter, Malachi Ziegler, Darion Moseley that were in attendance and impressed with the team's performance and their experience in the stadium.

Regardless, enjoying a victory like this one over Arizona State is paramount. There hasn't been many of these sort of opportunities for fans, players, or coaches for the maroon and white over the past few seasons. The staff in Starkville will look to build on it for the remainder of the season.

Field storming, upset wins, Heisman moments, raucous fans, complete pandemonium. It is what college football is all about. Fans of the sport should never take those sort of instances for granted.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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