What will the weather be like for Mississippi State and Southern Miss?

Mother Nature might be a Mississippi State considering she likes to hang out around the Bulldog teams when they start their 2025.

She was there more than two weeks ago for Mississippi State soccer’s season-opening game, but she made her presence too well known and the game was cancelled.

Now, she’ll be around Saturday in Hattiesburg for Mississippi State football’s first game of the season against Southern Miss.

Saturday’s forecast calls for partly sunny skies and thunderstorms.

A large storm is moving through southern Mississippi today, but some remnants of it could be around on Saturday. AccuWeather’s forecast gives a 55 percent chance of precipitation at the 11 a.m. kickoff time.

Temperatures are expected to be in the upper 70s at kickoff. Unsurprisingly, because of the rain the previous day and it’s Mississippi, it is expected to be very humid. The forecast has the humidity levels at 81 percent and winds traveling east, northeast at seven miles per hour and gusts up to 16 mph.

As the game progresses, the chance of rain will remain around 50 percent and temperatures will rise slightly to the low 80s. However, with the high humidity levels, it will feel a lot hotter. AccuWeather’s Real Feel has the temperature at 95 degrees during the game.

The wind isn’t expected to change much during the game despite there being a spike in the probability of storms at around 2 p.m.

Weather's impact on the game

M.M. Roberts Stadium, where Southern Miss plays its home games, is laid out in a north-south direction. Meaning, the end zones are at the north and south points on a compass.

With the forecast predicting slight winds in an east, northeasterly direction, kickers, punters and quarterbacks will have to account for that when putting balls in the air. Also, with the humidity, balls will require more force to move through the thick air.

However, I wouldn’t expect the wind to deter either team from a long field goal or deep pass downfield.

What’ll be most interesting is if there is any lightning in the area during pregame warmups or around kickoff time. That would force a delay in the start time, which would be a cruel test of two teams’ mental toughness when they have enough going on already.

Hydration is always important, especially in the first game of the season. The last thing any coach wants to see is a player have to leave the game because of cramps. But, inevitably, there’s always at least one player who gets a leg cramp.

With the humidity, staying hydrated will require even more effort.

For fans, though, the weather should be fairly decent to watch two teams debut more than 100 new combined players for the 2025 season.