Mississippi State at Tennessee Friday injury report revealed

Mississippi State could be getting standout true freshman wideout Mario Craver back for this week’s road game against No. 7 Tennessee, but the Volunteers might be without a key defensive lineman.

The status of Tyre West, a junior who has started at defensive end each of the past three games, is up in the air. West played only 15 defensive snaps last week against Kentucky and didn’t register a tackle during the 28-18 win. That said, he combined for 50 defensive snaps the previous two outings, according to Pro football Focus, while tallying a trio of total tackles, including half of a TFL.

The 6-foot-3, 290-pound West has 12 total tackles, four TFLs, two sacks and one forced fumble this season. His forced fumble came in the opener against Chattanooga, and he recorded the second of his two sacks in the win at Oklahoma in Week 4.

The Volunteers could turn to redshirt senior Dominic Bailey, who started the first five games of the season. Bailey has notched 21 total tackles, a pair of sacks and a forced fumble this season.

It’s also important to note that the Volunteers will be missing redshirt freshman running back DeSean Bishop. Bishop was in for just three offensive snaps before exiting last week’s game against Kentucky with a lower-body issue in the second quarter.

Bishop is second on the team with 372 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns this season. Although junior Dylan Sampson takes the lion’s share of Tennessee’s carries, Bishop has recorded 54 of his own this year, averaging 6.9 yards a pop.

With Bishop sidelined during the Kentucky game, true freshman Peyton Lewis stepped up, logging eight rushing attempts for 24 yards and a score.

No team is completely healthy at this point of the season, and that includes the Volunteers and Bulldogs.

Check out the full injury report for the Week 11 game here:

Tennessee

• DB Jourdan Thomas–Out
• LB Keenan Pili–Out
• LB Edwin Spillman–Out
• RB DeSean Bishop–Out
• DL Tyre West–Out

Mississippi State

• QB Blake Shapen–Out
• CB Traveon Wright–Out
• WR Creed Whittemore–Out
• WR Trent Hudson–Out
• DL Kedrick Bingley-Jones–Out
• RB Keyvone Lee–Out
• DL Kalvin Dinkins–Out
• OL Canon Boone–Out
• WR Mario Craver–Probable
• DL De’Monte Russell–Probable

More to know about Mississippi State-Tennessee…

After exploding for a total of 191 points in wins against Chattanooga, North Carolina State and Kent State, Tennessee has yet to hit the 30-point mark in a single SEC game.

Even so, the Volunteers are No. 7 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings and 7-1 on the season, with their lone loss coming at Arkansas on Oct. 5.

Since, head coach Josh Heupel’s team has rattled off victories over Florida, then-No. 7 Alabama and Kentucky. Tennessee will have a chance to make it four wins in a row Saturday when Mississippi State makes the trip to Knoxville.

Mississippi State, meanwhile, remains winless in SEC competition this season, the program’s first under the leadership of head coach Jeff Lebby. The 2-7 Bulldogs are coming off a victory, though. They stomped a two-win UMass squad last week, 45-20.

Before that, Mississippi State had dropped seven consecutive games, albeit with some respectable losses sprinkled into that stretch, such as a 41-31 defeat at now-No. 3 Georgia as well as a 34-24 loss to now-No. 14 Texas A&M.

Tennessee is one of a handful of SEC teams in the mix for the 12-team CFP. Mississippi State, on the other hand, is trying to play spoiler.