100-Day Bulldog Countdown: 88 Days - No. 88, P Ethan Pulliam and DT Jamil Burroughs

Year two of the Jeff Lebby era has arrived and the Mississippi State coach is back to work.

After a disappointing first season, the coach and his staff are doing what they can to get things back on track in Starkville. The players on the field will be the difference for State this season if they are to make a return and we’re going to discuss every single one of them over the course of the next few months.

As we do every year, we’re counting down 100 days until State’s first game at Southern Miss in Hattiesburg on August 30. Over this period of time, we’ll breakdown every scholarship player on the roster, look back at great moments in MSU history and even talk about legends that have come before the current Bulldogs.

Today, we’re taking a look at a young defensive lineman who earned his stripes last year as a true freshman.

88 Days: No. 88, Sophomore Punter Ethan Pulliam  

 Some decisions had to be made for Pulliam over the last few months, but his future could be better for it.

The Starkville native enters his sophomore year in his hometown and came to State as a multi-sport star at Starkville High School. A baseball and soccer standout in his early childhood, Pulliam entered a punt, pass and kick contest for fun as a sophomore. One of his punts went over 50 yards and his baseball coach encouraged him to go out for the football team.

Immediately, Pulliam began to impress on the football field. By his senior year, he had 38 punts, 45.8 yards per punt, 14 downed inside the 20 yard line and a long punt of 71 yards. Colleges from around the country began to notice and he would become a player on the radar of both baseball and football coaches around the country.

Pulliam got an opportunity to play both sports for the Bulldogs as Chris Lemonis and Mike Leach both planned to add him to their rosters. In his first season, Pulliam spent his time with the baseball team and made an impact right away. By the middle of the season, Pulliam was starting at second base as a freshman and played in 27 games last year with 20 starts.

He batted .227 with 15 hits, seven runs, five doubles, one home run and 11 RBI. In the meantime, Pulliam shared time at football in the spring and would be on the sidelines as a redshirt last year. He started the year with State this season and had two hits in seven games before leaving the team for football.

Pulliam now enters his second full season with football and has a chance to win the full-time job. The Starkville native has a big leg that has the potential to make it to the next level if all things go correctly.

No. 88, Senior Defensive Tackle Jamil Burroughs

There’s some high upside in one of the Bulldogs gets out of the transfer portal on the defensive line.

Shortly after the season ended, we broke the news that former Alabama and Miami lineman Burroughs would join the State roster. Burroughs comes to Starkville as a former highly-recruited player out of high school.

The McEachern (Ga.) standout was an All-American and the No. 339 player in the country by the Composite rankings. During his career at McEachern, Burroughs had over 120 tackles with 11.0 sacks. Offers poured in from around the country with Bama, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, North Carolina, MSU, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Oregon and many others offering.

During his senior year, Burroughs would commit to the Crimson Tide and he signed with Bama on signing day. Burroughs played three seasons with the Crimson Tide (2020-2022) and played in 20 games with 15 tackles, 3.0 TFL and 2.5 sacks. He would transfer to Miami for the 2023 season but missed the transfer window and was deemed ineligible.

After missing all of 2023, Burroughs also missed 2024 as he sat out to find one more spot. MSU would be the landing spot for his final year as the Bulldogs brought him in for the spring to see if he could compete for playing time.

Burroughs more than held his own in spring practice as he was competing for major reps up front. We expect that to continue in the 2025 season as Burroughs looks to have one final run to close out his career.