100 Day Bulldog Countdown: 14 Days - No. 14, WR Trent Hudson and CB Brice Pollock
Jeff Lebby’s era of Mississippi State football has arrived.
The Bulldogs are on their third coach in as many years as Mike Leach’s tragic passing opened the door for defensive coordinator Zach Arnett’s debut as head coach last year. That experiment failed before the year even ended for State and now it’s Lebby’s turn to take the wheel.
While there is always a risk in hiring first time head coaches, Lebby brings to Starkville an exciting offensive scheme that has been productive everywhere he’s been. The coach has also brought with him some swagger that has the fanbase ready to see what’s next.
Over the course of the next 100 days, we will take a look at Lebby’s roster and even some fun historical rewinds that will bring back memories for Dawg fans of all ages.
Today, we look at a couple of potential starters on each side of the ball.
100 Day Bulldog Countdown: 14 Days
No. 14, Jr. WR Trent Hudson
Killen, Texas own, Hudson has made his fair share of moves over the years and hopefully Starkville will be his last one in college.
Hudson went unnoticed by major colleges out of high school when he starred for Shoemaker. The long receiver quickly started to put people on notice his freshman season when he hauled in 50 catches for 778 yards and eight touchdowns and was named a NJCAA All-American at Trinity Valley CC.
With academic eligibility giving him the opportunity to go to a four-year University in year two, Hudson made the jump to New Mexico State last year. He played in 14 games as he helped his team to one of the greatest seasons in school history with a 10-win record in a Conference USA championship game berth.
While playing mostly off of the bench, Hudson still made a major impact as he caught 36 passes for 551 yards and 10 scores. His best game came in the C-USA championship when he caught seven passes for 112 yards and a touchdown.
The big year got him attention as he entered the transfer portal during the spring and, immediately, MSU became a player.
With Hudson now a Bulldog, he joins a talented receiving core that includes transfer receivers like Kelly Akhairyi and Kevin Coleman. He is competing for a starting outside receiver spot for the Bulldogs this offseason.
No. 14, Jr. CB Brice Pollock
It’s year two for Pollock at cornerback and the talented defender had a chance to get his first taste of college football last season.
With a corners group with very little experience outside of Decamerion Richardson, Pollock would rise to the occasion. He played in 11 of the 12 games as a true freshman and would start in three of those as he made 24 tackles and had a pass breakup.
Pollock started his recruitment in high school as a Pittsburgh commitment in the summer of 2022 but would start to really see interest build following that verbal. He took official visits to Ole Miss, North Carolina and Michigan State almost immediately after that commitment and he would continue to get strong interest from other teams nationally.
State was one of those teams that kept the consistency with Pollock and the Bulldogs had him in on an official visit shortly after the regular season ended. That’s when Pollock would flip from Pittsburgh to MSU and the Bulldogs had an impact player.
Pollock was a high three-star player and the No. 50 cornerback in the country. The Snellville, Ga., native was the No. 48 player in the talent-rich state. Pollock led Shiloh High School on defense when he made 61 tackles and 11 pass break ups, had 2.0 tackles for loss, two quarterback hurries, two interceptions 1.0 sack and a fumble recovery as a senior.
This season, Pollock is competing for a starting cornerback spot for the Bulldogs and has some competition there.