With the Bulldogs’ season being a little more than half way done, it’s safe to say the squad has had its ups and downs so far. The team’s overall record currently stands at 4-8, with the two losses over the weekend on the road against Arkansas and Tennessee. Two things that must be kept in mind when discussing this team is that they are incredibly young and they are in the midst of rebuilding their program, so that success may be a constant in the future. 
Head Coach Aaron Gordon hasn’t once shied away from the fact his team would have its growing pains this season.  He has preached from day one this season is about laying the ground work for eventual benefit.
“I just want to have a lot of players in this young group that provide us the foundation that allows us to be very good in the future,” he said.
Out of the starting 11, that on most nights, consists of roughly seven or eight freshman, Gordon knew his girls would be up against adversity multiple times this season, but that hasn’t once stopped him from being as positive as possible. It seemed as if every question that was directed at Gordon during the preseason dealt with the inexperience within his squad, and he always countered those questions with how his team was ready to fight for everything it could get.
The team clearly has some strengths and some glaring weaknesses, which it will need to improve upon heading into the heart of the SEC schedule. It has shown to be a pretty close group on and off the field, which will certainly do wonders for the in terms of growing as a unit going forward. 
To see the strengths the Bulldogs have displayed so far, one does not have to look any farther than three players in particular. First, you could argue that Mallory Eubanks has been the best player thus far for the Bulldogs this season. Her quickness on the field and vision when on the ball has been a catalyst for most for the MSU goals this season. Along with this, she has shown to have tremendous stamina as she has played the most minutes of anyone on the team.
Another player that has shown great promise has been the lone senior on the team, Shannen Jainudeen.. For this year’s team, Jainudeen has stepped up and scored five goals already this season. She’s a very tall and strong presence on the field and certainly knows how to use her physical style of play to help get her teammates involved in the action. She suffered a scare during the Ole Miss match to her knee, but thankfully for the Bulldogs, it appears she will be alright going forward.
In highlighting a defender that has stood out for the team, it would have to be said that Kayleigh Henry has been a fairly consistent player for MSU. She is a very strong defender with a low center of gravity. When presented with the opportunity, she will look to get forward and isn’t afraid to swing in a cross as well. Another thing to note about Henry is that she has already received two red cards in her first 12 collegiate games. She will need to look to control herself on the field so the Bulldogs will not have to play a man down anymore this season.
Switching onto the other side of the equation, a main area of concern for the Bulldogs going forward will have to be on the defensive side of the field. In the 10 regular season games that have been played, the Bulldogs have only recorded a shutout in one game and have given up more than one goal on five occasions already. A lot of the defensive struggles can be summed up in the fact that the Bulldogs’ back line is very young and inexperienced. With time, the cohesiveness of the back line should come together, but for now the growing pains will be hard.
The other major weakness going forward for the Bulldogs will be scoring goals. Outside of Jainudeen, no other Bulldog player has more than two goals on the season, so needless to say, the Bulldogs will need to find some firepower going forward.  Potential suitors that could step up and help Jainudeen out going forward into SEC play could be freshman Morgan Ferrera or junior Shelby Jordan, who is in the midst of going through a position change from defense to offense. MSU will look to try and use its size upfront to potentially overpower its opponents.  This will mean the Dogs should look to put crosses in the box early and often so they can look to be an aerial threat.
When examining the rest of the Bulldogs’ schedule, of the remaining eight regular season games, seven of the teams have winning records and both Florida and Texas A&M are nationally ranked. To say MSU will be the underdog in all of its remaining games, with the exception of LSU, may be an accurate statement, but that doesn’t seem to faze Gordon going forward. 
“I’d rather be the underdog right now: it will give us something to come together as a group,” he said.
Another aspect of the season the young Bulldog team will need to adjust to will be SEC road games. The ability to go into hostile territory and not be overwhelmed by the atmosphere will be a challenge for a squad with 19 freshman on its roster. The first SEC road trip rather adds to this point, as they fell to Arkansas and Tennessee by a combined score of 7-0.  Luckily for the Bulldogs, last weekend was the last time they will face two road games in three days for the rest of the season. The distribution of home versus road games left on the schedule for the Bulldogs shapes up five to three in favor of home games, so this should help the young group gain its footing in the SEC. 
Next up for MSU is two home games this weekend. They will play LSU on Friday night at 7 p.m. at the Mississippi State Soccer field and Georgia at 1 p.m. on Sunday.