Mississippi State's Michael Van Buren Jr. Shines as Top Week 9 QB

Even in a loss, Mississippi State's rookie QB continued making strides for the Bulldogs.

Oct 26, 2024; Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs quarterback Michael Van Buren Jr. (0) looks to pass against the Arkansas Razorbacks during the first quarter at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-Imagn Images / Matt Bush-Imagn Images

Mississippi State took it on the chin Saturday in Starkville, but there was a silver lining in the 58-25 loss to Arkansas; true freshman Michael Van Buren Jr. keeps growing and looking as if he's the future under center.

In his fourth start, Van Buren set personal-bests for completion rate (71%), passing yards (309), and yards per attempt (10.0) He also accounted for three scores, two by air and one by ground, and was intercepted twice.

Two authorities on college football took note of Van Buren's performance. On3 Sports included MVB on its list of true freshmen standouts for Week 9; the only quarterback cited by the way.

Week 9 College Football True Freshmen Standouts headlined by Auburn CB Jay Crawford🦅

(via @CharlesPower) https://t.co/bxGgRpzBBg pic.twitter.com/2bcNSs2fr1

— On3 (@On3sports) October 28, 2024

Meanwhile, Pro Football Focus graded Van Buren as the sixth-best Power 4 quarterback of Week 9, ahead of the likes of Heisman contenders Jaxson Dart, Shedeur Sanders, and Jalen Milroe.

Additionally, according to PFF Van Buren only had one Turnover Worthy Play on his 31 pass attempts.

Highest Graded Week 9 Quarterbacks🎯 pic.twitter.com/Fub5bmPpGH

— PFF College (@PFF_College) October 28, 2024

With all of the accolades Van Buren has received in October, head coach Jeff Lebby is making certain his young QB is taking it all in stride and continuously developing:

"Yeah, he's handled it in a in a really good way," said Lebby. "People outside the building have been quick to talk about how incredible he is, while he's gotten challenged inside the building every single day."

"I thought the dude played incredibly tough. He fought his butt off and made some unbelievable plays, but then his bad plays were ones we have to take out of our gameplan. It's been week-to-week challenging him just to be better every single snap."

Lebby, Van Buren, and the Bulldogs get a break in the SEC schedule with a visit from Massachusetts this weekend.

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