Auburn will walk into Davis Wade Stadium next Saturday and find two freshmen it tried hard to sign wearing maroon and white.

One of them was committed to the Tigers for most of last fall. The other had an official visit to Jordan-Hare Stadium lined up before he stuck with his pledge to Mississippi State. By the time Auburn arrives, both could be playing much bigger roles than anyone in Starkville planned on back in August.

Mississippi State entered Saturday's homecoming game against Vanderbilt at 4-4, with Auburn, FCS Tennessee Tech and the Egg Bowl at Ole Miss still to come. A bowl trip is within reach, but the injury report keeps getting longer by the week.

Quarterback Kamario Taylor is done for the season after foot surgery, and the Bulldogs ruled out safety Isaac Smith, linebackers Jalen Smith and Derion Gullette, and defensive linemen Diesel Moye and Trevion Williams for Vanderbilt. Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby has plugged holes with transfers all year, but the next wave of help might come from players who were still in high school last winter.

Bralan Womack steps into Isaac Smith's spotlight

Womack arrived as the biggest recruiting win of Lebby's tenure. The 247Sports Composite ranked the Hartfield Academy product the No. 1 safety in the 2026 class, and ESPN's No. 39 overall ranking made him the highest-rated signee of Mississippi State's ESPN recruiting era.

He flipped from Auburn on Dec. 1, 2025, one day after the Tigers hired Alex Golesh, and he made the decision sound personal at his signing ceremony. "I'm playing for my home state," Womack said.

Through eight games, the true freshman has 18 tackles and a pass breakup while working as the backup at strong safety. With Smith sidelined, Mississippi State needs someone to absorb safety snaps, and few players on the roster have Womack's ball skills. He picked off eight passes as a junior and helped Hartfield win back-to-back Class 6A state titles.

Seeing Auburn on the schedule next week only adds a little spice to the assignment.

Kaleb Morris could plug a thinning defensive front

Morris is the one Auburn couldn't pry loose. The Semmes, Alabama, native committed to Mississippi State on May 31, 2025, and held firm while the Tigers kept recruiting him and set up an official visit for their Kentucky game that November.

His explanation at the time was simple. "It felt like home," Morris said. "It was about the connection I had with the players, too. The coaches and players felt like family."

Morris was listed at 250 pounds as a recruit and now checks in at 6-4 and 285, a sign the strength staff has had him busy since he arrived. He sits third on the depth chart at nose tackle and has appeared in one game through September.

Moye and Williams have been out for the season since September, and that changes the picture in a hurry. The interior rotation is without two regulars, and a freshman with Morris' frame is the logical next man up.

Camden Capehart brings the speed Mississippi State lacks

Capehart is the fastest kind of problem a defense can have. The 5-8, 180-pound receiver from Winnsboro, Texas, won three Class 3A state titles in the 100-meter dash and ran a 10.14 as a high school junior.

He also caught 129 passes for 3,237 yards and 55 touchdowns in three seasons as a starter, and Florida State offered him even after he committed to the Bulldogs.

His first college touchdown came against Oklahoma, an 18-yard catch in the third quarter that put Mississippi State on the board, and he added a 14-yard run in the same game. Across his three college touches, Capehart is averaging 12.7 yards.

Mississippi State scored two offensive touchdowns in the two games before Vanderbilt, and Capehart caught one of them. An offense starving for big plays has a freshman who keeps producing them, and the final three games are the time to find out how many more he has in him.

None of these three were supposed to carry this much weight in November. Womack made it clear on signing day that he came to Starkville expecting to carry it.

"I want to leave a blueprint in this state," Womack said.

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