If there had been a trademark of the 2014 Mississippi State football team entering Saturday’s Battle for the Golden Egg, it would have been the team’s resiliency.
When bad things happened, the Bulldogs always seemed to bounce back. Put them in a tough spot and they always seemed to find a way to overcome.
Thus, when MSU finally found its offense early in the third quarter to take a 10-7 lead over presumably beat-up and demoralized Ole Miss, it seemed as though we had seen it before.
It had been a forgettable first 35 minutes for MSU, which seemed incapable of blocking a quick, physical Ole Miss defense. MSU trailed 7-3 at halftime, hardly what you would expect from the Southeastern Conference’s top offense. The Bulldogs only managed 128 yards and a 45-yard field goal.
But on its second possession of the second half, MSU finally clicked and moved 62 yards in nine plays to take a 10-7 lead.
Ole Miss looked to be in trouble. It had lost its best wide receiver, former Noxubee County High School standout Vincent Sanders, to a second-quarter knee injury. The Rebels’ running game also looked like its old anemic self.
It looked as though the Bulldogs had weathered the storm and would soon assert their dominance.
It looked that way for the next 89 seconds. That’s how long it took for the Bulldogs to deviate dramatically for their season-long script.
On the next offensive play, Ole Miss quarterback Bo Wallace hit tight end Evan Engram for an 83-yard completion to the Bulldog 1-yard line. Ole Miss punched it to regain a lead it didn’t relinquish. The Rebels reeled of two more scores, a 39-yard field goal and a maddeningly-frustrating 91-yard touchdown run by Jaylen Walton.
On those three drives, Ole Miss piled up 233 yards and carried a 24-10 lead into the final quarter.
Although MSU closed the gap to 24-17, Ole Miss proved to be the resilient one, answering that score with a touchdown to secure the win.
“There was plenty of blame to go around,” MSU coach Dan Mullen said.
He was right.
As it did in its only other loss, MSU struggled to make blocks in the first half. And while its defense played credibly enough to keep it in the game to that point, the defense seemed unable to make a tackle in the final 30 minutes.
Time after time, a short-to-modest gain turned into a huge play. In the second half, Ole Miss had plays of 83, 35, 24, 91, 41, and 20 yards.
Whether tackles are missed or broken relies mainly on your point of view. Ole Miss probably deserves most of the credit in that department.
The Rebels played harder and played better. They deserved to win.
It will be interesting to see how the Bulldogs respond. There is much to play for and much to be proud of — a first 10-win regular season with a chance for a first 11-win campaign, a certain berth in the school’s first major bowl game in 73 years, its first appearance atop the national ranking.
At 10-2 and 6-2 in the SEC, good for second in the SEC’s Western Division, MSU already has had a season few could have hoped for in August.
It might take a little time to appreciate that. The wound-licking comes first.
In the meantime, MSU will have about a month to recover.
Resiliency might yet be the trademark for which the Bulldogs will be known. If that’s true, the loss to Ole Miss will be viewed as a painful stumble, but not a mortal fall.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected]
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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