STARKVILLE – The sense of disbelief in Davis Wade Stadium had given way to frustration by the time Mississippi State faced a 4th and 20 in overtime.
Quarterback Blake Shapen threw his arms up as a flag for a second straight false start was thrown, backing MSU up for their desperation try. Fans were already heading for the exit, but turned their heads to see the final nail drive home in the coffin of what could have been, should have been, the first SEC win of the Jeff Lebby era.
No. 22 Texas overcame a 17-point deficit to force overtime, and eventually won 45-38 in a game that the Bulldogs had dominated for most of regulation. The yards turned into points for the Bulldogs, who took a 10-point halftime lead and added on with more scoring drives in the third and fourth quarter. The job was all but finished, but 12 minutes was more than enough time for it all to come crashing down.
“Having the ability to win the game in the fourth quarter, we’ve got to find a way to knock that door down,” Lebby said. “Incredibly disappointing, frustrating to say the least. Our guys played incredibly hard. We were ready to play, didn’t play great early, but found ways to respond, and we’ve got to go finish the game and go win.”
The Bulldogs are now 4-4, 0-4 in SEC play with two overtime losses at home after being in position to win. The team has struggled to play from in front throughout conference play, and the mistakes, negative plays and poor situational football came back to bite them once again on Saturday in Starkville.
“It’s got to be a mindset thing,” quarterback Blake Shapen said. “We’ve got to understand when the moment is right in front of us, we’ve got to go take it. It’s not going to be given to us. That’s something we’ve had to learn the hard way, and we’ve got to move forward in the right way and pull these games out.”
Shapen had one of his best games as a Bulldog. He finished 26-42 passing for 381 yards and four touchdowns with eight different receivers. It was another prolific performance that ultimately wasn’t enough.
The Bulldogs ended the game with three straight drives ending in punts, including a drive in the final minute falling short of field goal range because of a sack.
Staying on the gas was important for both Shapen and Lebby, but the offense struggled to rediscover the gear that saw them take control earlier in the quarter.
“We’ve got to stay aggressive,” Shapen said of playing from in front. “Keep our foot on the gas in that situation and go up as much as we can, and not let up. Play each play independent of the last and keep playing. That’s all you can do in that situation.”
It wasn’t just the offense to blame for the defeat. There was a lack of execution situationally, but the defense and special teams capitulated. The Longhorns scored 24 points in the fourth quarter as the passing game exploded into life. Arch Manning recorded more than half of his passing yards and two of his three touchdowns in the final frame after struggling for much of the game against the Bulldog secondary.
Texas produced three chunk plays in the fourth, and completed the comeback by tying the game came on a 78-yard punt return after Ryan Niblett evaded the coverage team and bolted down a hole on the sideline for the score.
The weight of the loss had a clear effect on Lebby and the players post-game, and once again he faced the media with similar frustrations about the lack of execution. When asked what it would take to capitalize, it was all about owning up to what had happened in order to move on.
He said it all last week and said it again on Saturday; his guys have to finish.
“For our guys, it’s having the confidence and going and finishing,” he said. “You’re up 17, they cut it to 10, you find a way to go up 17 and go strain, finish, and play the way that you have. For us on the sideline, our guys being ready to go take victory. We talked about that all week and we’re not doing that. For me, that is the most frustrating, disappointing part of it. The way our guys are straining, fighting… I want like hell for them to be able to feel success. You’ve got to take victory in the fourth quarter in these games.”
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