NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Mississippi State football season ended on a sour note in Monday’s Music City Bowl as the Bulldogs were downed 38-28 by Louisville in Nashville.

Facing a Cardinals defense that ranked No. 115 of 130 FBS teams against the run, junior running back Kylin Hill — who led the Southeastern Conference with 1,347 yards entering the contest — was held to just three yards on seven carries after suffering a lower-body injury on the first play from scrimmage.

Senior quarterback Tommy Stevens finished the night with a 17-of-26, 221-yard effort, though his second quarter fumble was returned for a 31-yard score.

After MSU (6-7) led 14-0 midway through the second quarter, Louisville (8-5) rattled off 31-straight points en route to a 510-yard offensive output. Led by quarterback Micale Cunningham — who was named the game’s Most Valuable Player — the sophomore completed 16 of 23 passes for 279 yards and rushed for another 81 on 16 attempts.

Defensively, MSU was without four starting defensive backs due to a combination of injuries and NFL draft decisions. Junior linebacker Erroll Thompson also missed the majority of the game after he exacerbated a nagging injury over holiday break and watched from the sidelines in street clothes for the entire second half.

“Head football coaches, sometimes at the end of your career, you think you’re going to write a book and talk about your career and each season as a chapter and this season was a book in and of itself,” coach Joe Moorhead said in reference to the litany of suspensions and injuries MSU dealt with this year. “Certainly 6-7 was not the outcome we desired, but to get bowl eligible, to win an Egg Bowl and to have this opportunity to play in a bowl game, to me is a credit to these seniors, a credit this staff and a credit to these leaders that we were able to battle through a ton of adversity this season.”

Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.