Saturday did nothing to dispel the narrative Mississippi State is incapable of winning on the road.
The Bulldogs came out flat footed once again and fell into an insurmountable hole en route to Texas A&M cruising to a 49-30 victory at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas. Really, two MSU fourth quarter garbage time touchdowns made the score look better than it really was.
In the not too distant future, MSU coach Joe Moorhead is probably going to say something about how hard his team fought and commend his players for not giving up, while doubling down he’s taking no moral victories from the defeat.
None of that changes the fact MSU laid another egg on the road for the third time this season.
If the Bulldogs want to extend their program-high bowl streak to 10 years, they’re going to have to beat Arkansas on the road and Abilene Christian and Ole Miss at home. Not impossible, but the way they’re playing, is anyone predicting a win against Arkansas with confidence next week?
A quick programming note for those who are new here: Bulldog Bullets will be a weekly recurring article filled with short observations and commentary written throughout Mississippi State football games that posts shortly after the final gun.
To the Bulldog Bullets:
– It’s hard to understand, but this team seemed to regress from last week’s 36-13 loss to No. 2 LSU. I thought Texas A&M was only a slightly better team than MSU entering Saturday, but the Aggies flat out dominated the Bulldogs.
– The defense was pretty shorthanded, so it at least has some excuse for its poor performance. Cornerback Cameron Dantzler had to miss Saturday’s game, a key loss for a secondary already relying on two true freshman cornerbacks. Maurice Smitherman is out for the year. Willie Gay and Lee Autry have missed time because of suspensions. That unit already lost a ton of talent entering the year. The missed tackles probably make defensive coordinator Bob Shoop want to pull the hair out of his head, but he’s doing the best he can with what he has to work with.
– What is baffling week after week is the inability of the offense to sustain drives. Garrett Shrader’s foot injury may be bothering him more than he’s letting on, but I’m still not sure what to make of the shaky offensive line play, three turnovers and dropped passes. The offense did score 30 points, but most of that seemed to be relatively empty calories after the game was already decided.
– This is the first time MSU has lost four straight games since 2005.
– Moorhead’s road record with the Bulldogs drops to 2-6.
– One positive note: At least Kylin Hill got some of his mojo back, running for 150 yards on 21 carries with a touchdown.
– Earlier this week, Moorhead stressed a fast start could help alleviate some of the Bulldogs’ road woes. Three-and-outs on the first two offensive series followed by an interception on their third drive en route to an early 14-0 deficit probably wasn’t what he had in mind.
– First quarter stats for Garrett Shrader: 1 for 7 passing for four yards (with a quarterback rating of -9.5), two carries for one yard.
– Heck of a drive for MSU to start the second quarter: a 36-yard Kylin Hill run set up a 32-yard touchdown strike to Stephen Guidry from Shrader.
– This is now back-to-back weeks that Nick Gibson has had a backbreaking fumble. For a running back that already gets a limited amount of carries, that simply can’t happen.
– The tackling, or lack thereof, on Jalen Wydermyer’s 52-yard touchdown was flat out embarrassing. I counted five missed tackles to a 6-foot-5, 260-pound freshman tight end.
– Texas A&M Kellen Mond entered Saturday’s game taking a lot of criticism from his fanbase due to his inconsistent play. He was pretty close to perfect against MSU, throwing for 234 yards and three touchdowns, while adding 76 yards on the ground and two rushing touchdowns.
– I understand most fans have already reached their breaking points this year. But if MSU somehow loses to Arkansas next week (the Razorbacks are BAD, guys), all hell might break loose.
Hodge is the former sports editor for The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 40 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.