STARKVILLE — Makai Polk needed to make a move.
In the third quarter of Saturday’s game against LSU at Davis Wade Stadium, the Cal transfer wide receiver lined up on second-and-8 with Mississippi State trailing 21-3.
On a vertical route, Polk ran past an LSU safety, found a hole in the Tigers’ zone defense and hauled in a 29-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Will Rogers. Just like that, the Bulldogs had completed an eight-play, 75-yard scoring drive in less than three minutes.
It wasn’t all that simple for Mississippi State in Saturday’s 31-29 loss to LSU. For much of the game, the Bulldogs struggled to finish drives, two turnovers and a missed field goal costing them chances to put up points.
But as soon as LSU opened up a lead, Mississippi State’s offense opened up with it.
The Bulldogs scored three touchdowns in the game’s final 16 minutes, a sign that despite the outcome, MSU has the ability to play with almost any team in the country.
There’s only one problem. And it’s a big one.
“We’ve just got to find a way here to emulate that in the first half,” redshirt senior wide receiver Austin Williams said.
If Mississippi State managed that in every game this season, the Bulldogs would be 4-0 and likely ranked in the top 25. They roared back from a 20-point fourth-quarter deficit against Louisiana Tech, and they came within two points of tying Memphis in a late comeback effort.
And Saturday, they came three points and one onside kick away from tying LSU if not beating the Tigers outright.
“There’s no quit in this team,” Williams said. “I think that’s evident. We’re not going to fold. We’re not going to just try to let them go ahead and blow us out. We’re going to fight for every last second, every last yard.”
Mississippi State showed that as soon as a 41-yard touchdown pass to Kole Taylor made it 28-10 in LSU’s favor. The Bulldogs engineered a 12-play, 75-yard drive that ended when quarterback Will Rogers found Williams for a 2-yard score.
LSU went three and out on its next series, and Mississippi State took over at its own 34 with 5:36 to go. Once again, it took 12 plays, but the Bulldogs marched down the field. Woody Marks caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from Rogers, and after a holding penalty on LSU on the two-point conversion, Rogers found Malik Heath. Suddenly, it was a three-point game.
Polk insisted there’s no secret to the Bulldogs’ late-game offense. He said that like “any other team”: “They would play well when they’re down and trying to come back.”
But coach Mike Leach said it appears to be a mental roadblock that no longer affects his players once time begins to run down and some of the pressure is in fact lifted from their shoulders. He said the Bulldogs take comfort in knowing “it can’t get any worse” when the deficit is the greatest.
“Right now, I think we have a tendency to overthink plays,” Leach said. “I think we get to that point and then we don’t overthink plays.”
Now it’s up to Mississippi State to stretch that mentality over 60 minutes of play. But Leach knows what the Bulldogs can do Tuesday and Wednesday on the practice fields outside the Leo Seal Jr. Football Complex often doesn’t translate to consistent game action.
“Can you make plays in practice? Yes. Can you make plays in games? Yes,” he said. “Can you put them together in the context that really good teams have? We’re battling to get there.”
If the Bulldogs can get to that point, an offense that is already statistically strong could rise to an entirely new level.
“We’ve just got to get back in our bag, keep practicing and making routine plays, and I feel like it’ll all come together at some point,” Polk said.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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