STARKVILLE — Peter Sirmon just shook his head when asked about the forced fumble in overtime against BYU.
Senior defensive lineman A.J. Jefferson hit quarterback Taysom Hill and forced the fumble. Sirmon, Mississippi State football’s first-year defensive coordinator, saw the ball bounce away from his defenders and into the hands of BYU’s Tanner Balderree, who scooped it up and ran for 7 yards.
Four plays later, Hill scored a 1-yard touchdown to tie the game at 21. The Cougars scored on their first play in the second overtime, a 25-yard touchdown pass from Hill to Balderree, to help them beat the Bulldogs 28-21 last Friday night at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah.
“That’s when you need that oblong ball to bounce the right way,” Sirmon said. “You’ve got to play to make the plays. Usually football is a very honest sport, the harder you play and the more effort you give, the more those things bounce your way.”
Despite the loss, Sirmon was encouraged by how his defense played and thought it gave the effort needed. The defense will looks to deliver a similar effort at 6:30 p.m. Saturday (SEC Network) when MSU (2-4, 1-2 Southeastern Conference) plays Kentucky (3-3, 2-2) at Commonwealth Stadium in Lexington, Kentucky.
The Bulldogs allowed 311 yards of offense (146 rushing, 165 passing) to the Cougars. MSU allowed 432 yards (228, 204) in a 38-14 loss to Auburn two weeks ago.
Sirmon took the blame last week and said he needed to do a better job of implementing the right game plan, getting his players prepared in practice and calling the right plays in the right moment.
“We moved well,” Sirmon said. “We did some things to where it was a challenge for the offense to block us. We knocked some balls down. I thought we played a little bit more physical at the line of scrimmage.”
MSU had two sacks and seven tackles for loss. The Bulldogs also forced two fumbles and recovered one, when Traver Jung hit Hill in the backfield on the last play of regulation and the ball came free. Jefferson tried to pick the ball up and run to the end zone, but he stumbled and fell on it to force overtime.
Sophomore safety Mark McLaurin had his first interception in the second quarter. Trailing 14-7, BYU faced a second-and-10 at the MSU 29-yard line. Hill threw a pass over the middle and McLaurin was there for the turnover.
Redshirt freshman Leo Lewis led the Bulldogs with 12 tackles.
“I felt like we came out and played pretty hard. We had that chip on our shoulder and everybody played with a little edge,” Lewis said.
The Cougars tied the game at 14 on a 12-play, 48-yard drive that began in the third quarter and ended in the fourth. The Bulldogs committed two penalties on the drive, including a roughing the passer call on third-and-goal. After an offensive holding call, Hill hit Moroni Laulu-Pututau for a 15-yard touchdown.
MSU coach Dan Mullen said the “silly” penalties have to be eliminated.
“That really hurt us,” Mullen said. “Some of the silly penalties overshadowed some tremendous efforts on the defensive side of the ball. You see some young guys starting to make plays and play a little bit better, some older guys playing at the level that we expect them to play. We’re making strides there.”
Sirmon said there were several times when the defense had a chance to end a play and didn’t. He wants to see his group improve in that area and end plays before big yards are gained.
MSU is sixth in the SEC in total defense (361.3 yards allowed per game). Kentucky is 12th in the SEC in total offense (344.8 yards), but it is seventh in rushing offense (186.2 yards). Junior Stanley “Boom” Williams is sixth in the SEC with an average of 90 yards. MSU is fifth in the SEC in rushing defense (136.2 yards).
While encouraged by the steps his defense took, Sirmon said plays like Jefferson’s strip-sack have to go MSU’s way.
“I’ve got to coach it up better, we’ve got to get them on the ground, and we have to live to fight another play,” Sirmon said.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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