STARKVILLE — As the Mississippi State kickoff team took the field with 46 seconds remaining in the half Saturday against Kansas State, the raucous chorus of cowbells heard pregame had turned into a half-hearted smattering of clanging.
Yet as quickly as the disingenuous ringing arrived, senior quarterback Tommy Stevens fired up the MSU faithful in the closing seconds of the first half.
Despite completing just 46.6 percent of his passes to that point, Stevens reared back and delivered a dime to streaking junior receiver Osirus Mitchell in the back of the end zone.
With two Kansas State defenders draped over his back, Mitchell extended his left hand — snagging the ball, dragging a knee and crashing out of bounds just inches from the base of the goal post for a score.
“I saw the corner battling and the safety dropped,” Mitchell said. “As soon as the safety dropped I knew it was a touchdown.”
Postgame, Mitchell said the play call was the exact same on which he scored a 31-yarder against Southern Mississippi last week. More pressing, it offered another glimpse of the No. 1 receiver upside he’s shown in a receiving corps that desperately needs a standout.
“He was able to swing the momentum there at the end of the first half,” coach Joe Moorhead said postgame. “He got deep on the post route and was able to make some critical plays. He had good offseason preparation. He had a good game and is practicing really well. He reaped from the benefits today.”
In all, Mitchell finished the day with five catches for 74 yards and a touchdown as he led the MSU receivers in yardage for the third straight week.
Outside of the Sarasota, Florida native, it was a rather troubling day for the Bulldog receivers.
After recording zero drops in the season opening win against Louisiana two weeks ago, the Bulldogs made numerous misplays in key spots Saturday afternoon.
The first major blemish came from junior Stephen Guidry. Standing well past the first down marker near the Kansas State 31-yard line, Stevens delivered a strike into Guidry’s chest. Deflecting the ball up into the air, Guidry tipped the pass right into the hands of Wildcat safety Denzel Goolsby on a play eerily reminiscent of last year’s Outback Bowl miscue that granted Iowa the victory.
Graduate transfer Isaiah Zuber also had a major drop in the closing stages against his former team. The one-time Wildcat found a soft spot in the Kansas State zone for a surefire first down early in the fourth quarter. Staring down a Garrett Shrader pass, the ball ricocheted right off his chest before sputtering to the ground.
“We have to make sure we’re executing the plays at critical junctions of the games,” Moorhead said. “Certainly, disappointed in the loss. We had some opportunities there in the second half to put the thing away, and we weren’t able to do it.”
This isn’t to say the MSU receiving corps has not shown marked improvement through its first three games. The Bulldogs currently boast five receivers with 49 yards or more — though Mitchell is the only one to have eclipsed the 100-yard mark with 208 on the year.
Further, with Mitchell offering No. 1 receiver upside through the early going, MSU might actually boast the deep and varied receiving corps it’s preached about should Guidry, senior Deddrick Thomas or Zuber find a few more catches.
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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