STARKVILLE — Lideatrick Griffin shot through a seam on the opening kickoff, setting up Mississippi State at the East Tennessee State 41-yard line before the Bulldogs could take a single offensive snap.
It was an early indicator of how the rest of the game would go.
MSU (7-4, 3-4 Southeastern Conference) scored three plays later, held a 35-0 lead at halftime and sealed a dominant but uneventful 56-7 win over ETSU (3-8, 1-7 Southern Conference) on Saturday at Davis Wade Stadium.
“We were here to take care of our business, and we did,” Mississippi State coach Mike Leach said.
No one could have blamed the Bulldogs for looking ahead to their rivalry matchup with No. 14 Ole Miss (8-2, 4-2 SEC) just five days later in Oxford.
But if MSU was looking ahead, it wasn’t looking past a struggling FCS foe in ETSU.
The Bulldogs did what they needed to do against the Buccaneers, scoring early and often to cruise to a comfortable victory and setting some records in the process.
Quarterback Will Rogers cracked 10,000 career passing yards, surpassing Ole Miss’ Eli Manning for ninth in the SEC. Rogers finished 30 of 37 for 301 yards and five touchdowns.
Cornerback Emmanuel Forbes’ 76-yard interception return touchdown was the sixth of his career, setting a new SEC record and tying for the most all time in FBS football.
Griffin caught a pair of touchdown passes from Rogers, including a score to cap MSU’s opening drive. The 12-yard strike was Rogers’ longest touchdown pass of the day.
“It’s good to see him in the end zone more,” Leach said of Griffin. “I kind of thought he was a little overdue on that.”
The junior quarterback also connected with Rara Thomas, Austin Williams and Justin Robinson on scoring passes. Thomas caught an 8-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter, Williams had a 5-yard touchdown grab in the third, and Robinson caught Rogers’ final touchdown from 8 yards out late in the third.
Jo’quavious Marks ran for a 22-yard score in the second quarter.
Rogers’ day ended after three quarters Saturday, as graduate quarterback Chance Lovertich replaced the junior and promptly led a touchdown drive of his own. Graduate running back J.J. Jernighan capped the possession with a 2-yard rushing touchdown early in the fourth quarter as the Bulldogs emptied their bench.
Redshirt freshman Sawyer Robertson took over after Lovertich’s second drive but threw an interception on his second pass of the game.
It was the fourth pick of the game between both teams as MSU intercepted ETSU quarterbacks Tyler Riddell and Baron May three times — including Forbes’ pick-six off a deflected pass — and shut out the Buccaneers on offense.
East Tennessee State’s lone touchdown came off a blocked punt and subsequent return with 8:07 to play, putting the Bucs on the board.
MSU held ETSU to just 154 total yards while racking up 418 of its own.
The Bulldogs, of course, will have a much tougher task ahead on Thanksgiving night. MSU will face Ole Miss in the 119th Egg Bowl rivalry game at 6 p.m. Thursday at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford.
Mississippi State is looking for its first win over the Rebels since 2019.
“I know they’ll be ready to play, so we have to answer the call and we have to be ready to go Thursday night,” Rogers said.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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