MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Tucked away from the rain in a cramped room not far from the sodden surface of the Liberty Bowl, Mike Leach pored over the box score, looking for a number.
“We had 83 plays,” the Mississippi State coach said, “and of those, we had 82 good snaps.”
The one exception? Fourth-and-goal from the Memphis 2-yard line early in the third quarter, with the Bulldogs leading 17-7 and a blowout well within reach. That time, the snap to quarterback Will Rogers was low, and Rogers’ pass to wideout Austin Williams was knocked away.
“I don’t know why the hell we wouldn’t have a good snap on that one,” Leach said.
Instead of a back-breaking touchdown, the Bulldogs gave up the ball. Memphis promptly compiled a 12-play, 98-yard scoring drive, cutting the lead to just three points.
For Mississippi State (2-1), the bad snap was just the beginning of the end in a come-from-ahead 31-29 loss to the Tigers (3-0) in Memphis, Tennessee.
“We made one dumb, glaring mistake after the next and couldn’t overcome them,” Leach said. “We’ve just got to be a consistent team, and right now, we’re not.”
Over the course of roughly 25 minutes, the Bulldogs were that team. Mississippi State played its typical solid defense between Woody Marks’ fumble early in the first quarter — which Memphis turned into a 49-yard scoop and score to get on the board first — and Rogers’ incomplete pass on fourth down.
But the Bulldogs folded late. And they had help.
Two controversial refereeing decisions in the game’s final six minutes, both of which went against Mississippi State, cast doubt over the contest’s true outcome.
First there was Memphis wide receiver Calvin Austin III’s 94-yard punt return touchdown, which turned a one-score lead into a two-possession edge with 5:36 to play.
Two Mississippi State players touched the ball deep in Memphis territory in an attempt to down it. Cornerback Martin Emerson thought he had, and ESPN2’s replay showed Emerson’s knee was down while his hand was on the football. Behind the play, one referee signaled the play dead.
But no whistle blew. Austin raced behind several Bulldogs to snatch the ball and shot down the field to put Memphis ahead 28-17. Mississippi State was called for illegal touching and the play stood.
Leach said he never saw the ref signal the end of the play, never received an explanation from the officiating crew and wished his team had made sure the play was dead before losing focus.
“The ball’s live,” he said. “We’ve got to pick it up and hand it to the ref.”
He was less understanding about a late onside kick in which Mississippi State was again called for illegal touching, seemingly making contact with the ball before it traveled 10 yards. That penalty was overturned on replay, but an illegal block on the Bulldogs was added, forcing a rekick.
On the second attempt, Memphis recovered the kick, adding a 51-yard field goal to take an eight-point lead.
“Don’t even get me started,” Leach said when asked about the play. “I’ll have to decide whether I want to spend some money before I get into that too much.”
Mississippi State quickly drove down the field for a touchdown following Memphis’ field goal as Rogers found Makai Polk for a 36-yard score.
But a tying two-point conversion attempt broke down, and Rogers was tackled a yard short of the goal line. Memphis recovered a subsequent onside kick, ran out the clock in victory formation to hand the Bulldogs their first loss.
“The two-point conversion, we should have put it in,” Leach said.
Rogers finished 50 of 67 passing for 419 yards and three scores, connecting with Jaden Walley on a 6-yard touchdown in the second quarter and finding Malik Heath for a 9-yard score before the ill-fated onside kick attempt.
Austin had all three offensive touchdowns for the Tigers, catching touchdown passes of 21 and 25 yards from quarterback Seth Henigan. The speedster finished with four catches for 105 yards as he led the Tigers to a comeback win.
For the Bulldogs, Leach said, it was a loss that could have been avoided.
“If the ball bounces funny or whatever and the other team plays smarter than you do, then it’s going to blow up on you — and that’s what happened,” he said.
Notes
Archer Trafford served as Mississippi State’s punter Saturday night, averaging 42.2 yards on five punts. Fifth-year senior Tucker Day did not appear … A fellow fifth-year, kicker Brandon Ruiz, left last week’s game against NC State at halftime and did not play Saturday. Scott Goodman continued to handle kickoffs with McCord taking charge of extra points and field goals. McCord was perfect on the day with a 39-yard field goal and two PATs.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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