BATON ROUGE, La. — Mike Leach knows having an explosive football team can be a blast.
“Explosive’s fun,” Leach said after Saturday’s 31-16 loss at LSU. “Explosive, you can get on a run and hit a bunch of dingers on somebody.”
The baseball metaphor is fitting for a Mississippi State team used to making home-run plays.
But in the second half Saturday, the Bulldogs swung for the fences and came up empty nearly every time.
It added up to three straight touchdowns for LSU in the fourth quarter and MSU’s first loss of the year.
The consistency the Bulldogs had begun to find in two wins early in the season was suddenly gone.
“We’re explosive; we’re just inconsistent,” Leach said. “We’ve got to be a consistent team.”
MSU seemed that way when it followed up wins over Memphis and Arizona with two first-half touchdowns to get out to a 13-0 lead. Jo’quavious Marks ran for a 37-yard score in the first quarter, and Rara Thomas “Mossed” a Tigers defender in the second to put the Bulldogs up two scores.
Then it began to unravel.
MSU had two turnovers — a fumbled punt by Austin Williams and an interception from Will Rogers — as LSU scored 31 of the game’s final 34 points.
The Bulldogs’ explosiveness had turned against them at the worst time.
“That’ll catch up to you if you’re not consistent,” Leach said. “We’ve got to coach consistency.”
LSU gets pressure home
Rogers was sacked just three times in all by Memphis and Arizona.
LSU brought down the junior quarterback four times Saturday.
Leach said the Tigers simply “brought more people” on the blitz, but LSU’s defensive line outmatched MSU’s offensive line fairly consistently.
Rogers credited disguised blitzes for LSU’s success in the pass rush, saying the Tigers often showed one thing before the snap but changed things up during the play.
“They were just mixing it up a little bit,” he said.
Drops critical in Bulldogs’ loss
Mississippi State was charged with five dropped passes Saturday, two of which came on the same drive.
After LSU extended its lead from one point to eight on a 7-yard touchdown by Josh Williams, the Bulldogs responded with a three-and-out featuring consecutive drops by Rara Thomas and Simeon Price.
Rufus Harvey had a drop in the second quarter on a pass he wasn’t quite ready to receive. Caleb Ducking dropped a pass on the opening drive of the third quarter, and Thomas had a drop two plays later.
Rogers said his message to his receivers after drops was simple: “Play the next play.”
“Odds are I’m going to throw the ball over to you again, so be ready,” Rogers said.
Kicking woes continue for Bulldogs
Ben Raybon did an admirable job replacing Massimo Biscardi on Sept. 10 at Arizona.
After Biscardi pulled two consecutive extra-point attempts wide left, Raybon made all three of his PATs as well as two field goals in MSU’s 39-17 win.
Then Raybon came out Saturday and pulled his first extra-point try wide left as well.
His miss prompted Mississippi State coach Mike Leach to question the difficulty of 21-yard extra-point kicks altogether.
“I think I could do it if I practiced for two weeks,” Leach said. “I really do.”
Raybon got things together, making a 45-yard field goal in the third quarter.
But his first-quarter miss is evidence Mississippi State’s kicking struggles persist.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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