KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — With Halloween just three weeks away, it was Mississippi State’s (3-3, 1-2 SEC) horror-filled offensive performance in Saturday’s 20-10 loss to Tennessee (2-4, 1-2 SEC) at orange-clad Neyland Stadium that was a staunch reminder the holiday season has arrived.
In all, the Bulldogs totaled just 267 yards of offense — 132 of which came in the fourth quarter — while quarterbacks Tommy Stevens and Garrett Shrader combined for a 11-of-21, 146-yard, three interception performance on Rocky Top.
Junior running back Kylin Hill was also limited to just 13 yards on 11 carries, despite averaging 119.2 yards per game this year.
“Guys are upset that we lost and they’re a little bit down that we lost, but that’s the way it should be,” MSU coach Joe Moorhead said. “If you’re not in there and it doesn’t hurt and it doesn’t rip your soul out and it doesn’t make you feel bad, then you’re doing the wrong thing.”
Numbers aside, if there were a script for disastrous starts, Mississippi State found it on Rocky Top.
Just a few days after MSU coach Joe Moorhead preached the prowess of Tennessee kick off specialist Paxton Brooks’ ability to force touchbacks, defensive back Brian Cole fielded the game’s opening kick at the one-yard-line.
As the kick caromed into his hands, Cole bobbled the ball, charged forward and was swarmed by a wall of Tennessee special teamers at the MSU nine-yard-line.
Following a short completion, a Stevens scramble and a sack, sophomore punter Tucker Day capped off the less-than-inspiring first drive when he shanked the first of his four punts for just 34 yards.
“It’s tough to win a game week-to-week — doesn’t matter who it is,” Shrader said postgame. “I guess we kind of came out thinking we were more ready than we were and we didn’t execute how we planned to.”
While Tennessee struggled to put the Bulldogs away early courtesy of two Brian Maurer interceptions in the end zone, the MSU offense was anemic at best.
Returning from an injury-filled first five games, Stevens was a dismal 6-of-11 for 67 yards and two interceptions before being benched at halftime. And while a handful of the incompletions were on his receivers, both turnovers fell entirely on Stevens.
The first misfire came after he overshot a wide-open Deddrick Thomas at the Tennessee 10-yard-line, planting the ball in Kenneth George Jr.’s lap.
Stevens’ second turnover of the day came as MSU searched for a late first half score. Stepping into the pocket, he fired a ball into double coverage — gifting Volunteers safety Trevon Flowers an interception and, ultimately, Tennessee a Brent Cimaglia 49-yard, half-ending field goal.
“Offensively we just couldn’t get anything going until that second half and that’s my responsibility to get that fixed,” Moorhead said postgame.
While the start was poor, MSU showed brief signs of life in the second half as Moorhead benched Stevens in favor of freshman Garrett Shrader.
Though he finished the day 5-of-10 for 79 yards, a touchdown and an interception, it was Shrader’s dual-threat ability that carried MSU to it’s lone end zone trip of the day.
Guiding an eight-play, 90-yard drive following Tyler Byrd’s 39-yard touchdown reception, he totaled 22 yards rushing and another 56 yards passing — ending with a 17-yard pitch-and-catch to Thomas.
Now sitting at 3-3 and losers of two-straight, the Bulldogs are in danger of seeing their season spiral out of control. Three of MSU’s next four opponents — LSU, Texas A&M and Alabama — were ranked in this week’s Associated Press top-25 poll, while a trip to Arkansas looks less secure than it did 24 hours ago — particularly given MSU has been outscored 76-33 on the road in SEC play this year.
“A little bit,” Moorhead said of whether he’s worried a loss like Saturday’s could weigh on his team. “But kids are resilient we’ll come in tomorrow, make the corrections and move on.”
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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