STARKVILLE — What started with a glimmer of hope for Mississippi State ended with more of the same.
The Bulldogs’ last chance to earn a Southeastern Conference win at home was going well for about eight minutes, especially for their much-maligned defense. But No. 23 Missouri completely flipped Saturday’s game on its head with a long fumble return for a touchdown, which took the wind out of MSU’s sails. The Tigers never trailed again in a 39-20 victory at Davis Wade Stadium.
“We didn’t respond the way we needed to,” Bulldogs head coach Jeff Lebby said. “Especially offensively, really struggled after that with what happened over the next couple drives. We needed to be able to get something going. From a complementary football standpoint, I have not fixed that. When we’ve played well defensively, we’ve struggled offensively, and when we’ve played well offensively, it’s just the opposite.”
As it has in all 11 games this season, MSU (2-9, 0-7 SEC) received the opening kickoff, and the Bulldogs scored on their opening drive for just the third time all year. Running back Davon Booth picked up a couple of first downs on the ground, leading to a 38-yard Kyle Ferrie field goal and an early 3-0 lead.
The defense backed up the score with two three-and-outs thanks to contributions from all three levels. Sulaiman Kpaka made a big open-field tackle, Branden Jennings forced a Brady Cook incompletion with a quarterback hurry, Hunter Washington and Stone Blanton both nearly forced fumbles, and Zakari Tillman recorded a sack just in front of the goal line. The ensuing punt gave MSU excellent field position midway through the opening quarter.
“We just have to find a way to flip the tide,” Blanton said. “We’re right there every time and then something happens and momentum changes, they march down the field and score. There’s just been a lot of that. It’s really frustrating.”
On second-and-8 at the Missouri 30-yard line, Van Buren stumbled as he stepped up in the pocket, leaving the ball vulnerable as he tried to regain his balance. Kristian Williams knocked it loose, and safety Daylan Carnell scooped it up and raced 68 yards untouched for a defensive touchdown.
From there, the Tigers (8-3, 4-3) found their rhythm, scoring touchdowns on their last three possessions of the first half. Missouri lulled the Bulldogs to sleep on the ground, setting up manageable third downs and consistently converting them. MSU had trouble getting its defense off the field as it has so often this year, with the Tigers finishing 11-for-18 on third down and 2-for-2 on fourth down.
The Bulldogs, by contrast, were 2-for-10 on third down and 1-for-3 on fourth down.
“It starts with first and second down,” Blanton said. “They were having a lot of really short third downs. We have to be better. Their stretch plays were getting five or six yards on first and second down, so that makes it a lot harder to stop on third-and-1 or third-and-2.”
Marcus Carroll had three rushing touchdowns for Missouri, and star receiver Luther Burden III made an incredible catch in the back of the end zone in the second quarter to help the Tigers build a 15-point halftime lead.
MSU took advantage of two personal fouls against Missouri to score a touchdown late in the first quarter, with Van Buren finding Jordan Mosley from 11 yards out on play action. But the Bulldogs stalled in the red zone on their final drive of the first half and settled for a field goal and a 28-13 deficit at the break.
“It’s the detail of how we do what we do,” Lebby said. “The game will punish you if you don’t take advantage of situations just like that, if you have to constantly snap the ball in third-down situations. It’s going to be really hard. Today, we didn’t execute well enough and I didn’t coach nearly well enough.”
The Tigers’ offense put the game away in the second half simply by staying on the field. Missouri held the ball for nearly nine minutes to start the third quarter, adding to its lead with a field goal, and had a touchdown drive of a nearly identical length in the fourth. MSU possessed the ball for less than four minutes of the second half.
The Bulldogs did manage a quick touchdown in that little time thanks to Booth, who broke a tackle and cut back across the field for a 43-yard score. Booth finished with 124 rushing yards on just 12 carries.
“(The offensive linemen) deserve a lot,” Booth said. “My team and I have to pick them up no matter what happens.”
But in the first minute of the fourth quarter, MSU kept its offense on the field on a fourth-and-3 at the Tigers’ 17, and Van Buren’s pass was too low for Mosley to haul in. Missouri then took eight minutes and 43 seconds off the clock on a 14-play, 83-yard touchdown drive, adding a two-point conversion for good measure.
With a trip to Oxford to face rival Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl looming ahead Friday, the Bulldogs are staring in the face their first winless SEC season since 2002.
“This game is important. It matters. It matters to our fan base, it matters to our state, it matters to our great university,” Lebby said. “We have the ability to finish how we want to finish. That’s a choice. We’re going to continue to talk about that, and every single person inside our building every day needs to have the best day they’ve had as we move forward and get ready to go to Oxford.”
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