STARKVILLE — After a conversation with his wide receivers during Saturday night’s game against Auburn, Mike Leach approached the line of chairs on the Bulldogs’ sideline.
One by one, Leach picked up the chairs, folded them flat and tossed them unceremoniously onto the ground.
“We were in that period of time where it sure seemed to me we were a lot more interested in sitting in that chair than being on the football field or rooting for our teammates, and so it was my opinion that we ought to be rooting for our teammates or can’t wait to get on the field,” Leach explained postgame. “We pretty much had everything but playing cards over there. I thought it was time to move on from that.”
Leach’s decision to upend the chairs came in the midst of a sustained stretch of offensive futility for the Bulldogs — one that nearly cost them a win.
MSU (6-3, 3-3 Southeastern Conference) managed to beat Auburn (3-6, 1-5 SEC) 39-33 in overtime, but the win belied a long period of ice-cold offense in Starkville.
Asked to evaluate the Bulldogs’ overall performance in the game, quarterback Will Rogers was honest.
“Not great, man,” Rogers said.
It started off great with two touchdowns and a field goal in MSU’s first four drives. It ended well with two more touchdowns and another field goal in the final four drives.
In between, though, there was a lot to fix.
“We hold ourselves to a high standard,” wide receiver Austin Williams. “That third quarter especially, it’s not how we should play ball.”
The Bulldogs’ four drives that began and ended in the third quarter resulted in a turnover on downs on a bobbled snap by punter George Georgopoulos, an interception and two punts.
MSU punted two more times on its first two drives of the fourth quarter.
Mississippi State had just two first downs on the four consecutive punt drives.
Meanwhile, Auburn’s offense was kicking into gear, taking a 25-24 lead on Tank Bigsby’s 41-yard touchdown with 6:36 to play.
Rogers said the Tigers’ comeback from a 24-3 deficit was a clear wake-up call.
“We can’t just go out there and waste a minute off the clock and punt and hope it’s alright,” he said. “We’ve got to do something.”
When it counted, the Bulldogs did.
Rogers found Rara Thomas for a 33-yard catch-and-run score to retake the lead. After Auburn answered with 1:05 to play, Rogers drove MSU into field goal position to send the game to overtime.
In the extra period, the Bulldogs drew a pass interference penalty, setting up Jo’quavious Marks for the winning 5-yard rushing score.
It put MSU at 6-3 on the season and overshadowed a concerning offensive performance for most of the game.
That was most evident in the third and fourth quarters — in which Rogers said Bulldogs players looked like “deer in headlights” — but it started even earlier.
Mississippi State’s protection broke down, Leach acknowledged, and Rogers was strip-sacked twice in the second quarter. His pass to Rara Thomas was tipped and intercepted in the third.
“We just kind of started turning over the ball,” Rogers said. “I didn’t hold onto the ball great. I was getting hit from behind, but I still have to hold onto the ball.”
From there on out, everything kept going wrong for Mississippi State.
MSU righted the ship eventually, securing bowl eligibility with its sixth win of the season.
But the Bulldogs know they can’t get the chair pulled out from under them again going forward.
“We’ve got to learn to enjoy prosperity a little more,” Leach said. “How do you enjoy prosperity? Well, you do all the stuff that got you there in the first place, all the little things.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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