STARKVILLE — Now that Mississippi State has had time to review the footage from Saturday night’s 30-23 loss at Arizona State, head coach Jeff Lebby and his staff found the root of the Bulldogs’ issues stopping the run to be quite simple.

“It’s one story. It’s tackling,” Lebby said. “25 missed tackles, over 250 yards after contact. That was the frustrating part for our guys is that when they watched the tape, there were plenty of times where we were in position, and we have to get the guy on the ground. You look at the first drive, second-and-10, the quarterback makes an unbelievable play. We had him dead to rights four yards in the backfield, and (we weren’t) able to make the play.”

With MSU (1-1) using just a three-man defensive front for most of the game, the Sun Devils’ offensive line dominated at the point of attack and opened up huge holes for running back Cam Skattebo and quarterback Sam Leavitt. From a health perspective, things may not be much better this weekend when the Bulldogs host Toledo.

Lebby said defensive lineman Eric Taylor is no longer with the team, and while he was hopeful that Kalvin Dinkins and Deonte Anderson will be back, both were limited in practice Monday and MSU is planning as if they will not be available.

“When we’re in position, we have to make the play,” Lebby said. “(It’s about) coaching them better, finding ways to make sure we’re doing something a little different defensively from a circuit standpoint, whether that’s live tackling or what it is to be able to go address it, and then playing cleaner on Saturdays.”

Running the ball for the Bulldogs proved to be nearly as difficult as stopping Arizona State from doing so. MSU trailed for essentially the entire game and therefore passed more frequently, but for the second straight game, the Bulldogs had a hard time generating much production from their running backs.

Keyvone Lee rushed for seven yards on the first play of the game and scored his first touchdown of the year in the third quarter, but his other seven carries went for a combined 21 yards. Davon Booth and Johnnie Daniels had just eight yards between them on nine rushes, although Booth came wide open in the end zone and hauled in a 15-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter.

“The totality of it is what will give us a chance to be better in the run game,” Lebby said. “(We had) just way too many inconsistencies. All day long in the run game, we had the right people, but fundamentally we did not play clean. I’ve talked about this a bunch with our guys. Our intent was really good. Our execution has to be clean.”

Scouting Toledo

The Rockets have been a model of consistency in the Mid-American Conference under 10th-year head coach Jason Candle, who is 67-35 at Toledo and 43-19 in MAC play with two conference titles. Last year, the Rockets were unbeaten in conference play but fell to Miami-Ohio in the MAC Championship Game.

Toledo has a track record of playing well against power conference opponents in recent years, too. In 2021, the Rockets led at No. 8 Notre Dame for much of the afternoon before the Fighting Irish pulled out a 32-29 win, and last year, Toledo nearly opened the season with a win at Illinois but lost 30-28 on a field goal in the closing seconds.

This year’s Rockets are 2-0, with wins over an FCS team in Duquesne in Week 1 and Massachusetts in Week 2. Toledo is a veteran group on defense, and the secondary is its best position group. Emmanuel McNeil-Warren has 21 tackles through two games, and Braden Awls intercepted a pass against both Duquesne and UMass.

“This football team, this program, is incredibly established,” Lebby said. “They’ve had a ton of success. For them to come down here Saturday night, it will be no big deal for their program. So stressing that for our guys and understanding exactly who we’re going to get, they have a defensive unit that has seven of the 11 starters as sixth-year players. They’re an old, old unit.”

Starting quarterback Tucker Gleason has struggled with his accuracy, completing just 23 of 47 passes, but has taken care of the football, with six touchdown passes and no interceptions. The running backs group is balanced, with no player having more than 15 carries between the first two games, while Junior Vandeross III and Jerjuan Newton are Gleason’s top receivers.

The MAC has made some noise early in the 2024 season — Northern Illinois upset No. 5 Notre Dame on Saturday, and Bowling Green gave No. 8 Penn State a battle before coming up a touchdown short. MSU is hosting a MAC team for the third straight year after blowing out Bowling Green in 2022 and having some trouble against Western Michigan last year before escaping with a 41-28 victory.

“I talk about making sure we know exactly who we are playing, and understanding Toledo has a really long history of playing really good football,” Lebby said. “They have been in complete fistfights with (high major) football teams, and this will be nothing new for their program. It has nothing to do with anybody else but Mississippi State and knowing exactly who we’re getting Saturday night.”