Often, the final score of a game isn’t an indicator of how competitive the game really was.
This wasn’t the case Saturday in the Mississippi State-Southern Mississippi game.
The Bulldogs won 49-0 and, yes, it was every bit as one-sided as the score suggests.
It was so bad, in fact, MSU coach Dan Mullen had to search for a while to find an area of the game that didn’t meet his approval.
“The one thing we did really poorly was catch punts,” Mullen said, finally. “We should at least get up there and make a fair catch, so we’ll get that fixed in practice this week.”
Let’s face it: This game was so one-sided even Chris McDaniel wouldn’t challenge the outcome.
But there was one area of slightly greater concern, something Mullen addressed near the end of his post-game press conference.
MSU scored just once in four trips inside the Golden Eagles’ 20-yard line. The Bulldogs were stuffed on a fourth-and-goal at the Eagles’ 1 on its second possession. Quarterback Dak Prescott then threw an interception on a third-and-goal at the Eagles’ 3 in the second quarter, a play best described as a bad decision, poorly executed.
Prescott also was sacked twice on plays he should have thrown the ball away, Mullen said.
Even with those lapses, Prescott was dominant, throwing for career highs in yards (284) and touchdowns (four) despite playing just one series in the second half.
If there is anything to be gleaned from Prescott’s performance, it is he seldom looked to run, a quality that had made him a much-feared foe, given his 6-foot-2, 230-pound frame.
He was credited for eight rushes (which included the two sacks) for 23 yards, with a long run of 15 yards that ended when he uncharacteristically went to the ground to avoid a hit.
Still, it is hard to know if this is a major change of style for the junior quarterback. On most running plays, Prescott has the option of handing the ball off or keeping it based on his reads of the defense. Far more often than not, he chose the former, with Josh Robinson as the primary beneficiary. Robinson ran for 87 yards on 14 carries. Backup Nick Griffin added 45 yards on eight carries. As a group, the Bulldogs rushed for 201 yards, a 4.56-yard average.
If Prescott is evolving into a pass-first, hand-it-off kind of quarterback, it is because he has a group of big, physical wide receivers, who shook off smaller defensive backs like a dog shakes off water after a bath. De’Runnya Wilson (6-5, 225 pounds) and Fred Ross (6-2, 205) caught two touchdown passes each. Both shook off tackles en route to the end zone. Insult to injury, you might say.
MSU’s defense, meanwhile, was dominant from the start. USM had 283 yards on 75 plays and averaged a shade over 2 yards per rushing attempt. The Bulldogs’ defensive line harassed quarterback Nick Mullens all night, sacking him three times and sending him scrambling on numerous other occasions. He passed for 212 yards for a team that must rely on the passing game.
Yes, the score suggested the mismatch it was. What we don’t know is what to make of it. After all, USM has lost 24 of its last 25 games.
While the Bulldogs were considered a comfortable favorite, most of the experts expected a competitive game. It wasn’t.
Don’t expect MSU to be tested until Sept. 20 at LSU.
Up next? Alabama-Birmingham on Saturday in Starkville.
Here’s what you need to know about UAB. The Golden Eagles beat the Blazers 62-27 last year.
Until that trip to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, MSU will be a bit like Marilyn Monroe: They can look good without really trying.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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