COLUMBIA, M.O. – When a mistake is repeated enough, it becomes more of a habit than a mistake. For the 2025 Mississippi State Bulldogs, the mistakes have multiplied, and the bad habits have not broken in the times that matter most on the gridiron.

At first, the habit was hidden by moments. A remarkable finish against Arizona State hid nearly two quarters of setbacks and inconsistency with a chance to pull away.

Then the moments were heartbreaking.

Failure to execute and seize the momentum led to costly errors at the end of games against Tennessee, Florida and Texas.

Then came the avalanche, an overwhelming wave of explosive plays and self-inflicted wounds that saw heartbreak give way to collapse. That wave followed the Bulldogs from Starkville to Columbia on Saturday, and the common word for head coach Jeff Lebby once again was “frustrating.”

“The first drive of the game, we have the sack on third down, frustrating for that to be the first third down of the game,” Lebby said, reflecting on a flat start to the game. “The way we started on that drive, I thought we bounced back in a decent way, but really frustrating how we started offensively. And then defensively, we talked nonstop all week… really frustrating that we don’t defend the run any better, don’t tackle the way we need to. It’s frustrating to go out there and play the way that we played. Had some good moments,  and then we’re not able to sustain.”

The Bulldogs (5-6, 1-6 SEC) briefly had hope against the Tigers, but once again failed to capitalize on opportunities against a team that overcame its own collection of errors. Mizzou’s offense committed two turnovers, and the team committed 11 penalties with two players ejected for targeting. It still wasn’t enough to stop them on their way to a 49-27 rout of MSU.

The Bulldogs had an opportunity to take the lead in the second quarter and were gifted multiple first downs inside the 10-yard line, but had to settle for a field goal attempt that turned into a costly turnover with a wayward snap. The Tigers took the ball and flipped the field, eventually taking a 21-10 lead to begin pulling away.

It wasn’t unlike the many missed opportunities in previous games, and it was a moment Lebby pointed to in a summary of the team’s problems.

“We’re not good enough to not score touchdowns right there, against a good football team,” Lebby said. “That was the piece of it to me that we just talked about as a team: having the ability to sustain. When you have opportunities, you’ve got to take them. When you don’t, things happen the way they did.”

While MSU struggled to run the ball, the Tigers ran rampant. Like Georgia did the week before, the Tigers exploited a vulnerable defensive front for more than 300 yards on the ground. Ahmad Hardy averaged 12 yards per carry in a 300-yard, three-touchdown performance.

The Bulldogs managed just 110 yards on the ground and 345 total yards of offense. Quarterback Blake Shapen ran 17 times for 16 yards, and while he ran in two touchdowns, he also threw two pick-sixes, which helped the Tigers run away on the scoreboard in the second half.

For Lebby, the collapse stemmed from the issues in running the ball and finding consistency on drives. The negatives and penalties only added to the problem, issues that arise in every phase of play, and it’s a hurdle that he and his staff have simply not found an answer for.

“We’ve got to continue to find ways to create that identity,” Lebby said. “When you have opportunities, you’ve got to take them against great football teams. Missouri is a really good football team that we need to come in here, not turn it over a single time, and play better against the run than we did. And take advantage of opportunities when we’ve got them. And we didn’t.”

MSU’s last chance at bowl eligibility will come in the Egg Bowl on Black Friday. Ole Miss, a College Football Playoff hopeful, may have the weight of speculation over the future of Lane Kiffin to deal with, but it has nowhere near the same issues on the field as the Bulldogs.

The battle for the Golden Egg will take everything the Bulldogs have, possibly more, and Lebby is already preaching that in the wake of another bad loss.

“It’s important to a lot of people. It’s dang sure important to me, it’s dang sure important to a ton of our guys in our locker room, and my stress to everybody in there is, ‘Are you doing everything you possibly can to not leave it up to chance?’ We need to be obsessed with it all day, every day, to be able to go chase this thing and play the way we need to play Friday at 11 to be able to go win.”