STARKVILLE — As lifeless as Mississippi State’s offense was in the first quarter Saturday against No. 14 LSU, the Bulldogs were one play away from getting the ball back early in the second quarter with a manageable 10-point deficit.
The defense had just come up big on a third-and-2 at the MSU 29 as defensive end Deonte Anderson quickly shed his block and, with help from linebacker Jett Johnson, brought down Tigers quarterback Jayden Daniels for a four-yard loss. But instead of attempting a long field goal, LSU head coach Brian Kelly opted to go for it on fourth-and-6 at the 33, knowing he had one of the most electric quarterback-receiver duos in all of college football at his disposal.
That duo had already hooked up for one touchdown on a deep ball to the corner of the end zone, so the Tigers ran the same play again, this time to the opposite side of the field. Nabers was once again in single coverage against safety Hunter Washington, and he outraced the defender to haul in Daniels’ perfectly-thrown ball to put the Bulldogs (2-1, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) in a 17-0 hole.
“He caught two balls versus man coverage,” MSU head coach Zach Arnett said. “We pressured, and when you create at a high level, it’s a good matchup. We obviously had a poor plan.”
Offense squanders chance to close the gap
After four consecutive three-and-outs, the Bulldogs finally put something together on their last drive of the first half, using a 52-yard Jo’Quavious “Woody” Marks run to set up an end-around run for a 9-yard score by Lideatrick “Tulu” Griffin. MSU trailed by 20 after holding LSU (2-1, 1-0) to a field goal on the opening possession of the second half and needed to find the end zone on its next drive to have a realistic shot at the comeback.
Things started well enough — with the Bulldogs forced to go for a fourth-and-1 on their own 34, Marks plunged forward for four yards to keep the drive going. Quarterback Will Rogers then made perhaps his best throw of the day, rolling to his right and finding receiver Zavion Thomas, who kept his right foot in bounds for a 21-yard gain.
But Rogers took a sack two plays later to bring up third-and-12, and a quick pass to Justin Robinson left MSU just short of a fresh set of downs. Backup quarterback Mike Wright came in to perhaps try to pick up the fourth-and-1 with his legs, but with the play clock winding down, Robinson moved early and was called for a false start, making the conversion significantly more difficult.
Now facing fourth-and-6, Rogers gave Thomas a chance to haul in a deep ball but overthrew him, giving the Tigers the ball back with six minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Wright makes a late positive impression
With the game well out of hand and very few starters still in the game for either team, Wright threw his first pass in a Bulldogs uniform, a 4-yard touchdown to tight end Antonio Harmon. The Vanderbilt transfer used his 6-foot, 4-inch frame and long strides to escape pressure and roll to his left before dumping the ball to Harmon for the easy score.
Wright hardly lacks experience playing quarterback in the SEC — he played in 26 games and started 11 of them in three years with the Commodores, and in that time completed 184 of 333 passes for 2,067 yards with 21 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. His biggest asset, though, is undoubtedly his speed, which he showcased in MSU’s season-opening win over Southeastern Louisiana by rushing for 95 yards on just five carries.
It remains to be seen whether Wright will be given the chance to throw more if Rogers continues to struggle like he did Saturday, but the student section seemed to want Arnett and offensive coordinator Kevin Barbay to see what Wright is made of, chanting “We want Mike” as the offense went silent for most of the first half.
“If it’s not in our locker room or on our team, I really don’t care,” Rogers said. “It’s kind of back to the drawing board for us. We’ve got to stick together to get better, and it doesn’t get any easier from here. We can’t dwell on this too long.”
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