STARKVILLE — Trailing by 25 in the closing seconds of the first half, Mississippi State was desperate for something to go its way.

Toledo had controlled the game from the opening kickoff, running up and down the field at will on offense and forcing the Bulldogs into four drives in which they were unable to pick up a first down. MSU started its final possession of the half back at its own 15-yard line, but quarterback Blake Shapen quickly brought his team into Rockets territory and ultimately into the red zone.

Shapen’s pass to tight end Seydou Traore brought the ball to Toledo’s 24 with seven seconds on the clock, and another completion to Jordan Mosley picked up 12 yards before the Bulldogs called their final timeout with one second left. Instead of electing to draw closer with a field goal, head coach Jeff Lebby kept the offense on the field to try and take a bigger bite out of his team’s massive deficit.

The Rockets brought six players after Shapen, whose pocket began to collapse as it had so many times Saturday night. Shapen stepped up to avoid the pressure and rolled to his left as he approached the line of scrimmage, then threw almost across his body toward the back of the end zone in the direction of freshman Mario Craver.

Cornerback Avery Smith was covering Mosley on the play, but saw Shapen’s pass floating a little too much and made an adjustment, coming down with the interception. It was Shapen’s first pick of the year and an appropriate finish to a first half thoroughly dominated by the visitors, who dismantled MSU 41-17.

“We got beat a couple of times on the man side of the protection,” Lebby said. “We had some guys who had the opportunity to go make some plays down the field, but it does not matter (if) we can throw and catch. It’s all about what we can protect. (It’s about) cleaning up some things from a protection standpoint, being better in our six-man protections, and then finding ways to not take sacks on early downs.”

Defense unable to get off the field

The Bulldogs (1-2) after three straight three-and-outs to start the game, had finally cracked the scoreboard on their fourth possession, although a false start penalty on Jacoby Jackson on fourth-and-goal at the 1 forced them to settle for a field goal that cut Toledo’s lead to 14-3.

In need of a defensive stop to follow up that score, MSU had plenty of opportunities to get the Rockets’ offense off the field. On second-and-long, a screen pass from quarterback Tucker Gleason to Eric Holley brought up third-and-3 thanks to a missed tackle by safety Hunter Washington.

Gleason then escaped pressure and found a wide-open Larry Stephens deep downfield for a 32-yard gain that probably would have been a touchdown had Stephens not had to reach back above his head to make the catch. The Bulldogs had blitzed a cornerback and running back Willie Shaw III picked up the pressure, leaving nobody near Stephens to prevent the big play.

Two plays later, Toledo faced a third-and-10 at MSU’s 37, but Gleason had enough protection to connect with tight end Anthony Torres over the middle for a pickup of 16. Torres had dropped a pass on the previous play but had plenty of space to haul in this one.

Now in field goal range, the Rockets (3-0) converted another third down later in the drive on a 12-yard completion to Jerjuan Newton in the flat. That set up Connor Walendzak’s short touchdown run on the next play that seemed to take any remaining wind out of the Bulldogs’ sails.

“We have to find ways to get off the field,” Lebby said. “We have three three-and-outs to start the game, and they don’t go three-and-out until the (sixth) drive. That dictates the rest of the game. Us being better situationally, but being able to get off the field on third down will be a huge point of emphasis.”

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