KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Mississippi State had used its remaining timeouts on defense before holding Tennessee to a field goal, so the Bulldogs had a tall task in front of them when they took over at their own 25-yard line with 46 seconds left in the first half.

And yet, deciding to go for a quick score made sense. MSU was trailing by 10 points, the No. 7 Volunteers would get the ball to start the second half, and the Bulldogs have had some success this season in hurry-up, end-of-half situations. But running back Johnnie Daniels dropped a short pass from Michael Van Buren on first down, and the freshman quarterback badly missed a wide-open Kevin Coleman for another incompletion on second down.

Those two plays took 11 seconds off the clock, and on third-and-10, Daniels took a handoff to the right — the short side of the field — and was tackled out of bounds for a 2-yard loss that stopped the clock with 29 seconds left. On the ensuing MSU punt, Boo Carter broke a tackle and returned it into Bulldogs territory.

With two timeouts left, Tennessee had enough time to move into field goal range when Nico Iamaleava completed a pass to Squirrel White, who slipped past two would-be tacklers for a pickup of 21 yards. Max Gilbert split the uprights from 38 yards out, and MSU faced a 13-point deficit heading into the locker room. The Volunteers would pull away in the second half and hand the Bulldogs a 33-14 loss.

“We’ve been good in two-minute situations at the end of the half,” MSU head coach Jeff Lebby said. “Frustrated because it’s two incompletions in a row and then the ball goes out of bounds on third down, which just can’t happen. They end up saving up saving a timeout. … You have to make the play that gives you a spark and some momentum to give you a chance to win it, and that was the thought in that moment.”

Running game effective against upper-echelon defense

The Volunteers are among the most complete defensive teams in the country, and are especially tough against the run with a deep and experienced defensive line. But Davon Booth and Johnnie Daniels both created some big plays on the ground through the middle, and taking sacks out of the equation, MSU (2-8, 0-6 Southeastern Conference) totaled 207 rushing yards on more than six yards per carry.

That ground game helped the Bulldogs strike quickly for their lone touchdown of the second half. MSU started on its own 35 thanks to a kickoff out of bounds, and on second-and-6, Booth ran through right guard Marlon Martinez and cut to the right sideline past the secondary, with only a deep safety able to bring him down after a 43-yard gain.

Booth was stopped at the line of scrimmage on the next snap, but on second down against just a three-man front from Tennessee (8-1, 5-1), Daniels ran through a big hole between center Ethan Miner and Martinez and sprinted untouched for an 18-yard touchdown.

“What really got me going was (watching) Ohio State versus Penn State, I saw the way the running backs were running the ball,” Booth said. “I told myself I need to start running like that, so I just wanted to deliver something.”

Big play ends string of three straight defensive stops

After allowing an opening-drive touchdown for the seventh time in 10 games this season, the MSU defense strung some stops together. Safety Hunter Washington forced and recovered a fumble with Tennessee driving on its second possession, and when the Volunteers took over inside the Bulldogs’ 10 on their next drive, linebacker Nic Mitchell and safety Corey Ellington made a fourth-down stop just in front of the goal line.

Tennessee then went three-and-out on its final drive of the first quarter. But on its first offensive play of the second quarter, Iamaleava took a shot for his leading receiver, Dont’e Thornton Jr. Thornton had multiple steps on cornerback DeAgo Brumfield in single coverage. Brumfield whiffed completely on the tackle, and the nation’s leader in yards per reception took it 73 yards for the touchdown with the safety help arriving far too late.

“I just want us to control what we can control and go play the next play,” Lebby said. “You get in an environment like this and it’s incredibly hot and it’s heated and there’s a great edge on both sides of the football. You have to find ways to control that and make sure we’re not hurting our football team.”