HATTIESBURG — The Mississippi State football team sputtered its way to a season-opening football victory Saturday night.
Just on the outskirts of the preseason national rankings, MSU didn’t wow the voters, but it did enough to post a 34-16 victory against Southern Mississippi before a record crowd of 36,641 at M.M. Roberts Stadium.
MSU won its season opener for the sixth time in seven tries under coach Dan Mullen. MSU also won its fourth straight in the series for the first time since winning five straight from 1935 to 1966. The teams were playing in Hattiesburg for the first time since 1990.
MSU took the lead for good, 14-10, when Justin Johnson caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Dak Prescott with 10 minutes, 57 seconds left before halftime.
That score lifted the Bulldogs to a 14-10 lead.
Southern Mississippi built its early lead after MSU’s Ashton Shumpert fumbled on the USM 1-yard line on the game’s first offensive possession. Later in the first quarter, Fred Ross muffed a punt and the Golden Eagles recovered to set up a short field for the go-ahead field goal.
MSU also failed to recover an onside kick in the first half.
Still, the passing of Prescott allowed the Bulldogs to pull away late. MSU opened the second half with a nine-play, 95-yard drive which was capped by a 4-yard touchdown pass from Prescott to Gus Walley. In the waning minutes, the Bulldogs stretched the lead when Prescott scored on a 7-yard run. A 42-yard pass to De’Runnya Wilson led to the score.
MSU finished with 442 yards of total offense. Prescott was 22 of 38 for 237 yards and two touchdowns. He also led the ground game with eight rushes for 72 yards. Brandon Holloway added seven rushes for 51 yards, with a 100-yard kickoff return for touchdown.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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